Posted on 03/03/2004 1:09:23 PM PST by dirtboy
There’s a law that says members of Congress should not be paid for workdays missed due to campaigning or other unexcused absences.
There’s also a catch: It hasn’t been enforced since 1914.
U.S. Code Title 2 section 39 holds that every no-show lawmaker has to forfeit “his salary for each day he has been absent from the Senate or House.” The only legal excuse for not showing up is “the sickness” of a member “or some member of his family.”
If the statute were applied today, Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) might have to pay back thousands of dollars. As The Hill recently reported, Gephardt has missed 85 percent of this year’s House votes. But the former minority leader, one of six members of Congress running for president, has plenty of company.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has missed 34 percent of this year’s Senate votes, not counting two votes he missed while recovering from prostate surgery. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) has missed 22 percent of the votes. Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.)has missed 12 percent. Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) has missed 6 percent, excluding 16 votes he missed after heart surgery.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has missed only one of this year’s House votes.
On Monday, John Berthoud, president of the National Taxpayers Union, sent letters to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Vice President Richard Cheney, president of the Senate, asking them to enforce the law.
“If most Americans took off work to look for another job, they wouldn’t be paid,” said Berthoud. “Why should members of Congress?”
And just to help lawmakers who are busy campaigning, the Taxpayers Union came up with this handy repayment formula: Based on the congressional salary of $154,700 a year, members owe $616.33 for every day they’ve skipped work.
Snort!
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