[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3071 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3071

     To provide for a freeze on the pay of Members of Congress and 
   appropriations for certain congressional offices until there are 
  sufficient improvements in the national unemployment rate, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 4, 2010

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide for a freeze on the pay of Members of Congress and 
   appropriations for certain congressional offices until there are 
  sufficient improvements in the national unemployment rate, 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 ``Congressional Pay Freeze Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the national unemployment rate remained at or exceeded 
        10 percent throughout each month of the fourth quarter of 
        calendar year 2009;
            (2) the national unemployment rate remained at or exceeded 
        9.4 percent for each month of the third quarter of calendar 
        year 2009;
            (3) in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2009, the 
        national unemployment rate reached its highest level since 
        1983;
            (4) in 2009, the number of mass layoff events (as defined 
        by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor) 
        totaled 28,030, the highest number of mass layoff events 
        recorded since 1996, the first year for which this data became 
        available;
            (5) according to Christina Romer of the Council of Economic 
        Advisors, more than 7,000,000 Americans lost their jobs from 
        December 2007 to December 2009;
            (6) in December 2009, 39.8 percent of unemployed persons 
        had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more;
            (7) until the jobs numbers in the United States steadily 
        improve for 4 consecutive quarters, Members of Congress and 
        their offices should not get a cost of living adjustment or 
        other salary increase; and
            (8) until Congress makes the difficult decisions necessary 
        to get annual Federal budget deficits under control, Members of 
        Congress should not get a cost of living adjustment or other 
        pay increase.

SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Members of Congress'' 
means the Members of Congress described under section 601(a)(1) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31(1)).
    (b) Restrictions.--
            (1) Restriction on cola adjustments.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law, no adjustment shall be made under 
        section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 
        U.S.C. 31) (relating to cost of living adjustments for Members 
        of Congress) during any fiscal year, until the Bureau of Labor 
        Statistics average of monthly unemployment rates for a quarter 
        decreases for 4 consecutive quarters with respect to quarters 
        which begin after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Restriction on pay increases.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law, no increase may be made to the pay of 
        Members of Congress during any fiscal year, until the Bureau of 
        Labor Statistics average of monthly unemployment rates for a 
        quarter decreases for 4 consecutive quarters with respect to 
        quarters which begin after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON APPROPRIATIONS FOR CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES AND 
              COMMITTEES.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``congressional 
leadership office'' means--
            (1) in the Senate--
                    (A) the Office of the President Pro Tempore;
                    (B) the Offices of the Majority and Minority 
                Leaders; and
                    (C) the Offices of the Majority and Minority Whips; 
                and
            (2) in the House of Representatives, any office 
        appropriated funds from the appropriations account under the 
        heading ``house leadership offices''.
    (b) Restriction.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
amount of appropriations for any office of a Member of Congress, any 
committee of the Senate or House of Representatives, or any 
congressional leadership office may not exceed the amount of 
appropriations for that office or committee in fiscal year 2010, until 
the fiscal year following a report submitted by the Secretary of Labor 
under section 5(a).

SEC. 5. DETERMINATIONS AND REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor shall submit a report to 
Congress whenever the Secretary determines that the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics average of monthly unemployment rates for a quarter 
decreases for 4 consecutive quarters with respect to quarters which 
begin after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Restriction of COLA Adjustments.--Not later than the end of 
each calendar year, the Secretary of Labor shall submit a report to the 
Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Administrative Officer of the 
House of Representatives on--
            (1) any determination made under subsection (a); and
            (2) whether or not the restriction under section 3(b)(1) 
        shall apply to the succeeding fiscal year.
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