Dave Reichert: “last night, I came to the floor and joined my Democrat colleagues in supporting meaningful ethics reform. As a former…”

“last night, I came to the floor and joined my Democrat colleagues in supporting meaningful ethics reform. As a former law enforcement officer, I understand as well as anyone the need to abide by the strongest ethical guidelines, and I agree with and commend my Democrat colleagues for presenting a rules package that brings much-needed transparency to earmarking process. In the last Congress, I consistently supported greater public disclosure of Federal spending. I will be the first Member of this body to stand up and attach my name to earmark requests and justify the need for the expenditure. The taxpayers in my district and across our Nation deserve to know how the government spends their hard-earned dollars. But I rise against title IV because I cannot stand and support a reform package that irresponsibly attaches a rule known as PAYGO that will almost certainly lead to higher taxes on these same hard-working taxpaying Americans. Tax cuts unequivalently spur economic growth and create jobs. The tax relief Congress enacted in 2003 produced tremendous growth and a record high stock market. These tax cuts created nearly 6 million jobs across the Nation and 88,000 jobs in Washington State alone. Again, I agree with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we need more fiscal discipline. That is why I supported the balanced budget amendment in the last Congress and I hope to work to enact that in this Congress.”