Taking the approach that no one in Congress should be immune to budget cuts, U.S. Senator Mark Begich is voluntarily returning a portion of his salary to the Treasury Department and has begun furloughing his staff due to the sequester.

Begich has also cut his office budget by nearly $1 million over the past four years.

While some lawmakers have introduced bills to change the Constitution and legally authorize Congress to cut their own pay, Begich has decided that now is not the time to wait.

“We need to be making responsible cuts wherever we can and there is no reason that members of Congress shouldn’t feel the pinch like everyone else,” said Sen. Begich. “This won’t solve our spending problem on its own, but I hope it is a reminder to Alaskans that I am willing to make the tough cuts, wherever they may be, to get our spending under control.”

Begich’s staff began mandatory furloughs in mid-March and more than half of his staff will experience a cut in their salary this year.

Begich recently voted against the Democratic budget, citing concerns that it did not go far enough to reduce our nation’s deficit. In the coming weeks, Begich will announce a series of spending proposals with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut billions more from federal spending. Begich and Coburn have already championed bills to sell excess federal property and take back unused or “orphaned” earmarks.

“I hope my colleagues come back from the holidays ready to get to work, because there are ways to come together and get this done,” said Begich. “We cannot simply throw our hands up and say it’s too hard — families and small businesses make these tough choices every day and now it’s time for Congress to do the same.”

Since coming to the Senate, Begich has voted against raising his own pay three times and repeatedly proposed cost-cutting measures. To date, he has returned close to $1 million dollars from his office budget to the Treasury.