With the battle over the 2003 federal raise finally over, Congress returns this week from a brief recess and take up the fiscal 2004 budget, including the Bush administration’s recommendation to give federal employees a 2 percent across-the-board raise in January 2004 and create a $500 million fund to reward good performers. Many of the same members of Congress who in recent years have succeeded in boosting the federal raise to the amount going to the military already are working to again insure “parity” between the two groups. In addition, the new chair of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently indicated her support for pay parity. Also, the recently enacted wrapup budget bill for the current fiscal year included a statement saying it is the “sense of Congress” that parity should be continued, although that language is not binding on future year raises.