[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1326 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1326

 To eliminate certain benefits for Members of Congress, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 1, 1999

   Mr. Frist introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
           referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To eliminate certain benefits for Members of Congress, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Citizen Congress Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON RETIREMENT COVERAGE FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
effective at the beginning of the Congress next beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, a Member of Congress shall be 
ineligible to participate in the Civil Service Retirement System or the 
Federal Employees' Retirement System, except as otherwise provided 
under this section.
    (b) Participation in the Thrift Savings Plan.--Notwithstanding 
subsection (a), a Member may participate in the Thrift Savings Plan 
subject to section 8351 if title 5, United States Code, at anytime 
during the 12-year period beginning on the date the Member begins his 
or her first term.
    (c) Refunds of Contributions.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in subsection (a) shall prevent 
        refunds from being made, in accordance with otherwise 
        applicable provisions of law (including those relating to the 
        Thrift Savings Plan), on account of an individual's becoming 
        ineligible to participate in the Civil Service Retirement 
        System or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (as the case 
        may be) as a result of the enactment of this section.
            (2) Treatment of refund.--For purposes of any refund 
        referred to in paragraph (1), a Member who so becomes 
        ineligible to participate in either of the retirement systems 
        referred to in paragraph (1) shall be treated in the same way 
        as if separated from service.
    (d) Annuities Not Affected to the Extent Based on Prior Service.--
Subsection (a) shall not be considered to affect--
            (1) any annuity (or other benefit) entitlement which is 
        based on a separation from service occurring before the date of 
        the enactment of this Act (including any survivor annuity based 
        on the death of the individual who so separated); or
            (2) any other annuity (or benefit), to the extent provided 
        under subsection (e).
    (e) Preservations of Rights Based on Prior Service.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of determining eligibility 
        for, or the amount of, any annuity (or other benefit) referred 
        to in subsection (d)(2) based on service as a Member of 
        Congress--
                    (A) all service as a Member of Congress shall be 
                disregarded except for any such service performed 
                before the date of the enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) all pay for service performed as a Member of 
                Congress shall be disregarded other than pay for 
                service which may be taken into account under 
                subparagraph (A).
            (2) Preservation of rights.--To the extent practicable, 
        eligibility for, and the amount of, any annuity (or other 
        benefit) to which an individual is entitled based on a 
        separation of a Member of Congress occurring after such Member 
        becomes ineligible to participate in the Civil Service 
        Retirement System or the Federal Employees' Retirement System 
        (as the case may be) by reason of subsection (a) shall be 
        determined in a manner that preserves any rights to which the 
        Member would have been entitled, as of the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, had separation occurred on such date.
    (f) Regulations.--Any regulations necessary to carry out this 
section may be prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management and the 
Executive Director (referred to in section 8401(13) of title 5, United 
States Code) with respect to matters within their respective areas of 
responsibility.
    (g) Definition.--In this section, the terms ``Member of Congress'' 
and ``Member'' have the meaning of the term ``Member'' as defined under 
section 8331(2) or 8401(20) of title 5, United States Code.
    (h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
considered to apply with respect to any savings plan or other matter 
outside of subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, 
United States Code.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF ESTIMATES OF FEDERAL RETIREMENT BENEFITS OF 
              MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Section 105(a) of the Legislative Branch 
Appropriations Act, 1965 (2 U.S.C. 104a; Public Law 88-454; 78 Stat. 
550) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(5) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives shall include in each report submitted under paragraph 
(1), with respect to Members of Congress, as applicable--
            ``(A) the total amount of individual contributions made by 
        each Member to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund 
        and the Thrift Savings Fund under chapters 83 and 84 of title 
        5, United States Code, for all Federal service performed by the 
        Member as a Member of Congress and as a Federal employee;
            ``(B) an estimate of the annuity each Member would be 
        entitled to receive under chapters 83 and 84 of such title 
        based on the earliest possible date to receive annuity payments 
        by reason of retirement (other than disability retirement) 
        which begins after the date of expiration of the term of office 
        such Member is serving; and
            ``(C) any other information necessary to enable the public 
        to accurately compute the Federal retirement benefits of each 
        Member based on various assumptions of years of service and age 
        of separation from service by reason of retirement.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC ANNUITY ADJUSTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF 
              CONGRESS.

    The portion of the annuity of a Member of Congress which is based 
solely on service as a Member of Congress shall not be subject to a 
cost-of-living adjustment under section 8340 or 8462 of title 5, United 
States Code.

SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF 
              CONGRESS.

    (a) Pay Adjustments.--Paragraph (2) of section 601(a) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) is repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 601(a)(1) of such Act is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``(a)(1)'' and inserting ``(a)'';
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as 
        paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; and
            (3) by striking ``, as adjusted by paragraph (2) of this 
        subsection''.

SEC. 6. ROLLCALL VOTE FOR ANY CONGRESSIONAL PAY RAISE.

    It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of 
Representatives to dispose of any amendment, bill, resolution, motion, 
or other matter relating to the pay of Members of Congress unless the 
matter is decided by a rollcall vote.
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