THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Lying to Congress appears to be legal.
The question came up after nine House members complained to police that their offices had been flooded with telegraphs from people who hadn't authorized them. A few of the alleged writers of the telegrams were, in fact, dead. Some were children.
The hottest new thing in Washington is for PR firms to create ``grass-roots'' support for bills out of thin air. An investigation revealed most of the ``grass-roots'' telegrams to the nine House members were generated by the firm Beckel Cowan.
One naturally wonders, Isn't a PR firm lying when it sends a Congress member a telegram supporting a bill and bearing the name of a person who is dead, indifferent or even opposed to the bill? Of course it's lying. Lies don't get any more barefaced than that.
Beckel Cowan Chairman Robert Beckel said there might have been a computer problem but certainly nothing fraudulent was done.
Unless you count having dead people send telegrams. (We don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but they should leave government to the living.)
Apparently, common sense to the contrary, Beckel Cowan broke no laws, because, again, lying to Congress is legal.
The Supreme Court implied in a May ruling that the primary law barring false statements to the government cannot be used to prosecute people for lying to Congress.
Citing that ruling, the U.S. attorney has declined to prosecute the sources of the telegrams from dead people. (We don't normally recommend individual stocks, but with even the dead dispatching telegrams, this might be a good time to buy telegraph-company stock.)
For 40 years it had been assumed that lying to Congress was illegal. Now, suddenly, lying to Congress is OK.
Congressional hearings are planned to study whether to write a new law that would make it illegal to make false statements to lawmakers.
A case could be made that, what the heck, they lie to us, so why shouldn't we lie to them. Speaking of whoppers, we might even send telegrams assuring them they're doing a smashing-good job and to keep it up and not to change a thing.
Still, it's wrong for a PR firm to simulate ``grass-roots'' support where none exists. If that's not illegal, it should be made illegal. Otherwise, your name can be used in support of a bill you oppose. by CNB