Rep. Gary Peters to Keep Fighting to Block Lawmaker Pay in Shutdown

Press Release

Representative Gary Peters said today he will not give up the fight to block lawmakers from receiving paychecks in the event of a government shutdown.

On Friday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives defeated a proposal co-authored by Rep. Peters that would stop Congressional pay if the government shuts down next week.

"Congress needs to be held accountable to the American people, and it's absurd that lawmakers would keep getting paid if the rest of the government shuts down," said Rep. Peters. "Republicans and Democrats need to start working together now to find bipartisan solutions to cut the deficit, but if they can't put aside partisanship to solve problems, they shouldn't get a paycheck."

Earlier this year, Peters cosponsored the Government Shutdown Fairness Act (H.R. 819), which would prohibit members of Congress from receiving a salary if any federal department is without funding for more than 24 hours, or if the government reaches the federal debt limit and is unable to meet its obligations. A companion bill (S. 388) was passed in the Senate on March 1, 2011.

Today, House Democrats brought forward the text of Peters' bill as an alternative to a Republican budget bill that has been widely decried as unconstitutional. In the end, only one Republican broke ranks and voted for Peters' measure to block Congressional salaries, and the motion was defeated 237 to 188.

Under current law, Congressional salaries are funded by a permanent appropriation, meaning that they would be unaffected by a government shutdown.

Rep. Peters pledged to keep working to hold Congress accountable for its actions and to ensure that lawmakers are not paid if they fail to pass a budget.

Peters has already had success this year in leading a bipartisan initiative to reduce the deficit. Peters' first legislative proposal of the year was an amendment to require funds to be used for deficit reduction instead of increased spending -- and it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Peters also teamed up with Republican Rep. Cory Gardner from Colorado to introduce two separate, bipartisan bills to force Congress to address the problem of wasteful and redundant government spending.

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