Congress gives members pay raise. House to cut $700 mln in foodstamps

Senators on Tuesday agreed to give up their annual pay raise, saying they need to do their part to save the government a little money in light of the huge expenses from Hurricane Katrina and the growing budget deficit.

Congress is looking for ways to rein in spending, said Sen. Jon Kyl, who sponsored the pay freeze proposal. "It's hard to argue that this process shouldn't include our own salaries." It passed 92-6.

Under Kyl's amendment to a spending bill covering federal workers, senators would forgo the estimated 1.9 percent cost-of-living increase that would otherwise have automatically gone into effect unless the Senate voted to reject it.
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Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, noted that Republicans took over the amendment this year when it was certain to pass. He said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has been the lone Senate voice opposing the pay raises for years, "and no one can take away the fact that this has always been Russ Feingold's mantra."