[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1499-E1500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE BALANCE THE BUDGET FIRST ACT OF 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JON CHRISTENSEN

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 2, 1996

  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation that will 
repeal the automatic annual pay adjustment for Members of Congress that 
was written into law by a previous Democratic Congress, making clear 
that

[[Page E1500]]

pay for Members should not be increased until the Federal budget has 
been balanced.
  I decided to introduce this legislation for two reasons. First, as 
public servants, we shouldn't be accepting automatic, backdoor annual 
pay increases. I believe that pay raises for Members of Congress should 
only happen after debate in the open, on the House floor, so that the 
American people will know that we are doing.
  Second, I believe that this body has no business accepting a pay 
raise until we've balanced the budget. This body has been granted a 
public trust by the American people to keep our Nation's fiscal house 
in order, and the Congresses of yesteryear have not kept their part of 
the bargain. Instead, Congress has run up a $5 trillion national debt 
that our children and grandchildren will have to pay off.
  While I know that some Members have been in Washington so long that 
they view the act of balancing the budget as an exercise in futility, 
the simple truth is that we can balance the budget in 6 more years if 
we have the political will to do so. When this body shows the fortitude 
to balance the Federal budget, then, and only then, will we be 
deserving of a pay raise.

                          ____________________