The office of U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., announced Tuesday that the veteran House member will introduce legislation that, if enacted, would stop congressional pay if the United States defaults on the national debt.
The bill would prohibit members from receiving pay during a default, and would not allow members to recoup the pay retroactively.
“Failure is not an option,” Cooper said in a news release. “But if default occurs, another paycheck for congressmen and senators should not be an option either.”
Cooper is a longtime advocate of a bipartisan debt plan that reduces spending, reforms the tax code and puts the nation on a sustainable fiscal path. He has urged to allow a vote on the “Gang of Six” bipartisan proposal that would have reduced the debt by almost $4 trillion over the next 10 years. The proposal has stalled in Congress.
“Debt and deficits are a bipartisan problem requiring a bipartisan solution,” Cooper said. “I am doing everything possible to get Congress to act responsibly by paying its bills on time, reducing the growth of future spending, keeping our interest rates low and strengthening our weak economy. Time is running out.”