A new twist on the fictions inserted into the Congressional Record:

Is Congressional Record for sale?

By MICHAEL MALIK
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
April 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - Hanging in the lobby of its office in Grand Rapids, Mich., is a plaque honoring Universal Forest Products for its 50th anniversary.

“Universal is a great American business success story and it is my privilege to honor the company, its chairman, Peter Secchia, and its thousands of employees,” reads the plaque, which hangs alongside other awards and photographs at company headquarters.

It’s a copy of a statement that Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., inserted into the official Congressional Record on Feb. 1, 2005.

What it doesn’t say is that nine days before Ehlers put the statement into the record, Secchia gave Ehlers a $1,000 campaign contribution. About two weeks earlier, another Universal executive donated $500. Since 2001, the two executives have given Ehlers’ campaign committee $7,000.

The practice of honoring campaign donors in the Congressional Record is commonplace among members of the House of Representatives, according to a study by the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire. 

Continue reading full article

Another example cited by Reason magazine: 

On June 8, 2006, as Congress mulled a measure to repeal the estate tax, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California rose to oppose the proposal. “Now is not the time,” the Democrat declared, “to place the interests of a small number of millionaires ahead of millions of working families.” She continued in this vein for over 1,100 words, then yielded the floor to Sen. Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican took the opposite point of view, declaring the levy “one of the most destructive, unfair taxes ever conceived by government.” Then more senators took their turns at the microphone, arguing one side or the other: Mike Enzi, Tom Harkin, Lamar Alexander, Carl Levin, John Kerry, Orrin Hatch, Conrad Burns, Gordon Smith, Barbara Mikulski, John McCain. Barack Obama called the proposal “the Paris Hilton tax break,” which probably prompted some chuckles in the gallery.

Or would have, had he actually said it. Though all that activity appears in the Congressional Record, none of it really occurred. Only eight senators participated in the debate; the others—everyone listed above—pasted their remarks in later. 

Continue reading full Reason article