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Letter to John Boehner, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives - Congressional Pay

Letter

Date: April 5, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Government Operations Health Insurance

Dear Speaker Boehner:

We write to request a meeting with you to discuss House passage of S. 388, legislation to prohibit Members of Congress and the President from receiving any pay during a government shutdown.

Over one month has passed since the Senate unanimously passed this bill. Despite written requests for immediate House consideration from Senators and Representatives, you have failed to schedule a vote on stand-alone legislation that would treat Members of Congress and the President no differently from other federal employees during a government shutdown.

Our bill is simple: if we cannot do our work and keep the government functioning, we should not receive a paycheck. If we cannot compromise and meet each other halfway, then we should not be paid.

As we noted in a previous letter, while appearing on the CNN program "Crossfire" in 1995, you offered your support for a bill identical to S.388, so it is unclear why you have not scheduled a vote on stand-alone legislation. Embedding "no budget, no pay" in a bill that has no chance of passage, is not fooling anybody.

We request to meet with you as soon as possible, whether in person or via conference call, to discuss how we can work together to immediately send this legislation to the President.

Sincerely,

Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator

Mark Begich
United States Senator

Michael Bennet
United States Senator

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

Chris Coons
United States Senator

Kay Hagan
United States Senator

Tom Harkin
United States Senator

Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator

Joe Manchin, III
United States Senator

Claire McCaskill
United States Senator

Robert Menendez
United States Senator

Jeff Merkley
United States Senator

Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator

Ben Nelson
United States Senator

Jay Rockefeller
United States Senator

Jon Tester
United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator

Mark Warner
United States Senator

Ron Wyden
United States Senator


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