Black Fights to Hold Congress Accountable to Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 16, 2012) – Congressman Diane Black (TN-6) joined her fellow members of the Fix Congress Now Caucus and endorsed legislation that would withhold pay to Members of Congress if they don’t get their act together and pass a budget.  The ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Act says that if Congress doesn’t pass its budget and all its appropriations bills by October 1st every year, then Congress doesn’t get paid.

“It is outrageous that we have to pass a law to get Congress to do its job, but we just can’t sit on our hands while the debt balloons and Congress continues to just kick the can down the road,” said Black. “Our constituents have to do their jobs to get paid and so should Congress.”

Congress so routinely misses budget and appropriations deadlines that it is to the point where no one takes these deadlines seriously, since there’s no consequence for being late. No Budget, No Pay would hold Congress accountable for not fulfilling its duties. The law says that if Congress doesn’t pass its budget and all its appropriations bills by October 1st every year, then Congress doesn’t get paid. Retroactive pay isn’t an option. Once pay is withheld, it’s gone for good. The bi-partisan bill was introduced in December and Black and her colleagues in the Fix Congress Now Caucus have rallied behind No Budget, No Pay.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a fiscal year 2013 Budget Resolution on March 29, 2012. The Senate has yet to pass a budget and we are half way through the year.

About the Fix Congress Now Caucus

The mission of the Fix Congress Now Caucus is to improve transparency within Congress and restore America’s belief in Congress. In order to fulfill this mission, the Caucus has identified three effective solutions in order to achieve real and measurable results. 

First, the Fix Congress Now Caucus plans to enact the No Budget, No Pay Act that will ensure that a Federal Budget is passed by Congress each year in a timely fashion, putting an end to wasteful pork-ridden stop gap funding measures.  Second, the Caucus is seeking to align congressional benefits with those in the private sector. Third, the Caucus is working to end careerism in public service by supporting term limits.

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