Won’t tell the truth

Is there ever a reason for someone in Congress to lie to the public?

The Speech and Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 6) reads, “for any Speech or Debate in either House, [senators and representatives] shall not be questioned in any other Place.” In the 1973 ruling Doe v. McMillan, “the [Supreme] Court has held that the clause protects such acts as voting, the conduct of committee hearings, the issuance and distribution of committee reports, the subpoenaing of information required in the course of congressional investigations, and even the reading of stolen classified materials into a subcommittee’s public record,” Senior U.S. District Judge James L. Buckley wrote in “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”

In other words, members of Congress cannot be held to account for any lies they tell as part of their official work, including that “no one is above the law.”

Given that Congress is constitutionally above the law, how can we trust anything they say in the conduct of official business “of the people”?

The sad truth is I don’t think we can trust anything the Congress says about anything. This has been true for the last 40 or 50 years. I think they need to pass a law that prevents any congressman from lying to the public for any reason, with an automatic impeachment if they do tell any lie about anything. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could trust everyone in Congress? Because at present I don’t think any of them know how to be truthful. ROBERT MAYNARD

Hot Springs