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The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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Lobbyists Put On Ventriloquist Act
More than a dozen lawmakers inserted statements supporting a biotechnology provision added to the House health care bill that was crafted by lobbyists for the biotechnology firm Genentech. According to the New York Times, “lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress.”The Genentech lobbyists crafted two statements — one for Democrats and one for Republicans — for lawmakers to insert into the Congressional Record. The collection of lawmakers is very bipartisan with ten Republicans and eight Democrats issuing near identical statements. (One Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler, inserted the Republican statement.)
For the unstudied examiner these insertions look like amateur work; more a liability than a success for this multi-million dollar lobbying campaign. That may turn out to be true with the Times’ story, but the statements made by these eighteen lawmakers can serve a powerful purpose for the biotechnology industry and Genentech in particular.
The words spoken or inserted into the official Congressional Record carry an import that those spoken in a television interview or campaign speech do not. These are official words placed in an archived government document, preserved for posterity. The use of the lobbyist written script by these eighteen lawmakers amounts to full-throated endorsement, not just of the biotechnology provision, but of the interpretation of what that provision means to one particular company, Genentech and their parent company Roche, Inc.
These statements will aid the industry when they lobby the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the implementation of the law and the attendent rules that relate to the biotechnology industry. They also help by putting these lawmakers on the line in official support of Genentech’s view of the provision. In turn, these lawmakers will likely see a hefty rise in campaign contributions from Genentech and their friends. Perhaps Genentech or another biotechnology firm will decide to fund a research project in their district. Even better, the lawmaker could earmark a research grant that could only be filled by Genentech.
Insertions into the Congressional Record have caused controversy in the past. In 2000, Rep. Bob Ney placed two statements into the Congressional Record regarding the sale of SunCruz Casinos. It was a bit odd for an Ohio congressman to be getting involved in the middle of a casino boat sale in Florida. Ney placed one statement into the record bad-mouthing SunCruz owner Gus Boulis and another singing the praises of the potential buyer Adam Kidan. It turned out that Ney was on the take from Kidan and his partner Jack Abramoff and wound up pleading guilty to multiple charges in 2006.
In 2006, Sens. Lindsay Graham and Jon Kyl filed a brief in the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld arguing that the Detainee Treatment Act, recently passed by Congress, removed Hamdan’s case from federal court jurisdiction. In the brief, Graham and Kyl cite themselves having a colliquoy in the Congressional Record during debate on the Detainee Treatment Act. Graham and Kyl were trying to show that the “legislative history,” the interpretation of legislation by lawmakers voting on it, meant to remove Hamdan’s case from the federal docket. Only problem, the colliquoy never happened. It was inserted at the last minute by the two senators. It’s hard to prove that something is legislative history when only two senators were aware of the stated congressional interpretation. The court asserted jurisdiction over the case in a 5-3 vote and sided with Hamdan against the Secretary of Defense.
FireDogLake’s Marcy Wheeler pulled together a list of congressmen using the Genentech lobbyist language. You can see them below:
Reps. Joe Wilson, Lynn Jenkins, Ted Poe, Darrell Issa, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Lee Terry, Jerry Moran, Mike Conaway, Kay Granger and Kevin McCarthy.
Reps. Bob Filner, Yvette Clarke, Bill Pascrell, Linda Sanchez, Phil Hare, Donld Payne, Robert Brady and Heath Shuler.
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Health Care Word Soup: Luntz Memo
Back in May, in anticipation of the coming health care debate, Republican pollster, strategist and word smith Frank Luntz penned a memo (PDF) detailing key words and language to use to oppose the Democrats health care reform efforts. The memo stressed words like “rationing,” “doctor-patient,” “government takeover” and “bureaucrats.” After putting these words through the Capitol Words search engine, it’s pretty clear that Republicans are listening to Luntz’ advice.Over the past month, as the health care debate has really gotten off the ground, the use of these words in the Congressional Record has skyrocketed. See the numbers below:
“Rationing” goes from 18 uses in May to 90 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “rationing” in the Capitol Words database.
“Doctor-patient” goes from 6 uses in May to 20 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “doctor-patient” in the Capitol Words database.
“Takeover” goes from 13 uses in May to 106 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “takeover” in the Capitol Words database.
“Bureaucrats” goes from 53 uses in May to 78 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “bureaucrats” in the Capitol Words database.
All of these four terms are at their respective highest use points from 2001-2009. It can’t be a coincidence that these words rise after the release of the Luntz memo. And if you look at the partisan breakdown of word use in the Congressional Record you’ll find that these words are used almost exclusively by Republicans.
The word “rationing” is exemplary of this partisan split. The only Democrats to use the word are Sens. Dick Durbin and Patty Murray. However, Durbin uses the word in a speech denouncing the Luntz memo and Murray uses it in denouncing the use of the word. All other uses come from a variety of Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
“Doctor-patient” has a similar split with only three Democrats using the word. All other uses come from Republicans, largley from the Senate and more specifically the Senate Republican leadership.
The use of “takeover” is equally split along partisan lines. The Democrats using the word, Sens. Sherrod Brown, Byron Dorgan, and Murray, all use the word to criticize the use of it by Republicans with Sen. Murray explicitly criticizing the Luntz memo. The preponderance of use for “takeover,” like the other words, comes from Republicans.
“Bureaucrats” falls along the same lines as the other three words. Democrats using the word, which is rare, use it to do one of two things: attack the use of it (Sen. Jeff Merkley directly attacks the Luntz memo) or use it in reference to bureaucrats in the health insurance industry. Republicans dominate this word, as they do the other three Luntz memo words.
In some cases, all of these words come together in one sentence, highlighting the strategy recommended by Luntz in his memo. These are two of the best examples (with my own highlighting):
Rep. Virginia Foxx: “While Democrats support raising taxes and rationing care, Republicans support health care reform that controls spending and that ensures patients and doctors make health care decisions, not a bunch of bureaucrats in Washington.”
Rep. John Boehner: “The forthcoming plan from Democratic leaders will make health care more expensive, limit treatments, ration care, and put bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions rather than patients and doctors. That amounts to a government takeover of health care, and it will hurt, rather than help, middle-class families across our country.”
Winning the battle over health care reform requires framing the debate by using key words to influence public opinion. Luntz’ memo provides a view into how Republicans believe they can succeed at opposing reform efforts. Capitol Words helps us see the influence of that memo on the actual language of Republicans.
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Weekly Media Roundup – April 17, 2009
Here are a few of the more interesting media mentions of Sunlight and our friends and grantees from this week:Various media outlets and bloggers, including the likes of CNET.com, the Associated Press, the National Journal, Lawrence Lessig and Craig Newmark, have covered and congratulated the Center for Responsive Politics’ (CRP) for making its data records from OpenSecrets.org free for anyone to download. The Journal’s “Tech Daily Dose” column reported that more than 120 people had downloaded bulk data within the first 24 hours of CRP opening up its archives.
The Washington Post’s “The Reliable Source” column highlighted Capitol Words, which “slices and dices the entirety of the Congressional Record for your searching pleasure,” they write. McClatchy’s David Lightman reported that, in light of the financial crisis, words you would expect to be used by congressional lawmakers often, such as recession, bailout, stimulus and deficit do not crack the top 30 most frequently uttered terms so far this year. And Daphne Ritter with the New York Post looks at the top words used by several lawmakers from the Empire State’s congressional delegation.
Alice Lipowicz with Federal Computer Week used OpenCongress data in writing about how only 10 congressional lawmakers (four senators and six reps) post their daily schedules on their official Web sites. New York Newsday editorialized about how Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) is blazing a trail in her congressional career by posting her schedule and personal financial disclosure reports online. “While (congressional lawmakers are) at it, they should make sure that information is easy to locate, archived and searchable, so that watchful voters can track, over time, the lobbyists and interest groups bending an official’s ear,” the editors wrote.
Last week, Ryan Singel at Wired’s “Epicenter” blog wrote about Sunlight Labs‘ contest Apps for America, and asked his readers to vote for their favorites. This week, he reported back on the response he received, and issued what he terms the “Epicenter Reader’s Choice award.”
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Capitol Words 2.0
Want to know what lawmakers are talking about on Capitol Hill but you can’t figure out how to get any worthwhile information out of the Congressional Record? Now there’s help. The Sunlight Foundation is proud to announce the relaunch of Capitol Words with much expanded capabilities. Capitol Words gives an at-glance view of the inner workings of Congress by distilling each day in session into one, single word.
The new Capitol Words provides a calendar view of the word of the day and charts showing word usage trends going back to the second session of the 106th Congress (January 24, 2000). Views that attribute word usage to lawmakers date back to the beginning of the 110th Congress (January 3, 2007). Words are also able to be match together and compared. See whether “Saddam” or “Osama” is a more commonly used word, or “Health” or “Education.” Other new functions are available and explained on the About page.In many ways, Capitol Words serves as a zeitgeist-o-meter, as each word, when used over and over again, serves to reveal the pressing issue of the day (or sometimes helps explain the legislative process). For example, the top ten words of the year, aside from those reflecting the legislative process, all reveal what issues Congress found of paramount import to debate. Let’s take a deeper look at these words:
1. Energy (50,140)
While you may not remember now, gas prices were over $4.00 during the summer. Guess what Congress was talking about then? Energy Policy! During the summer months of June to September, “Energy” was the leading word of the day for 14 days. (“Energy” led all words in being the leading word for 16 days during the year.) In all, Congress voted on three bills with the word “Energy” in the title. These bills include the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act of 2008, and Energy Markets Emergency Act of 2008. Numerous other bills included important provisions related to energy. Before the total and complete meltdown of the American system of finance, “Energy” was the most debated policy priority of the year.
2. Health (41,001)
Nearly every year, health care is a major issue in Congress. This year, the major bills under consideration included the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and the Mental Health Parity Act. There was also an attempt to override President Bush’s veto of the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a top priority of congressional Democrats. Another factor may have been National Public Health Week (April 7-13).
3. Service (37,287)
One way that lawmakers use the Congressional Record is to honor members of their districts by including a letter in the Record with laudatory praise. Nearly all of these letters commend and honor the service of the individual or organization. Some samplings: “With 26 years of active commissioned service , Colonel Flowers has served our country in a variety of diverse assignments;” “John Playter might not be a household name for many, but his service to our country during World War II certainly earns him a leading role in America’s Greatest Generation;” “I rise today to honor and celebrate the anniversary of Michigan Radio for 60 years of service to the state of Michigan and the citizens of Southeast Michigan.” There are thousands of these letters inserted into the Record each year.
4. Public (32,428)
This one doesn’t exactly tell us what lawmakers are discussing but rather where they are discussing it: in the public sphere. See how it works: When our public officials are discussing public bills in the public arena the word “public” will undoubtedly wind up in the public record. Furthermore, public officials can commit public corruption by betraying the public trust. Also, and perhaps most important here, a very common headline in the Congressional Record is: Deletions of Sponsor From Public Bills and Resolutions.
5. Oil (32,198)
Just like with “Energy,” oil was a constant topic of conversation across the country this year. The concerns about high oil prices and high gas prices among citizens are reflected in the words of their elected representatives. Democrats sought to impose restrictions on the oil trading markets as prices per barrel spiked to never before seen highs. Republicans called for further oil exploration under the mantra “Drill here, drill now!” Only “Energy” had more days as the word of the day. Notably, the number one lawmaker saying “Oil,” a total of 1,466 times, was Peak Oil enthusiast Roscoe Bartlett.
6. Report (30,858)
Most all bills come equipped with an accompanying report. More importantly, every bill that dares to pass Congress will eventually be reconciled in a Conference Report. After reconciliation is complete, both chambers of Congress will vote on the Conference Report. And they talk a lot about that Report. Also, bills and resolutions are reported to the floor for a vote.
7. Provide (29,778)
Bills provide for changes to previous legislation, or they provide certain monies or services to departments or groups of citizens. The word provide is necessary in both the writing of bills, which are introduced into the Congressional Record, and the discussion of them. There is simply no way to avoid using this word.
8. Security (29,241)
Social Security, Homeland Security, national security, border security, port security, rail security, security clearance, cyber security, climate security, data security, security blanket. Could there be a better word for a politician? It’s as though Frank Luntz and George Lakoff created a baby with the DNA extracted from a focus group.
9. Country (28,894)
Is it possible to constantly talk about the country, and the passage of laws that affect the country, without using the word “country”? Short answer: No.
10. Percent (28,682)
Every bill, every policy, every speech comes along with a set of statistics and those are represented by percentages. The percent of the tax rate one lawmaker wants to lower is the percent of the tax rate one lawmaker wants to raise. The same goes for the percent of auto emissions, the percent of the poverty rate, the percent of the budget. The language of policy requires the use of the word “percent,” thus its prominence in this list.
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Get the Capitol Words Widget
I love how our Labs takes a great idea and makes it even better. Yesterday we announced our latest project, Capitol Words and today, we have a new widget so you can display the congressional word of the day on your site. Get it here.
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The Word on the Hill
Bush. Energy. Oil. Caribbean? These were the most frequently uttered words in Congress last week, brought to you courtesy of Sunlight’s latest Web site, Capitol Words. Now, you can have an at-a-glance view into the daily proceedings of the United States Congress through the simplest lens available — a single word.
For every day that Congress is in session, Capitol Words displays the most frequently used word in the Congressional Record, dating back to the second session of the 106th Congress (January 20, 2000). (The Congressional Record, published daily, is a complete account of the floor proceedings of the House and Senate.)
We created Capitol Words to make it easy to know what issues Congress is addressing on a daily basis. Whether the congressional word of the day matches up to an issue, an action or the name of a member of Congress, Capitol Words provides a snapshot of the main topic addressed by Congress for any given day. By looking at the site’s calendar view, it’s obvious that ‘energy’ has been a hot topic in Congress this month.
Capitol Words is powered by LOUIS which scraped the Congressional Record on GPO Access. Our Labs also created an API so you can incorporate the word of the day in your applications.
