[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5611]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              DO YOUR JOB

  (Mr. GALLAGHER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, trust in government is at a record low, 
and it is not hard to see why.
  In 2016, Members of the House of Representatives were in session for 
a total of just 55 full legislative days. That is 55 days out of 365. 
In what other job are you allowed to work for just 55 days a year?
  Looking at this, it is not hard to understand why Congress has a 
lower approval rating than cockroaches, colonoscopies, and Genghis 
Khan.
  Despite working for 55 days out of the year, Members of this body are 
paid more than three times the median household income in America.
  Mr. Speaker, this is why I have introduced the Do Your Job Act, which 
would prohibit Congress from taking a recess until it passes a budget 
and funds the government. In other words, Congress can't take a 
vacation until it does its job. I know this sounds simple. But where I 
am from in northeast Wisconsin, if you don't do your job, you lose that 
job; if you don't finish your work, you do not collect a paycheck.
  Here we are just a day away from leaving this Chamber for a 2-week 
break from legislative activity, risking government shutdown, and yet 
we are leaving.
  This is unacceptable, and this is why I am standing before you today. 
I am urging all of my colleagues in the 115th Congress to unite behind 
a simple idea: let's work together and do our jobs.

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