Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is once again working to end the back-door pay raise system for members of Congress.  Feingold is introducing legislation to end the system put in place nearly 20 years ago which gives members of Congress an automatic annual pay raise unless they act to stop it.  Feingold has offered legislation in the past to force Congress to vote on the record on whether or not to give itself a raise.  Feingold does not accept pay raises during his six-year term, following through on a pledge he made during his first campaign for U.S. Senate in 1992.  All the pay he receives during his six-year term above that level available at the beginning of his term is returned to the Treasury Department.

“Since Congress has the authority to give itself a pay raise - something most Americans do not have – it should exercise that authority out in the open,” Feingold said.  “But despite rising unemployment numbers and unprecedented economic challenges, Congress quietly received a pay raise this month – with no debate and no vote.”  

In 2005, Feingold worked with Republican Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) to try to block the automatic pay raise for the next fiscal year through an amendment to an appropriations bill.  The Senate passed the measure but it was stripped out in negotiations with the House of Representatives, whose leadership opposed it.  In January 2009, members of Congress were given a $4,700 raise through the stealth pay-raise system.  The pay raise followed a December 2008 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which put the national unemployment rate at 7.2 percent.  The Bureau stated that job losses in December 2008 “were large and widespread across most major industry sectors.”

“This stealth pay raise system must end and this legislation would end it,” Feingold said.  “If members of Congress think they deserve a raise, they should be open with their constituents and vote on it publicly.”