WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08) met with Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-CA-47) Tuesday to discuss the importance of redistricting reform and ending political gerrymandering. While serving in the California State Legislature, Rep. Lowenthal helped author legislation creating the state’s first ever Bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission.

On his first day in Congress, Fitzpatrick introduced a series of sweeping government reform measures including the Citizen Legislature Anti-Corruption Reform (CLEAN) Act [H.R. 145] which calls for – among other policies - reforming the broken Gerrymandering process by moving all redistricting to independent, non-partisan citizen commissions.

“[A]s a former anti-corruption FBI special agent, I’ve seen the brokenness in our system and I know the real-life impact that it has: soft and hard corruption that tilts the legislative agenda towards special interests; electoral complacency that causes lawmakers to focus on accumulating power rather than serving constituents; and entrenched partisanship that grinds the gears of government to a halt,” said Fitzpatrick in a speech on the House floor. “Mr. Speaker, Washington needs fewer politicians and more independent voices focused on serving the American people.  They are the reason we are here.  Let’s not let them down.  The time is now to answer their call to fix this system, so we can then get to addressing the challenges we face as a nation.”

Also included in Fitzpatrick's reform agenda:

Term Limits for Members of Congress (Constitutional amdt.)

• Limits members of the House of Representatives and Senate to 12 years of service total

No Budget, No Pay (Constitutional amdt.)

• Prevents members of Congress from being paid unless a budget is passed. Goes further than previous iterations of No Budget, No Pay by docking pay for time without a budget as opposed to simply putting member salaries in escrow until end of term.

Balanced Budget Amendment (Constitutional amdt.)

• Requires Congress to adopt a budget that balances like most states, including Pennsylvania, and municipalities

Citizen Legislature Anti-Corruption Reform (CLEAN) Act (H.R)

• Ends Congressional “pensions for life” and directs members toward standard 401K retirement savings accounts
• Requires Congress to act on single-issue legislation
• Codifies that all laws passed by Congress must apply to its members
• Reforms the broken “Gerrymandering” process by moving all redistricting to independent, non-partisan commissions
• Allows access to political party primaries for Independents or non-affiliated voters