Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives may take up a longstanding effort by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress after Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) announced he will circulate a discharge petition to force the House to take up the legislation.  Earlier this year, the Senate passed legislation to terminate the automatic pay raise system for members of Congress.  However the legislation has not been brought up by House leadership.  If Massa is successful in getting a majority of representatives to sign the discharge petition, the House will then have to vote on the issue.

“I am grateful for Congressman Massa’s leadership on this effort to end the annual, stealth pay raises that members of Congress get, without any debate or vote,” Feingold said.  “With more and more Americans losing their jobs, it is inexcusable that members of Congress get automatic raises.  If members of Congress believe that they deserve a raise, they should be willing to vote on it in the open.”

“My first official act in Congress was to sign onto the bill ending automatic pay raises for Members of Congress.  At a time when American families are struggling to pay the bills, I don't think we should be giving members of Congress pay raises,” said Massa.

The legislation, S. 620, which was already passed by the Senate, terminates the automatic pay raise system effective December 31, 2010 so it would take effect prior to the scheduled 2011 pay raise.  That measure, authored by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), was similar to legislation Senator Feingold has introduced since 2000, most recently S. 317, introduced this past January.  Congress has already acted to eliminate the pay raise for 2010.  In January 2009, members of Congress were given a $4,700 raise through the stealth pay-raise system.  The pay raise followed a December 2008 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which put the national unemployment rate at 7.2 percent.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report for May, the unemployment rate has now risen to 9.4 percent.