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Saturday, April 06, 2002

By Claude R. Marx, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON-- As their primary election fight becomes more intense, Rep. Frank Mascara has asked the House ethics committee to investigate whether fellow Democratic Rep. John Murtha is using government funds and personnel for his campaign.

Mascara alleges that on three occasions in January and February, Murtha or his staff members performed official activities in areas outside Murtha's current district, which could violate House rules.

The appearances occurred in Greene and Washington counties, which are in the new 12th District in southwestern Pennsylvania that both Mascara and Murtha are seeking to represent but are currently in Mascara's district. The primary election is scheduled for May 21.

A spokesman for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct declined to say when the panel would review the complaint. The eight-member committee has four Democrats and four Republicans. No lawmakers from Pennsylvania are on the panel.

Mascara's complaint focuses on two appearances in Washington, Pa., by Murtha: Jan. 31 presentation of a $2 million check to the United Mine Workers for a retraining program and a Feb. 22 presentation of a $1 million grant for distance learning at Washington and Jefferson College. Mascara also raised questions about a Feb. 21 appearance by Murtha aide Mark Critz in Waynesburg, where Critz handed out Murtha's biography and business card.

The visits "clearly appear to be official House business with a campaign intent," Mascara wrote in his letter to the ethics committee.

"It's a thin line between what we do officially and what we do in campaigns. But I think what [Murtha] did is in bad taste. I don't think we should use government grants to campaign," Mascara told The Associated Press yesterday.

Murtha said his actions were proper because he has always used his position on the Appropriations Committee "to support projects of regional significance."

Murtha said Critz spends half of his time on the government payroll and half the time on the campaign payroll and Critz's visit to Greene County was on campaign time.

House rules require that official funds be used "to support the official and representational duties of a member of the House of Representatives with respect to the district from which the member is elected." But the rules also allow members to publicize activities that impact "not only the member's district but also geographic areas surrounding the district."

Mascara and Murtha are running against each other because of a Republican-drawn redistricting plan approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature in January. Mascara has been a House member since 1995, Murtha has been in office since 1974.

Two experts on House ethics rules differed about the severity of Mascara's allegations.

"To make this an issue in a campaign is one thing, to frame it as a violation of ethics rules is pushing it," said Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

Dividing a staff member's time between official and campaign duties is legal, though not done often, said Gary Ruskin, who runs the Congressional Accountability Project, an ethics watchdog group.