Action Comes Nearly One Week after Obama Freezes White House Pay

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Gary Peters today signed onto legislation to freeze the salaries of Members of Congress.  Peters is cosponsoring H.R. 156, the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act of 2009, to prevent Members of Congress from receiving a pay raise until 2011.  Peters’ action comes less than a week after President Obama signed an executive order to freeze the pay of senior White House staff.

“We are facing the toughest recession we’ve seen in a generation,” said Rep. Peters.  “The U.S. lost over 55,000 jobs yesterday alone.  I believe that it would simply be inappropriate to accept a pay raise in the midst of this economic turmoil.  Congressional pay should be frozen as we work to find bipartisan solutions to get our economy growing again.”

Congressional pay raises are determined by a formula known as the Employment Cost Index, which is computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  This formula provides Members of Congress with a cost of living adjustment based on average cost of living increases in the private sector.  The congressional pay increase occurs automatically each year, and will result in a pay raise this year if legislation is not enacted to freeze Member pay. 

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