Tammy Duckworth To Take Pay Cut If Sequester Happens

Rep. Tammy Duckworth is ready to take one for the team.

If Congress fails to reach a compromise that would avoid sequestration, Duckworth said she will take the same pay cut other programs would see when the March 1 federal cuts go through.

"I promised my neighbors that I was going to Washington to work for them and not for myself," Duckworth said in a statement. "If Congress is going to try to balance the budget on the backs of working Americans it is only fair that I bear that burden with them."

That translates into an 8.4 percent pay cut for the freshman Democrat "until a balanced solution is reached," she says, noting salaries for members of Congress are currently exempt from the pending cuts.

A letter issued Sunday by the White House detailed the per-state effects of the automatic budget cuts and noted Illinois stands to lose $33.4 million in education funding that would put 460 teacher jobs at risk. The state stands to lose another $25 million that goes directly toward hiring teachers and aides who work with students with disabilities.

In another area of the state, the Federal Aviation Administration says the cuts will force it to furlough thousands of air traffic controllers.

Duckworth said Congress has failed to make common sense compromises to avoid such cuts.

"Public schools in my district will be forced to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from their budgets," Duckworth said, "and Illinois is expected to lose more than 50,000 jobs as a result of sequestration. Meanwhile, Congress remains paralyzed by partisanship."
 

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