[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6108 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6108

  To reduce the pay of Members of Congress who miss votes because of 
              campaigning for election to another office.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2012

  Mr. Flores introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To reduce the pay of Members of Congress who miss votes because of 
              campaigning for election to another office.

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

SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN PAY OF MEMBERS WHO MISS VOTES BECAUSE OF 
              CAMPAIGNING FOR ELECTION TO OTHER OFFICE.

    (a) Reduction in Pay.--Section 601(a) of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter following subparagraph 
        (C), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``paragraphs 
        (2) and (3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Reduction in pay of members missing votes because of 
        campaigning for election to other office.--
                    ``(A) Members of the house.--
                            ``(i) Reduction.--If during a Congress a 
                        Member of the House of Representatives 
                        (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner 
                        to the Congress) is a candidate for election to 
                        any office other than the office of 
                        Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 
                        Commissioner to, the Congress, the rate of pay 
                        otherwise applicable to the Member for any 
                        month during that Congress shall be reduced by 
                        the Member's missed vote percentage for the 
                        most recent month prior to that month.
                            ``(ii) Missed vote percentage defined.--In 
                        this paragraph, the `missed vote percentage' of 
                        a Member of the House of Representatives 
                        described in clause (i) with respect to any 
                        month is equal to the percentage of votes taken 
                        in the House of Representatives during that 
                        month (including votes taken in the Committee 
                        of the Whole House on the State of the Union) 
                        for which the Member did not cast a vote 
                        because the Member was absent from the House on 
                        the day the vote was taken, unless on such day 
                        the Member did not engage in any campaign-
                        related activity for the election described in 
                        clause (i).
                            ``(iii) Duties of clerk.--The Clerk of the 
                        House of Representatives shall--
                                    ``(I) consult with the Federal 
                                Election Commission on an ongoing basis 
                                to determine which Members (if any) are 
                                candidates for election to any office 
                                other than the office of Representative 
                                in, or Delegate or Resident 
                                Commissioner to, the Congress; and
                                    ``(II) provide the Chief 
                                Administrative Officer of the House of 
                                Representatives with such information 
                                as the Chief Administrative Officer may 
                                require in order to carry out this 
                                subparagraph.
                    ``(B) Senators.--
                            ``(i) Reduction.--If during a Congress a 
                        Senator is a candidate for election to any 
                        office other than the office of Senator, the 
                        rate of pay otherwise applicable to the Senator 
                        for any month during that Congress shall be 
                        reduced by the Senator's missed vote percentage 
                        for the most recent month prior to that month.
                            ``(ii) Missed vote percentage defined.--In 
                        this paragraph, the `missed vote percentage' of 
                        a Senator described in clause (i) with respect 
                        to any month is equal to the percentage of 
                        votes taken in the Senate during that month for 
                        which the Senator did not cast a vote because 
                        the Senator was absent from the Senate on the 
                        day the vote was taken, unless on such day the 
                        Senator did not engage in any campaign-related 
                        activity for the election described in clause 
                        (i).
                            ``(iii) Duties of secretary.--The Secretary 
                        of the Senate shall consult with the Federal 
                        Election Commission on an ongoing basis to 
                        determine which Senators (if any) are 
                        candidates for election to any office other 
                        than the office of Senator.
                    ``(C) Transfer of funds to reduce the public 
                debt.--For each fiscal year, the Secretary of the 
                Treasury shall transfer from the general fund of the 
                Treasury to the account established by section 3113(d) 
                of title 31, United States Code, an amount equal to the 
                difference between the aggregate amount expended for 
                the pay of Members of Congress for the fiscal year and 
                the aggregate amount that would have been expended for 
                the pay of Members of Congress for the fiscal year but 
                for the operation of this paragraph.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect January 1, 2013.
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