Congressman Cohen: Stop Congressional Pay Raises

“We’re in the midst of the most serious economic downturn in nearly a century, and it is unacceptable for our elected leaders to receive a raise while the rest of the country sees their savings slip away and their home values plummet,” said Congressman Cohen. “It’s time to step up and do the right thing.”

The bill was introduced yesterday by Congressmen Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) and Ron Paul (TX-14) who introduced similar legislation last year to block the 2009 pay raise. H.R. 5087 earned 34 bipartisan co-sponsors including Congressman Cohen. If the new Mitchell-Paul legislation becomes law, taxpayers would save approximately $2.5 million.

Sixty-three members of the U.S. House of Representatives have co-sponsored the bipartisan legislation to decline their own $4,700 scheduled pay raise in 2010. This signals the strongest demonstration of Capitol Hill support to block the automatic pay hike in recent years.

“Turning down our automatic pay increase this year is the least Congress could do to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and solidarity with our constituents in these tough economic times,” stated Congressman Paul.

In 1989, Congress passed a law that provides lawmakers with an automatic pay raise every January unless they vote specifically to reject the raise.

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