I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 211 

To reduce the annual rate of pay of Members of Congress if a Government 

shutdown occurs during a year, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Mr. COOPER, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. CORREA, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. WELCH, 

Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. SPANBERGER, and Mr. ROSE of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight 

and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reduce the annual rate of pay of Members of Congress 

if a Government shutdown occurs during a year, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hold Congress Ac5 countable Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING REDUCTION OF PAY OF MEMBERS OF 

2 CONGRESS IF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN OC3 CURS. 

4 (a) REDUCTION OF PAY FOR EACH DAY OF GOVERN5 MENT SHUTDOWN.—If on any day during a year a Gov6 ernment shutdown is in effect, the annual rate of pay ap7 plicable under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorga8 nization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) with respect to each 

9 Member of Congress for the year shall be reduced by an 

10 amount equal to the product of— 

11 (1) an amount equal to one day’s worth of pay 

12 under such annual rate; and 

13 (2) the number of 24-hour periods during which 

14 the Government shutdown is in effect. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

16 respect to days occurring after the date of the regularly 

17 scheduled general election for Federal office held in No18 vember 2020. 

19 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RULE FOR ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH 

20 CONGRESS. 

21 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any day 

22 during the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress a Govern23 ment shutdown is in effect, the payroll administrator of 

24 that House of Congress shall— 

25 (1) withhold from the payments otherwise re26 quired to be made with respect to a pay period for 


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1 the compensation of each Member of Congress who 

2 serves in that House of Congress an amount equal 

3 to the product of— 

4 (A) an amount equal to one day’s worth of 

5 pay under the annual rate of pay applicable to 

6 the Member under section 601(a) of the Legis7 lative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 

8 4501); and 

9 (B) the number of 24-hour periods during 

10 which the Government shutdown is in effect 

11 which occur during the pay period; and 

12 (2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts 

13 withheld under paragraph (1). 

14 (b) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE CON15 GRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is carried out 

16 in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Sen17 ators or Representatives in violation of the twenty-seventh 

18 article of amendment to the Constitution of the United 

19 States, the payroll administrator of a House of Congress 

20 shall release for payments to Members of that House of 

21 Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow account 

22 under this section on the last day of the One Hundred 

23 Sixteenth Congress. 

24 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 

25 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll adminVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H211.IH H211

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1 istrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance 

2 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators 

3 to carry out this section. 

4 (d) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 

5 section, the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of Con6 gress means— 

7 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 

8 the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 

9 Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 

10 Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 

11 the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 

12 section; and 

13 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 

14 the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec15 retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec16 retary to carry out this section. 

17 (e) EXCEPTION FOR DAYS OCCURRING AFTER GEN18 ERAL ELECTION.—This section does not apply with re19 spect to any day during the One Hundred Sixteenth Con20 gress which occurs after the date of the regularly sched21 uled general election for Federal office held in November 

22 2020. 

23 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. 

24 For purposes of this Act, a Government shutdown 

25 shall be considered to be in effect if there is a lapse in 


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1 appropriations for any Federal agency or department as 

2 a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill 

3 or continuing resolution. 

4 SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means 

6 an individual serving in a position under subparagraph 

7 (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a) of the Legislative Reor8 ganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501). 

Æ 


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