On the recordFebruary 15, 2011
I thank the gentleman for all the work that he has done in helping to put this continuing resolution together. This is a giant step forward in stopping the culture of spending that has gone on here in this town for a long time and begins a culture of savings. In the subcommittee which I have been asked to chair, the Legislative Branch only deals with maybe one-half of 1 percent of all the money that we're talking about, but we didn't think that we ought to be immune to all the pain that goes on as well. In fact, I think, when times are tough, leaders ought to lead. And so we can help save taxpayers dollars by spending less money on ourselves, and that's what we do in this bill. We cut the accounts of the leadership offices. We cut the accounts of all the Members' offices. We cut the accounts of the committee staff and their offices. In fact, the Appropriations Committee, which Mr. Rogers chairs, will reduce their spending by 9 percent. So certainly Congress is taking the budget axe to its own spending and leading by example, and I think that's important. So as we move forward, Mr. Chairman, I think that we can do a whole lot more with a whole lot less around this place. We want to lead by example. That's what we're trying to do, and I think we are taking a giant step forward.
