Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503210077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
A Midwest insurance giant wins praise for taking ``the most ingenious step'' in health care reform. An electronics manufacturer is touted for ``extraordinarily high levels of quality.'' And an automaker is lauded for building ``twice as many cars with three times the quality with half the people.''
Such endorsements - made in venues including the House floor, a nationally televised talk show and college course, and speeches before private groups - have been an effective but controversial trademark of Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., first as minority whip and now as speaker of the House. In glowing terms that often sound like paid corporate pitches, he has promoted the products, services and executives of specific firms, including some with business interests before Congress.
For their part, many of those executives, corporations and their political action committees, or PACs, have contributed millions of dollars to Gingrich's campaigns and conservative organizations with which he is involved, including the national Republican Party and GOPAC, a political committee of which Gingrich was chairman. Many of the same companies have also donated to a tax-exempt foundation with close ties to the speaker.
During one of his college course lectures last year, for instance, Gingrich showed a three-minute video on South Carolina textile giant Milliken & Co., whose owner, Roger Milliken, has contributed at least $255,000 to GOPAC, records show. ``In carpeting, Milliken offers its customers a choice of over 1,000 colors and patterns in almost any lot size with a delivery schedule of just seven days,'' the anonymous voice said. Gingrich's course, broadcast on two cable networks, is available in at least 26 million households nationwide.
Critics contend there is a troubling contradiction in Gingrich's promotion of major contributors. While the Georgia Republican has spent much of his congressional career challenging the ethics of other lawmakers, he has opened the door to questions about his own principles by aggressively plugging big donors whose political largess has been invaluable to conservative causes, critics contend. A complaint pending before the House Ethics Committee, one of four that accuse Gingrich of violating House rules, alleges that Gingrich engaged in ``conduct unbecoming'' a congressman by featuring in his college lectures companies that contributed to the course.
Gingrich's promotion of corporate givers ``borders on but may not violate the conflict of interest rules of the House,'' said Dennis F. Thompson, a government professor at Harvard University and director of its ethics program. ``However, it really offends the spirit of those principles.
``It seems okay for a member to point to good ideas a company might have and take contributions from companies with good ideas, but this pattern of conduct by a man in an unusually important position of public trust adds up to a condition for serious concern.''
Gingrich declined to comment on the issue last week. But a spokesman for the speaker said his accolades for the corporations that contribute funds do not constitute a breach of ethics. ``It is perfectly proper. ... Conservative Congress members accept contributions from conservative business people,'' said the spokesman, Tony Blankley. ``It is exactly the way the system is designed to operate. It is not nefarious.''
Blankley added that the corporations cited by Gingrich ``have an industrywide reputation for their excellence.'' Executives at several of the corporations said in interviews that they expected no favors for their contributions. Some of them also have given considerable sums to Democratic candidates.
Gingrich has used the funds not only to promote his political philosophy through efforts like his college course, but also to boost the campaigns of like-minded Republican candidates. Over five days at the end of October, Gingrich's campaign committee made $1,000 contributions to 47 Republican congressional candidates, records show.
Neither a complete list of donors nor the total amount of contributions to Gingrich's financial empire could be compiled. Campaign contributions are public, but GOPAC has refused to disclose most of its contributors since 1986, when Gingrich became chairman of the conservative political action group.
And the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a tax-exempt think tank with close ties to Gingrich, has disclosed only the names of most of its donors, not the amounts given. The foundation has devoted much of its financial resources to a weekly TV show, of which Gingrich is host, and to Gingrich's college course, which he stopped teaching two weeks ago.
Gingrich has lauded many of the corporate givers as discoverers of new ways to manufacture goods or serve customers. This year, he praised Waffle House International Inc., which has made three donations of undisclosed amounts to the college course, as ``a great little system.''
``They train people very quickly, and they do a very good job. ... Waffle House is a very highly organized set of habits of behaviors and systems.''
Other corporate contributors that Gingrich has praised include such household names as Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald's Corp., which Gingrich has publicly described as ``the most successful worldwide seller of food in the history of the human race.''
He has also touted lesser-known companies such as Southwire Co. of Carrollton, Ga. In a 1991 speech from the House floor, Gingrich held up Southwire, whose owners have been longtime contributors to his political entities, as a paradigm of excellence. ``I looked at the program Southwire has for quality, which is making it a national leader in producing steel, aluminum and copper wire,'' he said.
A year later, the company pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that it was involved in shipping overseas large quantities of toxic waste that was labeled as fertilizer but in fact was contaminated with lead.
On legislative issues, Gingrich has not always come down on the side of major contributors. Roger Milliken, who along with his brother Gerrish gave a total of $345,000 to GOPAC, has been a harsh critic of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Roger Milliken also opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement. But Gingrich backed both accords.
In 1990, however, Gingrich broke ranks with President George Bush and backed a bill that was favored by Milliken limiting imports on textiles, apparel and shoes by imposing a global quota.
by CNB