[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3805]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RETURN THE 27TH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION TO ITS ORIGINAL INTENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Barrow) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARROW of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my 
colleagues to join me in support of H.J. Res. 33, which would reshape 
the way Washington operates.
  Because Congress has failed to do its job to find the spending cuts 
we need to replace the sequester, folks all across this country, 
including folks in my district in Georgia, will pay the price.
  Unfortunately, in Washington there are rules that prevent Members of 
Congress from being penalized for not doing their jobs. The 
Constitution doesn't protect the pay of folks back home, so why should 
it protect the pay of Members of Congress?
  The 27th Amendment of the Constitution was written to prevent Members 
of Congress from giving themselves pay increases, but lately it has 
been used as a shield to prevent a congressional pay cut. My proposal, 
H.J. Res. 33, would return the 27th Amendment to its original intent 
and hold Members of Congress to the same standard as folks back home.
  I urge my colleagues to support this proposal.

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