[StBernard] Fighting Against Automatic Pay Raises for Congress

[Westley Annis]

Dear  Friend,


	

Last week, I introduced an amendment to the massive omnibus spending bill
that would repeal automatic pay raises for members of Congress. 

	

My amendment is similar to a stand-alone bill that I recently introduced to
achieve the same goal - ending automatic pay raises for Congress.  

	

In these tough economic times, when many Americans are making sacrifices,
pay raises for many employees are being put on hold.  In Congress, though,
pay raises happen automatically.  

	

Last year in Louisiana, the state Legislature tried to give itself a large
pay increase with a bill that would have ultimately also made future pay
increases automatic. Louisianans were rightly outraged and called for the
bill's defeat.  When it was reported that Congress received an automatic pay
raise of $4,700 while our nation is in the midst of a major economic crisis,
Americans were again outraged.  

	

Most Americans do not enjoy an automatic formula to increase their pay.
Congress shouldn't have that benefit either. That's why I offered my
amendment and am working to end the automatic pay raise for Congress.  

	

After being blocked for most of last week from offering this amendment by
the Majority Leader who was using his authority to cherry-pick only the
amendments that he wanted to have debated, I was finally able to get a roll
call vote for this important amendment on Tuesday.   To view a video clip of
this debate  click here <http://davidvitter.blip.tv/file/1849598> . 

	

I hope that as the Senate votes on my amendment, senators will remember that
we're here to serve our constituents in our states, and therefore our
compensation for that service should be publicly debated and not
automatically doled out through a mechanism in the law.




Sincerely,
David Vitter
U.S.  Senator