[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 27, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

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                               speech of

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 21, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2551) making 
     appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I rise today to urge all of my 
colleagues to support the Bishop amendment to H.R. 2551, the 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012. This 
amendment would restore $1 million in funding to the Capitol Police to 
provide support for security upgrades to Congressional District offices 
as recommended by the House Sergeant of Arms earlier this year.
  Most members, particularly members from rural districts with more 
than one district office, will undertake a variety of ``security'' 
upgrades and improvements to their local offices as a result of the 
tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and related security 
threats.
  Coupled with the costs of these new upgrades are reductions in the 
Members' Representational Allowance MRA for the second year in a row. 
This includes the 5 percent reduction in MRA in place for Fiscal Year 
2011 and the proposed 6.4 percent reduction in MRA proposed in the 
Fiscal Year 2012 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, which will be 
considered on the floor this week. The Fiscal Year 2012 proposed 
reduction in MRA will result in an average hit of approximately $95,000 
per office, which will likely pose a severe strain on Member budgets. 
Additionally, you should know that security upgrades and improvements 
to Senate District offices will not be paid through MRA's.
  My amendment would simply provide an additional $1 million in funding 
via the Capitol Police for security improvements for those offices 
impacted by new House security policy. The proposed offset comes from 
the ``Transition Activities'' account, which essentially provides 
funding for furniture and related equipment for Freshman members, which 
of course, should be minimal in Fiscal Year 2012.
  Mr. Chair, it would be our intent, that if this amendment is accepted 
by this House, that the Sergeant at Arms, Capitol Police, members of 
our Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee and other pertinent 
House personnel, would work together to devise an effective plan and 
strategy for the use, approval and disbursement of these funds for 
district office security purposes.
  The pressure and demands which we already have in managing our MRA's 
are great, and will be more difficult in the coming year. So it is 
vitally important that we provide Members of this body some financial 
relief for the costs of district office security improvements.
  While the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee has the 
smallest budget of the thirteen Appropriations Subcommittees, and some 
would say that it is the least glamorous, its work is of vital 
importance to the entire nation.
  As most of you know, the Subcommittee is responsible for the 
protection and preservation of the treasures in the U.S. Capitol and 
the Library of Congress, the publishing and dissemination of government 
information by the Government Printing Office, the objective analysis 
of our budget and economic decisions by the Congressional Budget 
Office, and the resources with which we provide representation to our 
constituents.
  However, our collective effectiveness in representing our 
constituents is potentially at risk given the proposed reductions in 
our MRA's.
  And I would like to remind my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, 
that after the tragic shootings in Tucson, Members were ``strongly 
encouraged'' to provide additional security for themselves, their staff 
and their constituents in the district--to be paid out of Members' 
accounts, with possibly some help from the Sergeant at Arms.
  With this bill's cut of 6.4 percent in Members' Representational 
Allowance, combined with the 10 percent in the Sergeant at Arms budget, 
these improvements in security will be difficult.
  Finally, if the Capitol Police are going to assess more threats 
against Members and take a more active role in district security, then 
their budget should also reflect these increased demands instead of 
being frozen.
  Mr. Chair, I would also like to enter into the Record, a copy of an 
article that ran in Roll Call, highlighting the need for enhanced 
safety advancements for Members of Congress, their staffs, and 
constituencies.
  I would ask that you support this important amendment. Thank you for 
your consideration.

                    [From Roll Call, July 21, 2011]

            Cuts to Sergeant-at-Arms Raise Concerns for Some

                         (By Daniel Newhauser)

       After the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in 
     January, Members began looking into ways to secure their 
     district offices. Now, some Democrats are questioning whether 
     House leaders will give them enough money to do so.
       Members' Representational Allowances and the House 
     Sergeant-at-Arms office face budget cuts, while House 
     appropriators have proposed flat funding for the Capitol 
     Police.
       At a Rules Committee hearing Wednesday to set parameters 
     for this week's floor debate on the legislative branch 
     spending bill, Rep. Jared Polis--who said he received threats 
     as recently as last week--singled out those cuts as his main 
     concern.
       ``Security is hardly a luxury,'' the Colorado Democrat 
     said. ``How can you justify cutting the Sergeant-at-Arms by 
     10 percent?''
       Although the Sergeant-at-Arms' budget appears larger than 
     it was last Congress, the increase actually comes because it 
     was combined with the Office of Emergency Management, which 
     was created after 9/11 to assist in emergency planning. That 
     office was flat-funded, while the Sergeant-at-Arms received 
     an $890,000 cut.
       Rep. Ander Crenshaw, chairman of the Appropriations 
     Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, assured Polis that 
     the reduction would not affect security. In an interview 
     before the hearing, the Florida Republican said 
     administrative employees and equipment purchases would most 
     likely take the hit.
       ``We made sure that none of the cuts to this office were 
     going to affect any kind of safety issues,'' he said.
       After the Giffords shooting, the Sergeant-at-Arms offered 
     Members free ADT Security assessments in the district 
     offices. The House Administration Committee also authorized 
     Members to use their MRAs to pay for suggested security 
     enhancements.
       But between the 5 percent MRA cut of last fiscal year and 
     the 6.4 percent cut proposed for fiscal 2012--a reduction 
     that would average about $80,000 per office--Members might be 
     put in a situation where they have to choose to fire one 
     employee in order to afford to protect the rest, some 
     Democrats argued.
       ``We are told that we need to secure our district offices 
     more--for our safety, the safety of our staff and, most 
     importantly, the safety of our constituents,'' said Rep. Mike 
     Honda (D-Calif.), the subcommittee's ranking member, in a 
     statement. ``How are we supposed to pay for that?''
       Rep. G.K. Butterfield said he had planned to install 
     bulletproof glass and a digital combination keypad lock at 
     his North Carolina district office, but now he's not so sure.
       ``That was the plan. Now that we've got this dramatic cut, 
     I don't know what we're going to do,'' the Democrat said.
       Rep. Sanford Bishop said he's skeptical Members will be 
     left with enough money in their MRAs to pay for the upgrades. 
     He was advised to improve lighting and create a barrier 
     between his Georgia offices' public and work areas.
       ``The security assessments that the Sergeant-at-Arms paid 
     for for all of our offices were very, very telling. But to 
     implement the recommendations for the safety of our 
     constituents and Members and staffs, it's going to cost some 
     funds,'' the Democrat said. ``The MRA is not sufficient.''
       Bishop has proposed an amendment to the legislative branch 
     bill that would reassign $1 million from a fund used to 
     assist freshmen in procuring furniture to create a fund 
     within the Capitol Police to assist in paying for district 
     security upgrades.
       Sergeant-at-Arms spokeswoman Kern Hanley said that no 
     matter where the budget ends up, the agency would ``be able 
     to fully execute our security mission'' and that they will 
     help Members efficiently spend their money.
       ``We will coordinate the provision of professional security 
     assistance to Members by conducting surveys and reviewing 
     office selection options, security systems and policies to 
     aid them in achieving the best value for their security 
     dollars spent,'' Hanley said in an email.
       Republicans said that is the real lesson of the budget cut: 
     Do more with less.
       Rep. Michael Grimm, a former FBI agent, said Members can 
     mitigate the security impact of the cuts by raising their 
     awareness when they are at home.
       ``We have to be a little more efficient but also a little 
     more diligent so the Capitol Police has less work,'' the New 
     York Republican said. ``None of that costs money.''

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