Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I thank the Senator from Utah for being a leader in putting his money where his mouth is. He ran as an outsider, as a…”

“I thank the Senator from Utah for being a leader in putting his money where his mouth is. He ran as an outsider, as a small business person. He knew that you could consistently bring down a budget, and he has cut 10 percent from his own budget. I said I would do the same thing when I ran for this office, and so far--I have not been here a year--I am running on a 20 percent lower budget than is my allocation. We do not send franked newsletters. We have cut back on office space in Texas to save rent expenses, and we curtail travel wherever possible. Senators Domenici and Boren have worked very hard this session pushing the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress to make many of the reforms necessary to cut the legislative branch by 7.5 percent. Just cutting down on the number of committees and reducing subcommittees to 4 per committee, except for the Appropriations Committee, would downsize Congress. It would help us in making these cuts. I hope we can do this today to show the American people that we are willing to take these steps. Our Founding Fathers established the legislative branch to pass legislation and to check the powers of the executive branch. Visionary members of the Constitutional Convention may have foreseen 50 States and 535 legislators, but I do not think they foresaw a congressional staff of 38,000 people. Over the past 10 years, Congress has increased its own budget at double the rate of inflation.”