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Untitled document
September 19, 2012
WASHINGTON – Noting that Congress and the Administration have yet to enact a plan to avert the damaging consequences of sequestration, Congressman Charles F. Bass (R-NH-02) is introducing bipartisan legislation this evening with Congressmen Robert Dold (R-IL-10) and Jim Matheson (D-UT-02) that will reduce the salaries of the President, Vice President, and Members of Congress if sequestration takes effect in January.
The Member Pay Reduction and Responsibility Act will reduce the salaries of the President, Vice President, Senators, and Members of Congress by an amount equal to the percentage reduction in non-exempt, non-defense discretionary spending, projected by the Office of Management and Budget to be 8.2 percent, if the sequester moves forward on January 2, 2013. As the Office of Management and Budget stated in their recent report, few areas of the federal budget will be spared from the cuts – except for the salaries of the President, Vice President, Senators, and Members of Congress.
Bass said:
"We all know the negative impact that sequestration will have and we also know that we can solve this problem if the House, Senate, and the President work together in a bipartisan manner to find a solution. If Congress and the President fail to do so, my legislation will simply ensure fairness by applying the same reductions to the salaries of Members of Congress, the President, and Vice President that domestic spending programs will face.
"I have said time and again that we can find a bipartisan approach to solving these looming problems. There is still time for Congress and the Administration to put partisan posturing aside and work together. It is only through compromise that we will achieve real solutions and it's what the people of New Hampshire and our country expect and deserve."
Bass was one of eight Republicans and Democrats to cosponsor the only bipartisan budget plan earlier this year, modeled after the Simpson-Bowles Commission's recommendations, which would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years through a combination of comprehensive tax reform and responsible spending reductions. The plan would have also eliminated the automatic across-the-board cuts under sequestration.
The President and Senate Leadership have yet to offer a plan to avert sequestration.
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