[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1878-1879]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PENSION-KILLING BILL FALLS SHORT

  (Mr. TERRY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today that we are going to take up 
a bill to deny a Member who has been convicted of bribery their 
pension.

[[Page 1879]]

  Over a year ago, I introduced the first bill to deny a Member a 
pension when they have been convicted of a felony such as bribery. Two 
of my other Republican colleagues stood with me at that press 
conference and also submitted their own bills. It was actually brought 
up for a vote last May, and amazingly the Democratic leadership in 
total voted against denying pensions to Members of the House of 
Representatives convicted of bribery, but yet we stand here today with 
a new Member introducing a bill that falls substantially short.
  And, by the way, I am happy that this bill is coming to the floor. I 
really believe it has been the unified pressure of Mark Steven Kirk, 
John Shadegg, and myself for the last year, including the first day of 
the session this year, in coming to the House floor and saying we need 
this bill. That is the reason that it is here today, even though we are 
being denied our participation in that process.

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