[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 27 (Friday, February 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           NO BUDGET, NO PAY

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Every year around this time, the President submits a 
budget, the House and Senate debate their own budgets and, well, 
nothing happens. Congress has not adopted a budget in over 1,000 days, 
and it's been 15 years since Congress passed all of its appropriations 
bills on time. This is simply unacceptable, and that's why I ask my 
colleagues to join me and the bipartisan cosponsors of the No Budget, 
No Pay Act.
  This bill is simple. It says that if Congress can't complete its 
work, if the budget and appropriations bills are not done on time, then 
congressional pay would cease and Members of Congress would not be paid 
until those bills are enacted. Members could not receive their lost 
salaries retroactively. Once pay is withheld, it's gone forever.
  Somehow, I think if this bill were law, Members would find a new 
urgency and finally find a way to get their work done on time.

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