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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994                   TAG: 9412070062
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONGRESS

LIKE THE phrase ``term limits,'' the word ``perks'' has come to express why many Americans are disgusted with Congress. The issue is mostly symbolic, but it matters. It speaks of an imperial class that claims for itself and takes for granted lifetime careers in politics and special privileges denied most ordinary citizens. (Who else, for example, gets to vote themselves pay raises?)

Pensions are a case in point. Many working Americans worry about whether they'll be able to maintain a comfortable standard of living upon retirement. Certainly few expect to get rich on pension benefits.

Yet, thanks to a generous pension plan Congress has approved for itself, many of its members can expect to collect more in taxpayers' pay upon retirement (whether voluntary or ordered by voters) than they earned annually while in public service. Some retirees will become millionaires.

For good cause have congressional pensions become one of several issues targeted by reformers - among them, 6th District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke. He's a sponsor of a bill that would put congressional pensions on a par with those for other federal employees. Under current law, congressional pensions are up to 20 percent higher than for other federal retirees. They're also considerably higher than most that can be earned in the private sector.

In part, the differential is due to automatic annual cost-of-living increases in congressional pensions. Few private pension programs offer automatic inflation adjustments. What's more, private companies are required by Congress to set aside funds for workers' pension plans, but Congress sets itself above this rule. As a result, congressional pension obligations of more than $1.5 trillion are pending for taxpayers to cover.

It could be argued that pension sweeteners compensate legislators who abandoned lucrative private careers and took on major expenses living part-time in Washington and their home districts. Those who choose public service do deserve fair compensation. But that should come, visibly, in salaries - not through the back door of retirement benefits.

It rankles that congressional pensions are flagrantly out of proportion and out of touch, and seem to establish Congress not as an opportunity to temporarily represent citizens, but as a privileged and permanent career.

by CNB