Lawmakers include themselves in proposed raise
If approved, salaries to reach $158,000
September 4, 2003 cnn.com
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress, along with more than 1 million other civilian government workers, are in line for a 4.1 percent pay raise next year under legislation moving through the House Thursday.
The legislation, if approved by Congress and signed by the president, would mark the fourth straight year that lawmakers have included themselves as part of annual pay raises for federal employees. It would boost salaries for representatives and senators to about $158,000 a year from the present $154,700.
Lawmakers automatically gain the pay raises approved for federal workers unless a member seeks a separate vote on their pay. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, sought to do so but lost on a procedural vote 240-173. About an equal number of Republicans and Democrats supported a separate vote on the issue.
"We need to show the American people that we are willing to make sacrifices," Matheson said.
Lawmakers' salaries were frozen at $133,600 from 1993 to 1997, stood at $136,700 the next two years and have risen annually since then.
The pay raises were included in an $89.3 billion spending bill for Transportation and Treasury Department programs in the budget year starting in October.
The 4.1 percent raise more than doubles the 2 percent recommended by President Bush, who cited the costs of the war on terrorism in seeking a lower rate.
A final vote on the bill, which still must be considered by the Senate, was expected later Thursday. Top