“The American people want Congress to change the way we spend the people’s money.”

Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, delivered the following remarks today in support of earmark reform legislation introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA):

"The American people are tired of borrowing and spending and bailouts in Washington DC. They've gathered in town hall meetings, and tea parties, and rallies across this country for the last year-and-a-half to say "enough is enough." But it's not just runaway federal spending. The American people also want Congress to change the way we spend the people's money.

"And House Republicans took a historic step this year when we embraced a unilateral one-year ban on all earmarks. I commend Congressman Goodlatte, and stand with my other leaders in Congress to say that we should not only embrace a unilateral one-year ban on earmarks, but we should use the savings that the ban will impose to reduce the deficit. We should initiate a process to begin to literally change the way we spend the people's money going forward.

"But my focus today is simply to call on Speaker Pelosi to put the American people's money where her mouth is, to join us, Madame Speaker, in this unilateral one-year moratorium. And let's go to work in a bipartisan way to fundamentally restore public confidence in the budget process here in Washington, DC."

Background
The resolution introduced by Rep. Goodlatte would require that money saved from the Republican ban on earmarks be put toward deficit reduction. The resolution would also create a bipartisan and bicameral committee to review and overhaul the budgetary, spending, and earmark process. ###

Contact Matt Lloyd or Mary Vought at (202) 226-9000 or matt.lloyd@mail.house.gov