Congressional Accountability Project
1322 18th Street NW, Suite 36
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 296-2787
fax (202) 833-2406
Honorable Richard Bryan
Chairman
U. S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20010
Dear Senator Bryan:
I am writing to file a complaint against U.S. Senator Phil Gramm.
1. Senator Gramm used public monies from his official expense account to fund large
amounts of "campaign-oriented" travel in Texas for the two years preceding his 1990 re-election bid. Gramm used his senate staff to perform "campaign-oriented" activities
during his re-election effort.
2. Senator Gramm abused his franking privilege by improperly directing volunteers to
send videotapes of television newscasts to Gramm's offices in franked envelopes.
3. Senator Gramm improperly spent at least $9,000 from his official expense account to
fund a trip that included taking his wife and sons hunting, and travel to a college bowl
game. Records from that trip indicate that Gramm performed four hours and 35 minutes
of official work during the five day trip.
These complaints are based on a series of articles written by Richard Whittle, and published in
the Dallas Morning News on July 25-26, 1993.
Complaint #1: Gramm used public monies and his Senate staff for "campaign-oriented" activities.
In a Dallas Morning News on July 25, 1993, titled "Papers offer a rare view of Gramm," Richard Whittle quotes a January 1990 report from Ruth Cymber, Gramm's chief senate aide:
We are now clearly focused on the 1990 campaign....We have made the transition from a Senate-oriented staff to a campaign-oriented staff ....We are investing our state resources heavily in
events that generate media and/or crowds and maximize the senator's time.....We have done an
excellent job, through scheduling, special projects and our press operation in obtaining free,
positive MEDIA.
The article explains how Senator Phil Gramm used his senate staff to execute hundreds of media
events across Texas during Gramm's re-election effort. Whittle wrote that:
The papers and interviews with former aides reveal that as of the time Ms. Cymber spoke [wrote], 20 of the 27 Senate-paid employees in Mr. Gramm's Texas offices were used exclusively or primarily to create, organize, publicize and analyze the results of media events staged during trips to the state. Mr. Gramm employed 35 aides in Washington.
Those aides helped arrange a busy texas travel schedule at Senate expense.
An analysis of Senator Gramm's travel expenses shows that he spent $116,149.25 on air travel,
and daily expenses during 1989, which is more than $47,000 more than he spent on similar
expenses on any other year between 1986 and 1993. When spending patterns during 1986-93 are
broken down into four-month periods, four of the five largest air travel expense periods occurred
in 1989 or 1990. According to the Dallas Morning News article, then-Senator Lloyd Bentsen
spent $18,284.14 and $18,255.83 in 1987 and 1988 for senate-paid travel in Texas.
These statistics show that Gramm's spending on air travel peaked precisely during the period
when Gramm's Senate staff was "campaign-oriented," to use the words of Ms. Cymber. This
clearly demonstrates that Senator Gramm improperly used Senate resources to perform
campaign-related activities. How else can one interpret the dramatic increase in official travel
spending during 1989 and 1990, and its later subsidence after Gramm's re-election had been
accomplished.
Whittle's story continues:
An inch-thick scheduling report presented to the 1990 staff retreat listed 630 stops Mr. Gramm had made during the 101 days he spent in Texas between Dec. 8 1988 and Dec. 10 1989. Illustrated with color charts and graphs, the report categorized 408 stops as "Actual Media Events" including 237 "Actual Electronic Media Events" and 171"Non-Electronic Media Events"
For each media event, then-scheduling director Alan Hill catalogued not only the date, time, location, and topic but also whether it was created or invited.
The report said that Mr.Gramm attended 70 events to which he was invited and 560 created by
his staff.
This intensive use of senate resources for "campaign-oriented" activities is a clear violation of
Senate rules, and federal law. 31 U.S.C. 1301(a) states that:
Appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made
except as otherwise provided by law.
Appropriations designated for Senator Gramm's official expense account, and for his personnel
expense ought not to fund "campaign-oriented" travel and activities.
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration's policy for the use of senate rooms (revised
January 1992) states that "Senate space may NOT be used for any campaign...purpose
whatsoever."
Complaint #2: Gramm abused his franking privilege.
According to an article in the Dallas Morning News on July 25, 1993 titled "Use of franked
envelopes for videotapes raises questions," volunteers working for Senator Gramm have admitted
to sending videotapes of news programs containing clips of Senator Gramm to Gramm's Senate
offices.
"I got some envelopes and a blank tape in the mail today," Sue Zabcik, 69, of Temple [Texas], one of the network of volunteer tapers managed by Mr. Gramm's Senate staff, said in a May 13 telephone interview.
"They're franked," she said of the envelopes.
......
In separate telephone interviews volunteer tapers Phyllis Harper, 63, and Marge Croninger, 52,
both of Temple, also said that Mr. Gramm's office had sent them franked envelopes for use in
sending back videotapes of newscasts.
In the same article, Senator Gramm defended this use of use of the frank:
"The function that we are undertaking is totally and absolutely appropriate, and we have every
intention to continue to do it."
The Dallas Morning News article titled "Papers offer a rare view of Gramm" includes the
following description:
Mr. Gramm's regional aides were required to manage "pathfinders" -- "at least three volunteers
taping for every station in every television market that is not covered by a regional office," as the
same [official Gramm senate] document puts it.
Senator Gramm's use of the frank to collect videotapes violates Senate Ethics rules, and federal
law.
Senate Select Committee on Ethics Interpretive Ruling No. 303 (February 21, 1980) addresses
the question of whether it is acceptable for a Senator to "distribute return-addressed franked
envelopes in his state, who would use the envelopes to mail copies of local newspapers to his
Washington office." The Ethics Committee ruled that it
does not believe that this proposed use of franked envelopes is proper...The Committee has
consistently taken the position (see e.g. Interpretive Ruling No. 127, dated May 12, 1978) that
because of the opportunity for alteration of the mailed matter or the misuse of the frank, franked
envelopes may not be processed, mailed, or distributed by any outside individual or organization.
According to 39 U.S.C 3215: Lending or Permitting Use of Frank Unlawful:
A person entitled to use a frank may not lend it or permit its use by any committee, organization,
or association or permit its use by any person for the benefit or use of any committee,
organization, or association.
The Regulations Governing the Use of the Mailing Frank state that:
Under this section a Member or official authorized to frank mail may not allow his frank to be
used in any way that would inure to the benefit of persons, firms, or organizations themselves not
authorized to send mail matter under the frank.
Complaint #3: Gramm used public monies to fund five-day vacation, with minimal work.
In an article titled "Business interspersed with pleasure on Texas trip," Richard Whittle documents Senator Gramm's five day taxpayer-paid trip to Texas in December, 1989. Whittle writes:
Sen. Phil Gramm took his wife and two sons hunting on a friend's south Texas ranch, picked up some friends two days later and went to a college bowl game in El Paso....During the trip, documents and interviews show, Mr. Gramm cut a ribbon at a plastics factory in San Benito and viewed some crop damage near Harlingen. With Dr. Red Duke, the Houston physician and television personality, the senator also held news conferences at four airports between Kerrville and El Paso.
These events -- Mr. Gramm's justification for billing his expenses to the Senate -- consumed four
hours and 35 minutes of the five day journey....
The five-day period during which Senator Gramm billed $9,000 to the taxpayers included three
weekday work days (Wednesday, December 27-Friday, December 29, 1989). It is reasonable to
expect that if a Senator bills the taxpayers for travel expenses, that senator ought to at least work
an average of an 8-hour work day for the work days of the trip. So, in this case, it is reasonable
to expect Senator Gramm to work 24 hours during his five day trip, or an average of 4 4/5 hours
per day. During Senator Gramm's December 27-31, 1989 trip, Gramm only worked 4 hours and
35 minutes during the entire trip -- less than one-fifth of the 8-hours-per-work-day standard.
Senator Gramm's trip violates federal law by expending appropriated funds for a personal use.
31 U.S.C. 1301(a) states that:
Appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made
except as otherwise provided by law.
Concerning false claims for federal reimbursement of expenses, 31 U.S.C. 3729(a) states that:
Any person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, to an officer or employee of the
United States Government...a false or fraudulent claim for payment... is liable to the United
States Government for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000...
I have attached a copy of the Dallas Morning News series of articles as a "Statement of the Facts"
as I understand them.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Gary Ruskin
Organizing Director