US Senators and Representatives

When Senator Gabrielle Gifford was shot in Arizona in January 2011, twenty-three (23) other people were also shot (six died). This is an incomplete list (in alphabetical order):

1. Christina-Taylor Green, age 9 (died)
2. Dorothy Murray, age 76 (died)
3. John Roll, chief judge of the US District Court of Arizona (died)
4. Phyllis Schneck, age 76 (died)
5. Dorwin Stoddard, age 76 (died)
6. Gabe Zimmerman, Gifford's director of community outreach, age 30 (died)

According to federal election campaign laws 441a-1.a:

(4) Disposal of excess contributions.

(A) In general. The aggregate amount of contributions

accepted by a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee

under the increased limit under paragraph (1) and not otherwise

expended in connection with the election with respect to which

such contributions relate shall, not later than 50 days after the

date of such election, be used in the manner described in sub-

paragraph (B).

(B) Return to contributors. A candidate or a candidate's

authorized committee shall return the excess contribution to the

person who made the contribution.

A US Senator (or a representative) makes their full salary the rest of their lives. This is from the house.gov site - it applies to both houses of Congress.

This salary takes into account base pay. committee leadership and assignments. This is rolled into a lifetime salary. The next big question you should check is how they get to use left over campaign funds once they retire.

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I looked this up on the web, and it does NOT appear to be true that Senators and Representatives make their full salary for the rest of their lives. Here is the upshot of the link. Is it true that . . . Members of Congress do not pay into Social Security and when they retire they receive a pension equal to their congressional salary for the rest of their life?

The answer is no. All members of Congress pay Social Security taxes in the same amounts as they would if they were employed in the private sector at the same salary level. The amount of a congressional pension varies and depends on years of service, age at the time of retirement, and salary.

The facts: The confusion about Social Security probably results from the fact that before 1984, Senators and Representatives did not participate in the Social Security program. Like all federal government employees at that time, members of Congress were covered by a pension plan, called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), that did not require payment of Social Security taxes and did not provide Social Security benefits. In 1983, Congress passed a law (P.L. 98-21) that required all federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. The law also required all members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal employees, called the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), which does coordinate a federal pension with Social Security.

Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. They are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80 percent of his or her final salary. As of October 1, 2000, the average annual pension for members of Congress who have retired under CSRS is $52,464, and $46,932 for retirees under FERS-only or both FERS/CSRS. let me start by saying how can the people of the usa afford to pay them that much when they have to borrow the money to do so?

To be a member of the House, you must be 25 years old and a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years.

To be a member of the Senate, you must be 30 years old and a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years.

Every U.S. state has two seats in the U.S. Senate.

Number of Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives Apportioned to Pennsylvania:

• 1789-1793 : 8
• 1793-1803 : 13
• 1803-1813 : 18
• 1813-1823 : 23
• 1823-1833 : 26
• 1833-1843 : 28
• 1843-1853 : 24
• 1853-1863 : 25
• 1863-1873 : 24
• 1873-1883 : 27
• 1883-1893 : 28
• 1893-1903 : 30
• 1903-1913 : 32
• 1913-1933 : 36
• 1933-1943 : 34
• 1943-1953 : 33
• 1953-1963 : 30
• 1963-1973 : 27
• 1973-1983 : 25
• 1983-1993 : 23
• 1993-2003 : 21
• 2003-2013 : 19
• 2013-2023 : 18