[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3143 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 322
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3143
To provide that Members of Congress shall not receive a pay increase
until the annual Federal budget deficit is eliminated.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 18, 2010
Mr. Coburn introduced the following bill; which was read the first time
March 19, 2010
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that Members of Congress shall not receive a pay increase
until the annual Federal budget deficit is eliminated.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``The No Pay Raise for Congress Until
the Budget is Balanced Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Article I, section 9, of the United States Constitution
makes Congress responsible for all money drawn from the United
States Treasury.
(2) The United States national debt now exceeds
$12,600,000,000,000.
(3) The Federal budget deficit is projected to amount to
$1,300,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and the annual deficits
will average nearly $1,000,000,000,000 for the next decade,
according to the Congressional Budget Office.
(4) Each American's share of the United States national
debt amounts to more than $41,000.
(5) The United States national debt increases more than
$4,000,000,000 each day.
(6) Foreign investors held 48 percent of the United States'
outstanding public debt at the end of 2009, including
$776,400,000,000 the United States owes to Communist China.
(7) For the first time ever, the Federal budget deficit has
been singled out as the most important issue facing the future
of the country, according to a Gallup poll conducted between
March 4 and March 7, 2010.
(8) Eighty-three percent of Americans say the size of the
Federal budget deficit is due to the unwillingness of
politicians to cut Government spending and just 11 percent
think the Government spends taxpayers' money wisely, according
to a national survey conducted between February 2 and February
3, 2010, by Rasmussen Reports.
(9) More than twice as many United States adults (58
percent) say that debt owed to China is a more serious threat
to the long-term security and well-being of the United States
than is terrorism from radical Islamic terrorists (27 percent),
according to a Zogby Interactive survey conducted between
February 17 and February 19, 2010.
(10) For the reasons specified in paragraphs (1) through
(9)--
(A) Congress should make balancing the Federal
budget an urgent priority to protect the national
security, financial stability, and standard of living
of the United States;
(B) because Congress has long refused to make the
tough decisions necessary to cut wasteful spending,
reducing the national debt limit is the only sure way
to force Congress to live within its means; and
(C) the pay for members of Congress, who are
constitutionally responsible for the money drawn from
the United States Treasury and the debt that results
from excessive spending, should not be increased until
Congress has balanced the Federal budget.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
(a) Restriction on COLA Adjustments.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no adjustment shall be made under section 601(a) of
the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) (relating to
cost of living adjustments for Members of Congress) during fiscal year
2011 or any succeeding fiscal year, until the fiscal year following the
first fiscal year that the annual Federal budget deficit is $0 as
determined in the report submitted under subsection (b).
(b) Determinations and Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the end of
each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall--
(A) make a determination of whether or not the
annual Federal budget deficit was $0 for that fiscal
year; and
(B) if the determination is that the annual Federal
budget deficit was $0 for that fiscal year, submit a
report to Congress of that determination.
(2) Restriction of cola adjustments.--Not later than the
end of each calendar year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
submit a report to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives on--
(A) any determination made under paragraph (1); and
(B) whether or not the restriction under subsection
(a) shall apply to the succeeding fiscal year.
SEC. 4. REDUCTION OF THE STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUBLIC DEBT.
Notwithstanding section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, or
any other provision of law, the dollar amount of the statutory limit on
the public debt under section 3101(b) of that title for the applicable
fiscal year shall be the following:
(1) Fiscal year 2011, $13,900,000,000,000.
(2) Fiscal year 2012, $13,700,000,000,000.
(3) Fiscal year 2013, $13,500,000,000,000.
(4) Fiscal year 2014, $12,300,000,000,000.
(5) Fiscal year 2015 and each fiscal year thereafter,
$12,100,000,000,000.
Calendar No. 322
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3143
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that Members of Congress shall not receive a pay increase
until the annual Federal budget deficit is eliminated.
_______________________________________________________________________
March 19, 2010
Read the second time and placed on the calendar