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To: Elwood P. Dowd who wrote (94232)	12/13/2001 2:46:28 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Respond to of 97611

Oh its a one and a two and a join me in some sepaku: Members of Congress set for $4,900 pay raise December 8, 2001 Posted: 4:12 PM EST (2112 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress are on their way to a $4,900 pay raise in January, thanks to a late-night move in the Senate that stopped an effort to block the salary hike. The 3.4 percent raise will hike members' annual salaries to $150,000. After a five-minute debate late Friday night, the Senate used a 65-33 procedural vote to defeat an effort by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wisconsin, to stop the increase from taking effect. Under a 1989 law, legislators get an annual cost-of-living raise unless the House and Senate vote to block it. The mechanism often lets increases take effect with little notice. [ed. note: neat, huh?] Feingold questioned the timing of a congressional pay boost when "our economy is in a recession and hundreds of thousands of workers have been laid off." He also noted that the string of four straight budget surpluses is now expected to end. Fourteen of the 30 senators running for re-election next year voted against the pay raise. Two who will retire in January -- Sens. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Strom Thurmond, R-South Carolina -- voted for the increase. A third retiree, Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina, did not vote. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, and Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, voted not to block the increase. The House has already passed legislation opening the door for the pay raise. The January increase will be the third congressional pay raise in the last four years. Feingold was blocked from trying to stop the pay raise earlier this year. The vote Friday came as the Senate debated the defense spending bill. cnn.com