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Latta in the Washington Examiner: Congress is here to serve Americans, not ourselves

Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) penned an op-ed for the Washington Examiner calling for a vote on legislation regarding the annual automatic pay increase Congress receives unless they vote to freeze it.

After talks of allowing a pay raise for members of Congress to go through after a decade-long freeze, the Democrats caved to public pressure and pulled the bill. Congressman Latta wants to see a more permanent solution for the annual pay raise debate -- the No Vote, No Raise Act. His bill does what the name suggests -- it eliminates the annual raise for members of Congress and requires that any adjustments in pay be voted on in the House and Senate.

An excerpt from his op-ed:

“Serving in the People’s House is exactly that -- service. We were sent here by the American people to be their voice, their representative in this great experiment of self-government. My colleagues and I take that role seriously. During the Republican majority, we passed bold legislation designed to help people of all walks of life and backgrounds. We passed tax reform, which helped create our booming economy. We passed historic legislation to combat the opioid crisis to make our communities safer and reform the VA so it better serves our veterans. We made the American people our priority.

Despite these legislative accomplishments, we never once asked for a raise. We voted every single year to freeze our own pay. Because we aren’t here to serve ourselves. We’re here to serve you.

“However, it’s more than just one vote. A system that automatically provides Members of Congress with a bump in pay is a bad system. With faith in government sagging, it’s a problem that needs to be fixed.”

Click here to read his full op-ed

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