Steve Stockman: “it is my distinct honor to speak in strong support of the reforms in title II. I was elected to Congress as a servant of…”

“it is my distinct honor to speak in strong support of the reforms in title II. I was elected to Congress as a servant of the people; to limit the size and scope of the Federal Government and to clean up the mess here in Washington. This title has 23 provisions and I will focus on just a few. In the Contract With America we committed to slash the number of committees and we have kept our word. This is revolutionary legislation. Today, we will eliminate three committees (Post Office, Merchant Marine, and District of Columbia). No full standing House committees has been eliminated since 1947. In addition, 25 subcommittees will also be eliminated. The savings will be approximately $35 million. House committees, like Federal programs, ought not live forever. Our first order of business is to put the People's House in order. We signed a contract with the American people to look at every Federal action by the House will send a strong and clear message to the American people that we are serious about our purpose. This bill will ensure that what is said on the floor and in committee will be recorded verbatim for the American people to read. Staff members will no longer work into the middle of the night to conceal what was actually said in the People's House. This bill will end pork barrel projects on emergency spending bills. This change will make spending cuts easier. This bill will ban commemorative legislation like National Asparagus Day.”