Newsroom
February 25, 2013 — Press Item
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have now entered the final week before the dangerous, arbitrary, and irrational policy of sequestration, which Republicans proposed first in their Cut, Cap and Balance bill in July of 2011. If I were the Majority Leader, Mr. Speaker, that policy would not go into effect.
February 26, 2013 — Press Item
Over the last few weeks, there has been no shortage of dire predictions about the harmful impact of the sequester if it goes into effect on Friday, March 1. These reckless and irrational cuts could put our economic recovery and national security at risk. But despite many warnings, Republicans have continued to speak in support of this harmful policy, choosing these irresponsible cuts over a compromise that balances spending cuts with new revenues:
February 22, 2013 — Press Item
"Today, House Republicans have again chosen partisanship over working together by refusing to take up the bipartisan, Senate-passed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.
February 21, 2013 — Press Item
“We need to cut spending, raise revenues and have a balanced program, just as Bowles-Simpson, Domenici-Rivlin, Gang of Six [suggested].
February 19, 2013 — Press Item
“President Obama is right when he warns of the serious consequences to our economy and national security if Congress fails to compromise and prevent the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Sequestration is an arbitrary, irrational policy that was intended to bring both sides to the table. Unfortunately, House Republicans have refused to bring an alternative to sequestration to the Floor for a vote.
February 15, 2013 — Press Item
“Two weeks from today, if Congress fails to act, the Republican policy – the Republican policy – of sequestration will take effect.
February 15, 2013 — Press Item
“Mr. Speaker, there is not time to debate in the time I have available how we determine federal pay. I was a sponsor of the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act, which [President] George Bush signed back in 1990. I know a little bit about this. But America is confronting a sequestration that will have devastating impact on our economy, on every individual in America and on international confidence in America's ability to manage itself. And what have we spent two days on? A quarter percent cap on cost-of-living adjustment for federal employees. A quarter of a percent.
February 15, 2013 — Press Item
This week, House Republicans are wasting time and taxpayer dollars on yet another bill that targets middle-class federal employees. Instead of working on a comprehensive plan to prevent sequestration and reduce the deficit in a balanced way, Republicans are continuing their attack on the federal workforce by freezing their pay for the third year in a row.
February 15, 2013 — Press Item
“Mr. Speaker, we are on the brink of achieving the Republican policy of sequester.
February 14, 2013 — Press Item
“Unless Congress acts, in two weeks sequestration will take effect, severely damaging our economy and our national security. In the seven weeks this Congress has been in session, House Republicans have failed to bring a single piece of legislation to the Floor to prevent sequestration from happening. Democrats, meanwhile, have now introduced serious alternatives in both the House and the Senate that are balanced and that will avert the sequester’s most painful effects.
February 14, 2013 — Press Item
"What the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act does, that I have pointed out to you was adopted in a bipartisan way, working with the OMB, OPM, and the first Bush Administration.
February 14, 2013 — Press Item
“The Gentleman who preceded me is new to the Congress of the United States. I've been here for a little longer than that, some 32 years. This is the least confidence building Congress – last Congress and this Congress – in which I have ever served. It is taking us from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis. It is creating cliffs where no cliffs ought to exist, and they undermine the confidence of business, America, Americans, and, indeed, the rest of the world that needs a stable and secure America to ensure that we keep the kind of stability that Americans want here at home and around the world.