Blake Farenthold: “Today I rise to offer an amendment that would prohibit funding to any Federal employee who has been found in contempt of…”

“Today I rise to offer an amendment that would prohibit funding to any Federal employee who has been found in contempt of Congress. As a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I have had serious concerns about the nonresponsiveness of certain Federal officials to legitimate congressional oversight activities. In some of these situations, the actions have been taken by this House to hold these officials in contempt of Congress. Specifically, my amendment prevents funds from being made available for the Office of Management and Budget to process or approve an apportionment request from an executive agency that does not include the following language: Apportioned amounts are not available for any position that is held by an employee with respect to whom the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives have certified a statement of facts to a United States attorney under section 104 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 194). What the experts and lawyers tell me this means is we won't pay folks who have been held in contempt of Congress. The taxpayers don't need to be funding somebody who is not cooperating with their elected representative, and it has gotten so bad that this entire body has held them in contempt. If somebody has failed to do his or her job in the private sector or in any other environment, they wouldn't get paid, and I think the Federal Government needs to follow this.…”