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Show 1 y 5 S' The Saw Lfike Triaae, Thursday, Ksvspihr ' - "ly 4, 1976 Maybe Mark Twain Was Right About Congressmen ?. By Thomas South wick Congressional Quarterly WASHINGTON There )8 no oistlnctly American criminal class except Congress, Mark Twain once remarked. Pam. sAniK ! -- - V gress appeared deter-mine- d to prove him right. Two years ago, both the House and Senate conducted lengthy, investigations into the official misconw duct of Richard M. Nixon, eventually forcing him from office. But in 1976 Congress itself has become the target of widespread allegations on unethical and illegal conduct. And unlike Watergate, the congressional scandals have largely been ignored. For the first time in seven years, the Ilose in July did move against one of its own members when it voted to reprimand Florida Democrat Robert L. F. Sikes for financial misconduct. The threat of a House committee investigation into charges that he had kept a mistress on the public payroll forced Wayne L. Hays, an Ohio Democrat, to resign his seat. Fruitless Effort And the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, known as the ethics committee, spent six months and $150, O00 in a fruitless effort to discover who leaked a secret House report on the Central Intelligence Agency to prist, s&lld pat c!sift CBS face that Scott admitted to the panel that he had taken $45,000 in illegal Gulf money and distri buted it te the campaign efforts of fellow Republicans. . correspondent Daniel Schorr. But Congress seemed reluctant to investigate or take any other action concerning the possible misdeeds of many of its members this year. Charges of widespread violations of the cam- paign finance Free Hunting Trips In February 18 mem- bers of Congress, including Senate ethics com- law documented in reports filed by the Gulf Oil Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last year produced convictions on mis- mittee Chairman Howard W. Cannon, and House ethics committee Chairman John J. admitFlynt Jr., ted having received free hunting trips from various defense contractors, an apparent violation of House and Senate rules. No formal congressional action was taken. D-G- demeanor charges memtwo House against bers, but no action on Capitol Hill. The Senate ethics committee, in fact, voted overwhelmingly not to The House ethics com- investigate Senate W85Se5fift3 mittee looked into disclosures by The Wall Street Journal in March Leader Hugh despite the Minority Scott, ptosis csd solids woven gciiSFdi ds-sc- list to $6 yd. cut prints on tailored look mm wool look i$y dovbfokidt le frScef it yd. list to $2 yd. shake feminine fashions list to $4 yd. 60" polyacrylic washable A . B St iilsirWu r-- .rf t gabardine linger! r. 7?- expenre reim- bursement, but the inve- stigation never went beyond the preliminary stage. These and other failures to act on tmuges uf congressional misconduct have produced fairly widespread dissatisfaction with til operations of the ethics committees in both chambers. But several factors have combined to make it difficult for the House or Senate to act on allegations of misconduct on the part of members. The first, and perhaps most important, is the reluctance of most members to sit in judgment of their colleagues. House pers Leagl Problems f I .ffrs V 27 are In addition, there legal problems in any attempt to deprive a auiy elected member of Congress of his seat, the most extreme punishment available m Congress for misconduct of a member. But beyond this, Congress itself has placed institutional hurdles in the way of any action on charges of impropriety by members. In the House, for example, the ethics committee normally requires a formal, sworn complaint from a member before it will begin an investigation of another member. Congress also has reduced the statute of limitations on campaign law violations to three years from five years, making it more difficult for outside prosecutors to delve O'" rui j,o and other allegations of campaign corruption. The most fundamental bar to congressional action on charges of misconduct, however, may be voter apathy. Many of those charged with unethical actions and even some convicted of erimAf fuH that their constituents appear not to mind very much. Hays, who was the focus of one of the most widely publicized scandals in recent history, won renomination to his fc359!E Solid colsrfo! row sportswear beSSdfly 29 yd. list t $5 yd. 60" wide, fall ctiort ue travel ethics Chairman Flynt said last summer that it is never pleasant or enjoyable to sit in judgment " on one s 169 !9 n that 10 House members bad filed false claims for list to 2.49 with matching prints fait Imported scree " for cial misconduct, the Florida Democrat was renouilaated by a 54,000-votmargin and faced no opposition for relection in November. e v . tUUIiCO Oo no-iro-n, Vcrf?' - bJ T W . 1 - - T JLT , was bothered only slightly in lus effort by his conviction for a misdemeanor in connection with the Gulf Oil scandal. In such an atmosphere of public apathy there seems to be no great move to reform the system by which Congress policies itself. But while the internal policing system may not change very much next year, Congress faces outon side investigations several other fronts. Okla ....... .. ...kisst avtMv of dollars in cash and gifts were allegedly tunneled to more than 20 present and former, members of Congress and other officials in order to create favorable artscrafts list to 2.50 yd. 100 cotton to one wool sd wool blessda yd. wesfclbl flecked seeds mete! end eylea slippers vi7 WnMiW.juAi government the source, involves most sweeping allegations of congressional corruption ever investigated by the federal government (Copyright) list to $7 yd. plaids, tweeds, soiids list to $5 yd. variety of fashion colors jji in,. ffmn tTirtiWdH a legislative for the South climate Korean government. The probe, according list to $3 yd. 45"60" poly blond or cotton yd. list to $3 yd. soft blend fall colorations - re- number of newspapmost prominently The Wash'ngton Post, have devoted considerable resources to uncovering congressional wrongdoing in the past year and the Justice Department has been probing a number of allegations of criminal activity on Cap.tol Hill. In October, the Post reported on a Just'ce Department probe of a A ers, As srf&r . House voted to primand Sikes for finan- pEsccrd erfaak I prists lr VI end in Cong-c- ss piobabiy would have wen as well had he chosen to run. No Oppy,tien Six weeks alter the ladles eisd list to $5 yd. 36"-72- SMfr.Qj US ecs. list to 8Cc oo. 7"-21- " zippers 'it Ajiisl |
