Consumer-rights activist Ralph Nader Tuesday decried a proposed congressional pay raise and said senior executives in the federal government should not get a raise either.
In a National Journal roundtable session, Nader said executive branch officials are "well paid and secure--more secure than their counterparts in the private sector."
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill, which included an automatic cost-of-living increase for members of Congress. The Senate voted down the increase during its debate on the bill.
Congress has blocked the increase every year for four years, which would go into effect automatically if no one offered an amendment to eliminate it. House leaders rammed the bill through debate this year, leaving opponents no time to offer an amendment killing the pay raise. The bill will now go to conference, where Senate and House negotiators will decide whether to let the raise go through.
Senior Executive Service pay is tied to that of Congress, so the top senior executives have not received a raise in four years either. Nader said executives don't need a raise any more than members of Congress do.
"People [at high levels of] the executive service are amply paid," Nader said. "If people think they can get so much more in the private sector, they're free to leave and go to work there. It's a nice position to be in."
Members of Congress earn $133,600 a year. Senior executive pay, including locality pay, is capped at $123,100.
Nader said he supports a plan to de-link senior executive pay from congressional pay, which proponents say would allow senior executives to get a raise even if Congress denies itself one.
"Congress should de-link it," Nader said.
In a press conference Tuesday, Nader urged people to call their members of Congress and tell them to oppose the pay raise.
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