Providing For a Severance Payment For Employees Of Leadership Offices And Committees Of The House
PROVIDING FOR A SEVERANCE PAYMENT FOR EMPLOYEES OF LEADERSHIP OFFICES AND COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE -- (House of Representatives - December 08, 2006)
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Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, it is very unusual for me to watch C-SPAN on my television set in my office and decide this is something I want to come speak about it. It is rare for me to be on the House floor speaking about someone else's bills or speaking about an amendment. Usually when I am here, it is on a topic of interest and personal involvement from my committees and my involvement as a Member of Congress from a very rural community who is here to fight on behalf of rural America.
Well, tonight as I watched the debate on this issue, as I heard it explained, it is one of those issues that caused me to walk across the street to come talk about something that is gnawing at me.
We have talked about a double standard between the leadership staff, the committee staff, and our own personal staff. But to me the double standard is the way that Americans in the job market are not treated when they lose their job. What I see is that Americans, the taxpayers of this country, will see one more piece of evidence that Congress doesn't get it, that we are simply taking care of our own and forgetting the taxpayers, the Americans who go to work each and every day and those who may, through no fault of their own, lose their jobs.
So what I see tonight, as we discuss this issue, it is about a double standard that treats the American people differently from those who happen to work for Members of Congress, particularly in leadership or in committee staff positions. They are important. They are important to the process. They are important to good government. But the reality is we are here on behalf of the American people, on behalf of the American taxpayer, and those are the people we ought to be thinking about tonight as we debate how to spend the taxpayers' dollars.
It is easy to be generous with other people's money. Tonight we ought to remember it is the taxpayers' money that we are attempting to be generous with. Let us recognize that once again Congress should not create a special opportunity for people who happen to work here. Do not treat ourselves, do not treat our staffs differently from the American people.
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