Senators vote to extend freeze on automatic cost-of-living raises

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted last week to block a pay raise for members of Congress next year.

The salaries for rank-and-file members of Congress already are frozen at $174,000 for this year. The bill approved by voice vote would extend the freeze on an annual cost-of-living adjustment through 2011.

"Members of Congress have had a lot of perks, but one of them stands out; that is, the ability to raise their own pay," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. "Not many Americans have the power to give themselves a raise whenever they want, no matter how they are performing.

"With so many Americans looking for jobs and trying to figure out how to pay their bills, now is no time to give ourselves a taxpayer-funded $1,600 pay increase," Feingold said.

The House most likely will follow suit in blocking the raise, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has said.

Congress passed a law in 1989 that automatically grants cost-of-living adjustments in lawmakers' salaries each year, although they have passed bills on several occasions turning down the money.

The last pay raise took effect Jan. 1, 2009.

House and Senate leaders are paid $193,400.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is paid $223,500.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.