sub: BAN BRIBERY NOW! 2/14/95
PLEASE POST TO ALL YOUR FAVORITE NEWSGROUPS, FIDONET, COMPUSERVE, ETC.
======================================================
BAN BRIBERY NOW! February 14, 1995
======================================================
Supporting a Lobbyist Gift Ban
======================================================

---------------------------------------------------------
SCUTTLEBUTT
---------------------------------------------------------

The following news item appeared in the Sunday, February 12 San Francisco Examiner. -o-o-

Lobbyists, former members of Congress and other congressional hangers-on who parked for free in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol are losing their golden spaces.

House Republicans are revoking parking privileges for everyone who doesn't have a job in Congress. The new policy allots a set number of spaces for each congressional office. The formula is four outdooor spots and four garage spaces, one of which is reserved.

The process, they say, may end up freeing enough of the 13,000 reserved spaces to allow parking by the general public. Eight parking garages and dozens of outdoor lots dot the 208-acre Capitol campus. Parking along most streets within signt of the dome is also under congressional control.

"The whole situation is still in a state of flux," said Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the House Oversignt Committee. "By the time we finish issuing stickers next month, we may have lots of extra parking. We might even be able to offer the public some parking."

--------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------

This is good news. Applause is in order. Lobbyists have been an accepted fixture in both houses of Congress, so it is good that they are going to have to take their chances with parking. Undoubtedly, they will be in quite a hurry to get Senate parking stickers.

As long as the House is going this route, how about going one step further? Even as you read this, paid, registered lobbyists spend their days in various rooms in the Capitol building. To paraphrase the Bible, "This is the House of the people, but you have turned it into a den of thieves."

Room H-154, the Doorkeeper's Office, is a common hangout for lobbyists. To gain admittance to this room, you need a pass. How do you get a pass? You apply for one at the Security Office.

Now here's the catch. Ordinary, taxpaying citizens cannot get a badge to enjoy the relaxing ambience of the Doorkeeper's Office. Lobbyists can. The criterion for getting ahold of such a badge is unclear, but I imagine having a large checkbook is a start.

It is time for the House to stop this sort of discrimination against ordinary citizens. It is time for badges to be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. That way, we can be assured that our members of Congress will meet more ordinary people in a day, not just fat cat lobbyists.