Rep. Teague Co-Sponsors Bill to Eliminate Congressional Pay Raise; Comments on Obama Economic Plan

The action-oriented news just keeps on coming from our Congressional delegation, who just this week arrived in Washington -- and promptly rolled up their sleeves for work. On Tuesday, when Rep. Harry Teague (NM-02) was sworn into office, he signed on as an original co-sponsor to H.R. 156, a bill to eliminate the nearly $4,700 Congressional pay raise scheduled for next year. If the bill becomes law, millions in taxpayer dollars would be saved as Members of Congress would not receive a scheduled 2010 pay raise.

“The country’s economy is hurting right now and my constituents are counting on me to do the right thing,” said Congressman Harry Teague. “Nearly two million Americans lost their jobs this past year. Congress giving itself an automatic pay raise at a time like this is just plain wrong. I’d much rather see us giving middle-class Americans a tax cut -- that would help them and help the economy.”

Sixty-three members of the U.S. House of Representatives co-sponsored the bipartisan legislation this week, signaling the strongest demonstration of Congressional support to block the automatic pay hike in recent years. H.R. 156 has also earned the support of the National Taxpayers Union, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Taxpayers for Common Sense and The Senior Citizens League. In 1989, Congress passed a law that provides lawmakers with an automatic pay raise every January unless they vote specifically to reject the raise.

Economy and Jobs: Rep. Teague has also issued a statement strongly supportive of President-Elect Barack Obama's economic plans and emphasizing how he'll fight for jobs for Southern New Mexico as a member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:

“I look forward to working with the new Administration to take fast, dramatic action to turn America’s economy around. I’ll be keeping the interests of families in my district at the top of the agenda as we create this important legislation.”

“I’m very excited about the prospect of bringing jobs back to our district as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. As we put America back to work it is important that Congress doesn’t forget the needs of working families. That is why I’d like to see some relief for working families in the way of a tax cut for child care expenses. In addition, in southern New Mexico we also have unique opportunities to benefit from the creation of more green collar jobs, increasing production of alternative energy, and modernizing our schools and universities.”

“As the representative from Southern New Mexico and a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee I’ll be working with my colleagues on the Committee to help craft this legislation and I encourage citizens from across the district to contact my office throughout the process with questions, comments, and ideas.”

You can now contact Rep. Teague via email form at https://forms.house.gov/teague/contact-form.shtml. So far, the locations of there of his official offices have been revealed:

Rep. Teague’s Washington D.C. office: 1007 Longworth H.O.B. Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone (202) 225-2365

Rep. Teague’s District office: 400 North Telshor, Suite E Las Cruces, NM 88011 Phone: TBD

Rep. Teague’s Hobbs office:

200 E. Broadway, Suite 200 Hobbs, NM 88240 Phone: TBD