Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994                   TAG: 9501100045
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOSERS GO WITH RICH PENSIONS

Thanks to one of the most generous pension systems in the nation, defeated members with a dozen or more years in office stand to collect millions of dollars over the coming decades.

``A lot of voters are going to think they didn't lose an election - they won the lottery,'' said David Keating of the National Taxpayers Union, leader of a crusade to expose what he calls the ``grossly overgenerous'' pensions the lawmakers have arranged for themselves.

By far the biggest beneficiary will be House Speaker Thomas Foley, who conceded defeat Wednesday. Foley's pension begins at $122,478 next year, 70 percent of his speaker's pay, and he can expect to collect $3.2 million in lifetime benefits.

Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., defeated after a 36-year career in the House, is fighting a criminal indictment for misuse of public money. But even if he's convicted, the ex-chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee will have a steady income. At age 67, he'll begin collecting a pension of $96,462 next year.

Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Texas, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee ousted after 42 years, will be entitled to the same annual benefit, as will another veteran, Rep. Neal Smith, D-Iowa.

With annual cost-of-living increases in their benefits, these former lawmakers can expect to receive more than $1 million each in total benefits during their retirement.

In Tennessee, Sen. Jim Sasser, who had been poised to become the Democratic leader, was forced to defend his pension entitlement against attacks from Republican challenger Bill Frist.

A loser in his re-election bid, Sasser at age 59 will be able to draw $53,289 next year in pension benefits. He can expect to draw more than $2 million in payments over his lifetime.

Amid public fury at Congress in general and at longtime incumbents in particular, rich pensions have become one more irritant.

Pension experts say the congressional retirement system exceeds most plans in private enterprise, largely because of the annual increase to keep pace with inflation. Very few private programs offer such automatic adjustments.

Also, private companies are required by Congress to set aside funds for pension plans for their workers, but Congress has not applied that rule to itself.

Consequently, the federal government has pension obligations of more than $1.5 trillion, with no separate pension reserves.