Walz donates part of salary to the deficit

Rep. Tim Walz is one of three members of Congress to return his congressional pay raise to the U.S. Treasury, ABC News reported Tuesday. According to quarterly disbursement reports, Walz has returned his raises to the treasury each year since he came to Washington. Walz, along with Republican Reps. Spencer Bachus of Alabama and Frank Lobiondo of New York, are the only ones who have rejected raises in Congress despite intense rhetoric from tea partiers and Republicans regarding the growing national debt.

ABC News notes that other members may be returning their raises but not reporting them on their reports, and that Walz does so for the sake of transparency.

“It’s a token measure, but it’s something I can do,” he said. “I don’t want to sound self righteous on this. I just want to set an example. I’m proud of what I’m doing, but I don’t want to be seen as the ‘look at me, look at what I’m doing.’ The theme for me is the transparency and the openness and doing my part.”

In 2008, Walz announced his plans to give the funds back. “I came here to change our priorities in Washington. I don’t think it’s fair for Congress to give itself a pay raise when it can’t stick to a budget,” he said at the time. “I made a promise to the people of southern Minnesota, and I intend to keep it.

This year Walz has returned $6,588 to the national deficit, which currently stands at $1.3 trillion.