[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S392-S393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S. 252. A bill to repeal the provision of law that provides automatic 
pay adjustments for Members of Congress; to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am pleased to reintroduce legislation 
that would put an end to automatic pay raises for Members of Congress.
  As I have noted when I raised this issue in past years, Congress has 
the authority to raise its own pay, something that most of our 
constituents cannot do. Because this is such a singular power, Congress 
ought to exercise it openly, and subject to regular procedures 
including debate, amendment, and a vote on the record.
  But current law allows Congress to avoid that public debate and vote. 
All that is necessary for Congress to get a pay raise is that nothing 
be done to stop it. The annual pay raise takes effect unless Congress 
acts.
  This stealth pay raise mechanism began with a change Congress enacted 
in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989. In section 704 of that Act, Members 
of Congress voted to make themselves entitled to an annual raise equal 
to half a percentage point less than the employment cost index, one 
measure of inflation.
  On occasion, Congress has voted to deny itself the raise, and the 
traditional vehicle for the pay raise vote is the Treasury 
appropriations bill. But that vehicle is not always made available to 
those who want a public debate and vote on the matter. Just last year, 
for example, the Senate did not consider the Treasury appropriations 
bill. Instead, we passed a series of continuing resolutions to fund 
government operations usually addressed in that bill and other 
appropriations bills that were not taken up. Because of that, Senators 
were effectively prevented from offering an amendment to force an up or 
down vote on the annual pay raise. And that situation was not unique.
  As I have noted in the past, getting a vote on the annual 
congressional pay raise is a haphazard affair at best, and it should 
not be that way. The burden should not be on those who seek a public 
debate and recorded vote on the Member pay raise. On the contrary, 
Congress should have to act if it decides to award itself a hike in 
pay. This process of pay raises without accountability must end.
  This issue is not a new question. It was something that our Founders 
considered from the beginning of our Nation. In August of 1789, as part 
of the package of 12 amendments advocated by James Madison that 
included what has become our Bill of Rights, the House of 
Representatives passed an amendment to the Constitution providing that 
Congress could not raise its pay without an intervening election. On 
September 9, 1789, the Senate passed that amendment. In late September 
of 1789, Congress submitted the amendments to the States.
  Although the amendment on pay raises languished for two centuries, in 
the 1980s, a campaign began to ratify it. While I was a member of the 
Wisconsin State Senate, I was proud to help ratify the amendment. Its 
approval by the Michigan legislature on May 7, 1992, gave it the needed 
approval by three-fourths of the States.
  The 27th Amendment to the Constitution now states: ``No law, varying 
the compensation for the services of the senators and representatives, 
shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have 
intervened.''
  I honor that limitation. Throughout my 6-year term, I accept only the 
rate of pay that Senators receive on the date on which I was sworn in 
as a Senator. And I return to the Treasury any additional income 
Senators get, whether from a cost-of-living adjustment or a pay raise 
we vote for ourselves. I don't take a raise until my bosses, the people 
of Wisconsin, give me one at the ballot box. That is the spirit of the 
27th Amendment. The stealth pay raises like the one that Congress 
allowed for 2006 certainly violate the spirit of that amendment at the 
very least.
  This practice must end and this bill will end it. Senators and 
Congressmen should have to vote up-or-down to raise Congressional pay, 
and my bill would require just that. We owe our constituents nothing 
less.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 252

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

     SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR 
                   MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

       (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 601(a) of the 
     Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) is 
     repealed.

[[Page S393]]

       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--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'' and inserting ``adjusted as provided by law''.
       (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on 
     February 1, 2009.
                                 ______