NO VOTE ON RAISE, HOUSE WHIP SAYS [set to automatically take effect Feb. 8, 1989 ! !]
New York Times (archives), Susan Rasky,
Jan. 25, 1989
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/25/us/no-vote-on-raise-house-whip-says.html
'A Democratic House leader said today that the House would not vote to halt a proposed 50 percent Congressional pay increase set to take effect automatically at 12:01 A.M. Feb. 8. . . '
' . . . The pay increase, which would raise annual salaries for Federal judges, members of Congress and certain senior executive branch officials to $135,000 from the current $89,500, was proposed last December by a bipartisan commission and recommended by President Ronald Reagan in the budget he presented to Congress before leaving office. Mr. Reagan also proposed a ban on certain types of income members of Congress receive for outside speaking engagements [merely proposed, and not part of the package?], which was endorsed by Congressional leaders. . . '
' . . . This arrangement, widely reported in the press in the last month and a half, has drawn
protests from such Congressional watchdog groups as
Common Cause and the
Ralph Nader organization, Public Citizen. Lawmakers said today that they have been
deluged with angry letters from constituents opposed to the pay raise [Emphasis added]. . . '
' . . . A group of 35 House members,
30 of them Republicans [Emphasis added], wrote today to the Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, urging him to demand a vote on the proposed increase ''out of respect for the American taxpayer.'' . . '
' . . . Legislation to block the pay increase is to be introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa [Emphasis added]. . . '