On the recordJune 8, 2012
Members of the House, if the gentleman has a problem with communicating with constituents, then I think he ought to take his gripes to the Franking Commission. I think everyone knows in this House that Members have an office account, and the philosophy is that you have an office account, you run your office. You are held accountable for how you spend those dollars. Some dollars are spent for salaries, for equipment, for rent, and for communications. When the communications are paid for with taxpayers' dollars, they are subject to review by what's called the Franking Commission. That is a bipartisan commission, made up of Democrats, made up of Republicans. And before any kind of communication is put forward--whether it's a newsletter, maybe it is a postcard--before anything goes out, there are very strict guidelines that the Franking Commission uses to decide what goes in to those communication pieces. Under the rules, Members are allowed to use their MRA, their office account, that's funded by taxpayers dollars. They can, if they want to announce they're going to have a town hall meeting, they can send out a postcard, they can send out a letter. They can actually buy advertising in a newspaper, as long as it meets the requirements of the Franking Commission. And they are very strict about how big your name can be and how many pictures you can have. {time} 1040 You can also buy time, buy advertising on the radio.…
