Foley Drops His Opposition to Congress Pay Raise Amendment

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley abruptly reversed himself Thursday by saying he will accept a constitutional amendment that precludes members of Congress from voting themselves midterm pay raises.

“I think, as a practical matter, it will be considered a part of the Constitution,” Foley said of the 27th Amendment, which was introduced 203 years ago by Founding Father James Madison but won approval from the required number of state legislatures only last week.

Foley had expressed concern about the validity of the amendment because more than two centuries had elapsed between introduction and ratification. Twice in this century the U.S. Supreme Court has suggested that state approval of proposed amendments be contemporaneous with their submission by Congress.

The pay raise amendment won approval from the required three-fourths of the state legislatures last Thursday, when Michigan became the 38th state to pass it.

Barring any challenges, the amendment will take effect when certified by U.S. Archivist Don W. Wilson, who said he will act as soon as he checks state instruments of ratification.

Foley had indicated that the House would conduct hearings on whether the amendment was properly ratified, but he said Thursday that hearings would not serve any purpose since the House itself has accepted the principle in its last pay raise voted in 1989. The increase did not take effect until Jan. 1, 1991--after elections in 1990.

Many members of Congress, aware of public resentment over overdrafts at the House bank, strongly opposed any move to challenge the amendment on grounds such action could be misunderstood as an effort to smooth the way for future pay increases.

Any effort by the House leadership to schedule a House vote on the amendment, said Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.), would have resulted in an “ugly, unnecessary floor fight.”

“It’s a good idea whose time has come,” said AuCoin, an early supporter of the amendment. “It’s up to the voters to decide whether their own representatives are worth it.”

Modern-day amendments have gone to the states with seven-year limits, but the pay raise amendment, which was drafted in the first Congress, did not have a deadline.