Kevin Brady: “A lot of people in America have lost faith in the institution of Congress. It did not happen overnight. It has been…”

“A lot of people in America have lost faith in the institution of Congress. It did not happen overnight. It has been building for many years. All they want us to do in honest, open debate is to listen to issues and do the right things for the right reasons. Last week was not one of our brighter moments, because we did not do any of that. Rather than having an honest, open debate on a pay raise-- and we respectfully disagree; I oppose it and some Members support it-- rather than standing on the principle of honest, open government, we hid behind a procedure. That was a loss for Congress, and it was a loss for America. Last week we spent more time commemorating the life of Jimmy Stewart than we did debating a $28 billion bill and a pay raise for Congress. That is wrong. The issue is not the pay raise. It is how we are going about it and what we stand for.”