Senate Freezes Congress’ Pay 5th Straight Year

WASHINGTON — The Senate decided Thursday that congressional pay should remain frozen for a fifth straight year.

By voice vote, the Senate accepted an amendment to a Treasury Department spending bill stating that Congress members will receive no cost-of-living raise to their $133,600 salaries in fiscal 1998. The House can’t enact a pay raise without Senate approval.

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) said it would be inappropriate to receive cost-of-living increases at a time of tight budget restraints and cuts in many federal programs.

But Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said: “We will witness the decline in the value of the Congress to the American society if we don’t have the guts to stand up to the demagogue and tell them the pay for the Congress ought to be sufficient to attract the most capable people in our society.”

Wellstone disagreed: “Don’t tell me that the reason people don’t run for office . . . is because they now are finding out they are only going to make $133,000 a year. I think that’s ridiculous.”