WATCH: Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords On Fox News Pitching Pay Cut For Members of Congress (BONUS: Text of Bill)

(Edited to correct record and note that Arizona now-former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) was the primary sponsor last year of a bill that would have reduced salaries for members of Congress.)

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) was on Fox News this morning, pitching her proposal to cut salaries for members of Congress by 5%.  Host Bill Hemmer attempted several times (sometimes incorrectly*) to put her (and Democrats, in general) on the defensive, prompting Giffords to acknowledge that she was a Republican and is now a Blue Dog Democrat "interested in making sure that our country maintains our prosperity".



Rep. Giffords has 18 co-sponsors for her bill, which is short and sweet.  Here's the text:

A BILL


To provide for a 5 percent reduction in the rates of basic

pay for Members of Congress.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Pay Cut

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN RATES OF BASIC PAY FOR MEMBERS

7 OF CONGRESS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect to pay peri

          9 ods beginning after the date of the regularly scheduled

1 general election for Federal office held in November 2012,

2 the rate of basic pay for each Member of Congress shall

3 be reduced by 5 percent, rounded to the nearest multiple

4 of $100 (or, if midway between multiples of $100, to the

5 next higher multiple of $100).

6 (b) PREEMPTION.—The adjustment under subsection

7 (a) shall be in lieu of any adjustment which (but for this

8 Act) might otherwise take effect, in the rates of basic pay

9 for Members of Congress, with respect to the pay periods

10 referred to in subsection (a).

11 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the term

12 ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means an individual serving in a

13 position under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section

14 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2

15 U.S.C. 31).

* Hemmer seems to forget the bi-partisan Concord Coalition started by Democratic Senator Paul Tsongas and Republican Senator Warren Rudman, and the deficit reduction plan passed by Democrats in 1993-94.

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