Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993 TAG: 9303050147
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
HOUSE OKS PAY FREEZE, BENEFITS
The House of Representatives, demonstrating personal devotion to the new doctrine of deficit reduction, followed the Senate's example and voted unanimously Thursday to freeze lawmakers' pay.The House voted 403-0 to skip a $2,762 raise that had been scheduled to take effect next Jan. 21.
The action - holding congressional pay at $133,644 for the next 22 months at least - came as the House gave final approval to a $5.7 billion measure to extend jobless benefits for an estimated 2 million Americans who will exhaust their regular unemployment compensation this year.
Virginia representatives voting to extend benefits were Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon; Leslie L. Byrne, D-Fairfax; James Moran, D-Alexandria; L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County; Robert C. Scott, D-Newport News; and Norman Sisisky, D-Petersburg.
Voting against the extension were Owen Pickett; D-Virginia Beach; Herbert Bateman, R-Newport News; Thomas J. Bliley, R-Richmond; Robert Goodlatte, R-Roanoke; and Frank Wolf, R-Fairfax County.
Only a few hours later, President Clinton signed the bill into law to continue the extended benefits program that otherwise would have expired at midnight Saturday.
"Some of the indicators are that we are coming out of a long and deep recession, but as all of you know this has been a slow, anemic recovery when it comes to job growth, especially," the president said at a White House signing ceremony.
"We have extended unemployment benefits - now it is time to extend jobs," Clinton added.
Former President Bush approved three previous extensions of the benefits, but in each case the legislation included necessary funding, in keeping with the "pay as you go" provisions of the 1990 budget agreement between Congress and the White House. The measure Clinton signed avoided those provisions by declaring the outlays were "an emergency."
Under the bill's provisions, jobless workers in six states with the highest unemployment rates will be eligible for up to 26 weeks of additional benefits while claimants in all other states will qualify for 20 more weeks of payments.
In deciding to forgo their cost-of-living adjustment, saving $2 million next year, Congress clearly hoped to send a signal to the public that it is eager to join in the "shared sacrifice" requested by the president to reduce red-ink spending.
"Members of Congress desire to show that they are going first," said Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., alluding to the impact on taxpayers later this year from the massive spending cuts and tax increases that are expected to be approved as part of Clinton's economic program.
But Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., said Congress had little choice.
"There is no way in the world we can justify taking a [raise] when we are asking all federal workers to freeze their pay," Berman said.