Show i j F t e THE TILE VOICE OF BUSINESS Congressional S reforms sham or substance By Richard L. L Lesher President Chamber of 01 Commerce of 01 the United States Reforms adopted by the House House in the wake of the congressional sex scandals are areso areso areso so strict according to one member that they'll guarantee each congressman a four year term Two in Congress and two in jail I 1 dont don't agree Most bf what's been done looks pretty tame to me Why shouldn't a congressman be accountable for his use of public funds And why should they pay themselves them selves excessively generous fringe benefits such as 20 cents a mile for use of their cars on official business when all other federal employees are allowed only 15 cents A REQUIREMENT that House members certify the salaries and duties of persons on the payroll once a month for quarterly publication comes closer to what's really needed If H it is enforced The sensationalistic aspects of the revelations that began with Elizabeth Rays Ray's charges have tended to obscure important im im- distinctions Basically three forms of immoral-illegal immoral conduct are alleged 1 The misuse of public funds fund by members to employ mistresses 2 The misuse of a members member's power to exact sexual favors or kickbacks from staff em em- 3 Sexual misbehavior by a perhaps member-perhaps in violation of th the law-but law wl which ch does not involve misuse of public office or public funds And of course ourse beyond the immediate scandals are arc rumors and accusations of cheating on expense accounts and travel allowances junkets abroad conflicts of interest etc OF TilE THE three forms form of ot misconduct Id I'd say that number one is by far the greatest offense against the public Elizabeth Ray has said that she received a year entirely for serving as a fringe benefit Is such a use of public funds for private purposes any different from stealing an equivalent amount directly from the till And if the major offense is misuse of public funds then the point is not so much what Miss Ray did after hours as what she didn't do on the job SEXUAL favors are not the only reason for the l hiring ring of otherwise unqualified per per- The employee may be a relative or friend of a congressman or of a big campaign contributor or a faithful party hack etc So what it really comes omes downto down downto to is not sexual morality per se but patronage As far as the taxpayers taxpayer's pocketbook is concerned it doesn't make much difference whether its it's Miss Ray or Uncle Joe doing nothing of benefit to the public for a year Nor are such practices limited to Congress The federal Civil Service is not as immune to patronage as it is supposed to too to be Sometimes the pressure comes from an Administration official sometimes from Congress and sometimes from the old boy network in the department or agency with a vacancy The insiders know ways of getting around the Civil Service procedures WE ALL lose two ways from the patronage game game- First in being denied the service that might be provided by a truly qualified public employee and aM second in being forced to pay for the drones diones Not all who owe their jobs to patronage are drones of course Some Sonie are very effective workers But on the whole t the e system has earned its unsavory reputation In a recent decision the Supreme Court ruled that Cook County Ill III care career civil servants servants ser ser- could not be dismissed merely because of their political affiliation Perhaps next well we'll be fortunate enough to get a ruling that they cant can't be hired on that basis either Congress though is not likely to allow the courts to intrude on on its prerogatives If there is to be reform on the Hill Hlll it will have to come from within Keep an eye on the pea By Bythe Bythe Bythe the time the shells have been shuffled it'll be very hard to tell which one its it's under |