Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has followed through on his promise to return pay during the government shutdown. Fitzpatrick wrote a $10,008.68 check to the United States Treasury after House Finance staff calculated the net pay from the 35-day government shutdown.

“All elected officials need to put their money where their mouth is -- Literally. I'm calling on all of my colleagues to do the same. If over 800,000 federal employees and their families were forced to live without their paychecks due to no fault of their own, then no Member of Congress should accept a dime of pay for that period. To all of the affected employees out there, know that I stand with you and will walk the walk as long as I'm serving in Congress. If Members of Congress actually feel the pain of the people they represent, perhaps they would approach their jobs differently. I am the author of the "No Budget, No Pay" legislation and I will always abide by it,” said Congressman Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick is the author of No Budget, No Pay – a constitutional amendment (H.J.Res 10) preventing members of Congress from being paid unless a budget is passed and introduced a separate amendment preventing members of Congress from being paid during a government shutdown. During this budget impasse, he led by example, refusing pay and returning his shutdown salary back to the U.S. Treasury.

A copy of the check is available here.