[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18782]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
         THE CAUSE OF CLEANING UP CONGRESS HAS GROUND TO A HALT

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, despite promises that are only 6 months old, 
the cause of cleaning up the Congress has ground to a halt.
  We should kill pensions for Members of Congress convicted of a 
felony. And after passing a shadow bill in January, this action has 
completely stalled. No action in February, March, April, May or June.
  Now the real surprise. Despite promises of spending reform, 
Congressional leaders blocked efforts to stop funding the construction 
of the bridges to nowhere. That's right. Democratic leaders in Congress 
now support building the bridges to nowhere, one structure, connecting 
to an island with just 50 people, the other to an island with only 22, 
at a cost to the U.S. taxpayer of over $1 billion. Only 6 months into a 
new Congress, and now Congressional leaders do not want to kill 
pensions for Congressional felons, but do want to build the bridges to 
nowhere.

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