THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 12, 1994 TAG: 9407120013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Recent interviews with House Post Office workers revealed there wasn't much stamp licking going on at the infamous congressional institution, but there was plenty of boot licking.
``Any time a member wanted anything, I mean just jump to it, you know, especially if it might have been a powerful member, you know, like Dan Rostenkowski,'' post office mail clerk Inga Lawson told investigators who are looking into Congress' alleged misuse of its post office for personal profit.
Acting as chauffeurs, picking up and delivering meals, stamping calendars with personal greetings and running other errands for members of Congress was considered part of the routine, those interviewed said.
One House Post Office employee was supposedly so eager to please Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., that he took ``months'' off his normal duties to stamp greeting cards for the politician to send to his followers. Other workers told investigators that managers spent their days reading newspapers, playing video games or watching television. The inefficiency and corruption ran so deep that one employee hired as a computer systems analyst ``didn't know the first thing about computers,'' according to interviews.
Rostenkowski has now been indicted and removed as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, in part because of abuses in the House Post Office, where he allegedly carried out a scheme in which he traded in stamps used for congressional mailings for cash.
The House Post Office is just one of a long list of abuses of power Congress has been caught at recently. The infamous House bank was used for check-kiting privileges for many members, and the cheap health care Congress has available has become an issue in the health debate.
But members of Congress know that the power and advantages of incumbency are enough to keep them in power indefinitely. Maybe it's time voters turned the table on Congress and told them enough is enough. Installing term limits would allow Congress to abuse the public for only a restricted period of time. by CNB