[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 110 (Wednesday, August 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1940
 
       CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT: A PROUD DAY IN THE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Clyburn). The gentleman from Wisconsin 
[Mr. Barca] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARCA of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, today is a proud day in the 
United States House of Representatives because today we passed the bill 
that is long overdue. It is a bill that the American people have long 
wondered why Congress has been unable to adopt. It is the Congressional 
Accountability Act.
  When I was running for Congress and even before I had a dream of 
serving in Congress, I and other Americans have wondered why in bill 
after bill that Congress had passed they exempted themselves from the 
key provisions of those bills, and in some cases they had entirely 
exempted Congress from those provisions of the bills that were passed.
  Well, today I think we did right by the American people. We sent 
forward the message that we will ensure that Congress will be included 
and in compliance with the key laws of this country, and hopefully we 
have set a precedent that in the future we will keep that faith.
  Today, in bills such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Civil 
Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical 
Leave act, and the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, to just name a 
few, Congress will now be included and in full compliance with these 
laws. We also included laws protecting people such as occupational 
safety laws to a myriad of different labor enforcement bills in this 
country.
  Additionally, we brought forward a measure that I think is very 
important, because on the eve of debating health care reform, one of 
the things that I had talked about and I had introduced 10 months ago, 
last September, is House Concurrent Resolution 156, which states that 
Members should live by whatever health care reform laws we pass. Today 
we were able to accomplish that as well, to make sure that whatever 
bill we are able to pass, that Congress will participate in.
  I believe that a special part of our responsibility when we serve in 
Congress is to keep faith with the American people, to set an example 
for the people who will serve in years to come, to make them aware that 
Congress must comply with the laws that we pass, that Congress will 
honor the obligations that we are putting forward for other Americans. 
It is an important day and a day that I am proud to be serving in the 
United States House of Representatives.

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