Having already supported federal pay freezes, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer today voted for legislation to eliminate the automatic across-the-board pay raise for the president’s cabinet, the vice president and other non-military federal employees that will otherwise occur as a result of a recent executive order issued by President Obama.

“At a time when federal spending and our national debt are at historic levels, the last thing we need to be doing is handing out automatic pay increases to federal officials, especially with so many hard-working Americans struggling to make ends meet in a tough economy,” Luetkemeyer said. “It’s time for Washington to stop spending taxpayer dollars and begin focusing on getting people back to work and expanding economic opportunities for all Americans.”

Earlier this year, Luetkemeyer voted for H.R. 6726 that would prevent members of Congress from receiving a pay raise and freezing salaries through 2014. He also supported two measures requiring a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in an effort to put an end to reckless government spending.

Meanwhile, in an effort to reduce the tax burden on American families, Luetkemeyer has co-sponsored H.R. 483, the Farmers Against Crippling Taxes Act, and H.R. 147, the Death Tax Repeal Act, which would permanently repeal the Federal estate and gift taxes.

At the beginning of the year, Congress established a new estate tax policy with a top tax rate of 40 percent and a $5 million exemption per individual in order to prevent pre-2001 rates from returning; however, an estate tax of any size is fundamentally unfair and discourages investment, growth, and retention of family assets to pass to future generations.