II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2041

To provide that pay for Members of Congress be reduced following any 

fiscal year in which there is a Federal deficit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2004

Mr. MILLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs 

A BILL

To provide that pay for Members of Congress be reduced 

following any fiscal year in which there is a Federal deficit.

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 ‘‘Fiscal Responsibility 

5 Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For the purpose of this Act— 

8 (1) a ‘‘deficit’’ shall be considered to exist in a 

9 fiscal year if total budget outlays of the Government 

10 for such fiscal year exceed total revenues of the Gov-
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1 ernment for such fiscal year (as determined under 

2 section 3(d)); and 

3 (2) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ or ‘‘Mem4 ber’’ means an individual serving in a position re5 ferred to in section 601(a)(1) of the Legislative Re6 organization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31(1)). 

7 SEC. 3. EFFECT OF A DEFICIT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, if there is a deficit in a fiscal year, then— 

10 (1) any pay adjustment for Members of Con11 gress scheduled to take effect under section 601(a) 

12 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 

13 U.S.C. 31) in the succeeding calendar year shall be 

14 null and void; and 

15 (2) effective as of the first day of the first pay 

16 period beginning in that succeeding calendar year, 

17 rates of basic pay for Members of Congress shall be 

18 reduced (from the rate in effect as of the day before 

19 the start of such succeeding calendar year) by the 

20 amount determined under subsection (b), but not 

21 below zero. 

22 (b) REDUCTIONS REQUIRED.—The reduction re23 quired under this subsection is as follows: 

24 (1) If the reduction is to take effect in a cal25 endar year that does not immediately follow another 
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1 calendar year in which a reduction under this sec2 tion was made, the reduction amount shall be equal 

3 to 5 percent of the rate of basic pay last in effect 

4 before such reduction is made. 

5 (2) If the reduction is to take effect in a cal6 endar year that immediately follows another cal7 endar year in which a reduction under this section 

8 was made, the reduction amount shall be equal to 10 

9 percent of the rate of basic pay last in effect before 

10 the most recent reduction under paragraph (1) was 

11 made. 

12 (c) CONDITIONS FOR RESTORATION.—If, following 

13 one or more years in which Members’ pay is reduced under 

14 this Act, there occurs a fiscal year in which there is no 

15 deficit, then, effective as of the first day of the first pay 

16 period in the succeeding calendar year (and until another 

17 deficit triggering the preceding provisions of this section 

18 occurs)— 

19 (1) rates of basic pay for Members shall be re20 stored to the highest rate that was at any time pre21 viously payable for the office involved; and 

22 (2) pay adjustments scheduled to take effect on 

23 or after such first day under the provision of law re24 ferred to in subsection (a)(1) shall be effective. 
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1 (d) DETERMINATIONS.—Determinations of whether 

2 or not a deficit exists in any fiscal year shall, for purposes 

3 of this Act, be made by the Director of the Congressional 

4 Budget Office. In making any such determination, the Di5 rector shall exclude any budget outlays which (as deter6 mined by the Director) directly relate to a military conflict 

7 that lasts over 30 days or that is in direct response to 

8 a terrorist attack on the United States. 

9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 This Act shall take effect on the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, except that no determination under sec12 tion 3(d) shall be made with respect to any fiscal year 

13 before fiscal year 2005.

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