[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 59 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            INTRODUCTION OF FIVE CONGRESSIONAL REFORM BILLS

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                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 1994

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a package of five 
congressional reform bills which I believe are vital to getting 
Congress back on the right track. For too long, control of this body 
has been in the hands of powerful, out-of-touch committee chairmen and 
entrenched leadership. These five bills put the power where it 
belongs--the people.
  I believe an excellent place to start is to abolish proxy voting on 
committees and subcommittees. Proxy voting allows Congressmen who do 
not show up for committee hearings to simply give chairmen the 
authority to cast their votes. At best proxy votes discourage discourse 
on important issues and encourage poorly informed Members to base their 
votes on the opinions of others rather than on their own knowledge of a 
subject since they vote on legislation without hearing debate. At 
worst, it feeds the power of already overly-controlling committee 
chairmen to kill bills.
  A second much-needed reform is requiring recorded votes on all 
appropriations and revenue raising bills. This body routinely spends 
millions of dollars without ever having to record a vote. Subsequently, 
Americans have no way to check their Representative's vote. My second 
bill would force recorded votes on every single bill that spends a dime 
of money.
  My third bill attacks the expensive and frequently abused franking 
budget. I've already cut my own franking budget by 50 percent. It can 
be done easily and in no way harms the ability of Representatives to 
keep in touch with their district. Rather it prevents Members from 
barraging their constitutents with mass mailings that are nothing short 
of campaign literature drops and vote solicitations.
  My fourth bill cuts funding of the legislative branch for fiscal year 
1995 by 25 percent. I have reduced my own staff by 25 percent. We have 
been able to get the job done with fewer staffers which is why I 
certainly think Congress could weather a 25 percent cut. Before 
Congress asks Americans to cough up any more of their hard earned 
money, they should apply some of their ``cut-spending'' rhetoric to 
their own pocketbooks.
  My fifth bill allows a mechanism by which any Member can call for an 
up or down vote on provisions included in appropriations bills. Let's 
face it, Congress is in the habit of bowing to special interest groups, 
spending mountains of taxpayer money on frivolous pork barrel projects. 
One reason the spending free-for-all continues is that liberal 
congressional leadership presents rank and file Members with an up or 
down vote on multi-billion dollar spending packages ladened with pork.
  The result: fiscally responsible Members of Congress are forced to 
vote for pork in order to get through a few truly important and much-
needed items. This is nothing short of budgetary blackmail. My bill 
would put an end to this outrageous practice by allowing a Member of 
Congress to force a line-item vote, provided 49 other Congressmen sign 
a line-item discharge.
  While I know these bills face an uphill battle in the Congress, I 
believe they represent good ideas that will save taxpayers hundreds of 
millions of dollars, bringing about real reform to a Congress that's 
truly out-of-reach and unaccountable to the American families and 
businesses it's supposed to be representing.

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