Letter: Ensign, ad wrong about pay raise

This statement could not be farther from the truth. Reid has never voted to increase his pay during his time in Congress. He has voted seven times against pay raises.

The July 1987 vote cited by Congressman John Ensign in his debate and in his ads was not a pay increase vote. The 1987 vote on raising congressional pay happened on Jan. 29, 1987, when Reid joined with other members of the Senate to pass a bill that disapproved the federal pay raise.

The July 1987 vote used by Ensign was on an amendment to a public debt limit bill strengthening the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law to restrain government spending. This important legislation included provisions to prevent the government from defaulting on its debts.

Debate was contentious on the bill and political amendments like the one referenced by Ensign in these debates were added on by opponents of the bill in a desperate attempt to bring it down.

The amendment in question ostensibly was to cut congressional pay by $12,000. But in reality, it had nothing to do with the debt limit, nothing to do with a pay raise and everything to do with killing the bill. Forty-nine members of the Senate, including Bob Dole, Dan Quayle and Harry Reid, recognized this and voted to table the amendment.

Jenny Backus, Press secretary, Friends for Harry Reid

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