David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, what is before us is the question of going to conference on the Treasury-Postal appropriation bill. The…”

“Mr. Speaker, what is before us is the question of going to conference on the Treasury-Postal appropriation bill. The motion that I have just made is a motion which would accept the Senate amendment numbered 130, which in essence indicates that the congressional pay will be frozen for yet another year with no COLA, although that COLA will be provided for other Federal employees. Mr. Speaker, as Members of the House know, this House established a new procedure. As Members will remember in, I believe, 1991, the Congress took a step forward, at least I think many thoughtful Members will recognize it was a step forward, when we decided that outside income for Members of Congress was going to be limited and that instead we would have only one paymaster, that being the general public, rather than supplementing our pay through various activities, including giving speeches and earning outside income in a manner which many people were concerned created the appearance of a conflict of interest. The Congress took a lot of heat for that action at the time, but I think it was the right action because I think it substantially improved the financial practices around here.”