Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, yesterday I joined Senator Mike Lee of Utah in introducing the No Union Time on the Taxpayer's Dime Act, a critical step toward restoring accountability in the Federal workforce. This bill will end the abuse of official time which allows Federal employees to engage in union activities while being paid by the taxpayers. For years, Federal employees have spent millions of taxpayer dollars on union-related work instead of performing their official responsibilities. Federal employees spent 3.6 million hours performing union-related activities in 2016 alone, costing taxpayers $177.2 million. Even after reforms under the Trump administration brought that number down to 2.6 million hours and $135 million in 2019, the lack of unified reporting means the full scope of the problem remains unknown today. This is money that should have gone to serve the American people, not to subsidize private union interests. Ending ``official time'' is a commonsense step to ensure taxpayer dollars are used responsibly and to increase accountability across the Federal workforce. Public funds should serve the American people, not private union interests. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this important bill. ____________________”