[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 16 (Thursday, January 26, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO END WASTEFUL PRACTICES IN CONGRESSIONAL 
                                OFFICES

  (Mr. FOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to call attention to yet 
another example of how Congress wastes taxpayers' hard-earned money.
  A week or two ago, every new Member received this letter from the 
Clerk of the House encouraging us to order our own personalized gold 
embossed set of the United States Code book, a set of 223 volumes that 
I have since discovered we can take with us when we leave office.
  After doing a little research, I have learned that these books with 
each Congressman's name nicely engraved in gold on the binder costs 
taxpayer $2,500 a set. Thus, to provide every new Member of the last 
two Congresses, they have spent over $500,000; a half a million dollars 
spent on books that are available in every House office building, in 
the House counsel's office and, of course, in the Library of Congress 
across the street.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me as an original 
cosponsor of a measure that will end the practice of ordering these 
books and demonstrate to the American people that we are serious about 
cutting the deficit and that we are taking a small step in our 
individual offices to make a difference in the United States of 
America.


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