Edwards introduces bill to cancel August recess if appropriations work is not done

U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) today introduced the Do Our Job Act to make sure that Congress does not leave for the district work period in August unless all 12 annual appropriations bills are passed.

Edwards spoke on the House floor to highlight the need to fix how Washington works by making sure that the most important responsibility of the House of Representatives - passing bills that fund all parts of our government - is actually finished before members decamp for home.

Edwards’ full remarks as prepared for delivery are below, or you may watch online here.

“The American people don’t get to go home when their job’s not done, so why can Congress?

“In the nearly five decades that our current appropriations process has been in place, Congress has only passed all 12 bills four times. Four times in almost 50 years.

“As a small-business owner, if my employee had an 8 percent success rate, they wouldn’t be my employee much longer.

“The American people have been far too generous with us. As members of Congress, we work for them. We are here to represent their interests and keep the government running.

“It’s high time we take our responsibility seriously, put our heads down, and get to work passing appropriations bills each year.

“Congress is broken and we need to fix the way Washington works. So today, I’m introducing the Do Our Job Act. If our appropriations work is not done, we can’t go home.

“The American people deserve better than an 8 percent success rate for funding our government.”