arizona daily star
In her first year in office, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spent $234,000 sending full-color, multipage fliers to her home district, more than anyone else in House, according to federal disclosure statements.
But Giffords' aides blame her ranking on inconsistent reporting procedures that let many other members evade reporting all expenses associated with what's referred to as franking.
They say that if all members followed the same rules, Giffords wouldn't be the leader.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, also a Southern Arizona Democrat, ranked last, spending nothing, according to the figures, published by the House administrative office.
Giffords said the mailings helped introduce her to her 640,000 constituents.
The cost of nearly $1 for every person who voted in the 2006 District 8 congressional race has led to criticism from Giffords' Republican opponent in this year's race, state Senate President Tim Bee.
Bee calls Giffords' use of the franking privilege "self-promotion," but he wouldn't commit to not doing the same if he is elected in her place.
Giffords' mailing of 640,000 pieces was the highest figure in a series of quarterly reports the House is mandated to produce. She and other House members have been encouraged to use franking in their first term and cut back on other office expenses — such as travel and staffing.
Giffords' staff said forms for reporting are not uniform. As a result, some members, such as Giffords, reported all expenses associated with franking. Others, using older forms, report only the cost of postage. That, they said, inflated her figures.
"We have been overly compliant in assuming we should report every penny that we've spent, not just postage, and other members have decided to interpret the policy to just include postage," said Maura Policelli, Giffords' chief of staff in Washington.
Neither the Committee on House Administration nor the chief administrative officer of the House was able to verify the Giffords staff's comments on Friday.
But Policelli and Giffords both said in interviews that they were proud of the money that has been directed to mailers.
"I believe my job is to communicate with my constituents, to engage my constituents," Giffords said. "A lot of people don't read the newspaper, don't have enough time, maybe aren't watching television and really don't know what their member of Congress is doing."
Giffords sent five mass mailings out last year — ranging from 65,000 to 154,000 pieces of mail at a time. This year, Giffords has sent three.
A two-page mailer sent by Giffords in November, titled "Honoring Our Veterans," features a newspaper editorial praising the congresswoman for being a "strong supporter" of veterans. The second page lists bills that Giffords has sponsored relating to the issue with the headline: "Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Fighting to Support Our Veterans."
A four-page mailer on solar energy, sent in April, includes five pictures of Giffords and again quotes a newspaper editorial praising her on the issue.
To Write a Letter to the Editor CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment