Randy Tate: “I first want to thank the majority leader for his courage, foresight and fortitude to schedule my bill, the…”

“I first want to thank the majority leader for his courage, foresight and fortitude to schedule my bill, the Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996, for action on the House floor today. I also want to thank Chairman Bill Thomas for his hard work and leadership on this issue and Chairman Bill Clinger for his continued support as I have pursued this historic legislation. Today, the House will consider H.R. 4011, the Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act. Congressman Frank Riggs from California and Congressman Jay Dickey from Arkansas deserve a tremendous amount of credit for working long and hard with me, to refine this momentous and historic legislation to deny pension benefits to Members of Congress convicted of crimes related to their duties of office. Other of my colleagues like Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the Speaker's Task Force on Reform, Jerry Weller, J.D. Hayworth, and Zach Wamp deserve my gratitude. H.R. 4011 would not be on the floor of the House today without their backing. We have all worked long and hard to get the Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act to the House floor for a vote today. That is a feat of which we should be immensely proud. This legislation is long overdue.”