[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 68 (Thursday, May 26, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      THE PAY FOR PERFORMANCE ACT

                                 ______


                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 1994

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, as we start our annual appropriations 
cycle, one thing is very clear--it is business as usual on Capitol 
Hill. Once again, one of the first appropriation bills to be brought on 
the House floor is Congress' own spending legislation, H.R. 4454. Why 
should this matter to anyone?
  Everyone knows that Congress is required to pass 13 appropriations 
bills before the start of the new fiscal year. Yet, we rarely meet this 
long-established deadline. In fact, in the last 20 years, we have only 
succeeded in meeting that deadline twice--1977 and 1989.
  Therefore, it would not surprise me if later this year, we are on 
this floor debating another continuing resolution to keep the 
Government operating while we finish working on the appropriations 
bills. However, if 1994 is like any other year, the conference report 
for H.R. 4454 will become law sometime this summer. This means that 
come October when the rest of the Government is teetering on the edge 
of insolvency, Congress will be fully funded.
  For a number of years, I have been arguing that the funding 
requirements of Congress should only be considered after the needs of 
all other Americans are met to the best of our ability. In the 103d 
Congress, I have once again introduced legislation, H.R. 1922, which 
would force Members of Congress to earn their own paychecks.
  Like every other wage earner and salaried employee, I propose that 
Congress only be paid when it has completed its most basic work--to 
approve the general budget for the Federal Government, to discharge 
fully its responsibility over the Nation's pursestrings.
  To accomplish this end, I would withhold our own paychecks and the 
money to run our offices and staff until action is completed--on time--
on all other general appropriations bills for the next fiscal year. 
Thus, instead of securing its own funding well in advance, Congress 
would be dead last in line of Federal spending.
  My bill would effectively outlaw continuing resolutions, the huge 
spending bills that have been subject to widespread abuse. I also 
believe the proposal would help to prevent the possibility of 
Government grinding to a halt, Social Security checks being threatened, 
and other programs held in limbo until appropriations bills are finally 
approved in the dead of night.
  H.R. 1922 will not cure all institutional flaws or tackle broader 
ethical concerns, but I believe it would be a step in the right 
direction. I believe it would represent a change in thinking and 
attitude. I think the American public would prefer to see Congress step 
to the back of the line for a change.

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