Q. How is the salary of members of Congress determined?

A. Article 1, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the salary of members of Congress is to be set by Congress and signed into law by the President. The 27th Amendment to the Constitution states, “no law, varying the compensation for the services of the senators and representatives, shall take effect until an election of the representatives shall have intervened.” In 1789, senators were paid per diem, or per day, for each day the senator was present for session. An annual salary was given from 1815 to 1817, but the per diem method continued again from 1817 to 1855. The annual salary payment method has been used since 1855.

Q. Does Congress pass legislation every time it thinks an increase in salary is warranted?

A. Actually, no. Currently, members of Congress receive the automatic pay increase given to all federal employees each year, unless they pass legislation to block it. I've voted to block the increase for members of Congress every time I’ve had the chance, and I have supported efforts to permanently end the automatic pay increase. Last year, I cosponsored an amendment to the omnibus spending bill with Senator Vitter to abolish the automatic pay raise. That amendment was defeated, but public pressure led the Senate to pass a separate bill for that purpose.

Senator Russ Feingold and I are now leading a bipartisan group of 20 senators urging the House of Representatives to take up the legislation that the Senate passed in March 2009, which would end the automatic pay raise system for members of Congress.

Q. Are the House and Senate getting raises for 2010?

A. No, while the House has failed to bring up legislation to permanently stop the automatic pay raise system, both houses of Congress did vote to block pay raises for 2010 and 2011. This is a step in the right direction, but we need to stop this practice once and for all. Members who believe they deserve a raise should take on the responsibility of introducing legislation allowing for a raise. Then, every member ought to say yes or no on the record so the voters can hold them accountable. I know that I work for the people of Iowa and it is their hard-earned money that pays for the decisions made in Washington. I’ve fought congressional pay raises for a long time, and I’ll keep up the fight.