Laura,

I am awfully sorry that you went to all of that trouble. You should have called me. I wrote that line into the bill right before I signed it because a couple of my buddies told me that we needed a road there. Sorry about the trouble!

--GWB

Now that's what I call real accountability!

Laura, I’d like to add another “fly in the ointment” if I could. When the question is raised as to how a “language change” could enter important documents as they sit “in between” process points, it may be important to map out the process. However, it may be much more technical than you might think.

When we had to write everything, copying became very time consuming. Then copiers came along and changes were easier to work with but they were also easier to spot and control too. However the electronic age makes is so easy to make changes that it might make your head spin. I’m not commenting on the process of using editors but mainly that high-tech sophisticated hacking may well exist. Another point to remember is because of the electronic age, we are now often buried in information so it’s easy to assume that an important document may end up being huge in size as well. I’ve read earlier that one of the games used to pass Bill’s was to release it late forcing the Law Makers to rush. If so, then it makes sense since we are all human that many might not even want to review it. Digesting complex text, especially if it’s legaleze, takes time. Add this problem to a growing larger document and it quickly becomes humanly impossible to adequately do a proper review.

But regarding this problem, there is another level to this that needs to be thoroughly explored. I do mean thoroughly because when dealing with sophisticated hacking, you have to be thorough. It’ll require mapping out the entire document development AND certification process in enough detail to well explain the differences between when it’s in digital form and when it’s in printed form and what happens when it’s signed off by members.

When it’s in digital form is where it’s most vulnerable to sophisticated hacking. Please don’t discount this as I’ve had many years of experience dealing with this problem and urge you to consider tackling this. But beware as it is expected to be very tediously technical. If you need help, feel free to email me. Please accept that I’m assuming you can access my email address that’s part of this post, if not let me know a way to connect with you.

Wait just a damn minute. If he's too busy during office time to answer a simple question because he's working on a "fundraiser" isn't that a Hatch Act violation?

What a BS excuse that is.

Helen,

NFWF is not a government agency, hence not subject to the Hatch Act.

From thier web page: "The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization chartered by Congress in 1984."

Please keep this on the front burner and follow up repeatedly. They can't simply refuse to answer forever.

Can't Nancy Pelosi get an answer?

KTUU and ADN two leading yet impotent media outlets in Alaska failed again
and again and again and again

Anonymous,

Thanks for that correction. I missed the word Foundation in my initial reading of the main story. My bad.

I stand corrected.

check with whichever entity is responsible for engrossing and enrolling the bill. that's the point in the process where the change could have been slipped in by some unscrupulous legislative analyst. at least that's how it works in state legislatures.

Get a sympathetic Dem member of Congress to request a report from CRS.

It will indeed take a while, but if it backs up the Lee County report, it will be a bigger news story, and the resulting attention will eventually require some explanations and maybe some additional Congressional investigation.

Jeff Trandahl is responsible for the insertion unless he shows otherwise because he was in control of the office where the changes have to have been made.

Congress should investigate and should examine all bank accounts of all persons with access to the bill.

As a legal/Constitutional matter, this situation is not quite the same as the presentment clause issue involved in the line item veto case (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 US 417 (1998)).

The process of enrollment is described in the Thomas/Library of Congress web site at .

As a political matter, the issue is one that can only become more fascinating as the facts become (hopefully) known. Please keep up the good work.

When I first heard of this a couple months back, I was incensed that this could happen. Changing the language of any legislation should be a felony! Are you effing kidding me? The non reaction to this stunned me and led me to think this was not a one time episode. In a country supposedly of laws and not men, what Sen. Young did should have been investigated thoroughly and immediately with the removal of Young from every committee until complete answers are found. The arrogance and impunity of these criminals is disgusting. We have become desensitized to the abject criminality and contempt displayed by the republican party because of the daily drumming and constant flow of scandal and unchecked hubris. We are in the midst of the purposeful dismemberment of American democracy, culture and law. See you in the KBR internment camps. The passivity and indifference of the American people to what is occurring all around them will be the legacy of a failing civilization.

Jeff Trandahl's current employment with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation makes me wonder about his relationship with the Alaska Congressional delegation. It appears he also just wrapped up a visit to Alaska according to this.

http://www.rasmuson.org/PressRelease/index.php?switch=view_pressrelease&iReleaseID=144

Since much of the Alaska dealings focus on fishing it is worth noting that NFWF has a new program called More Fish that will be handing out cash very soon - federal cash that is. The More Fish program is listed under the Keystone Initiative grants at NFWF.

Fun fact - as Laura reported back in early August, the entire Alaska delegation contributed earmarks to the "Keystone Drive Improvement Project."

Aerows, sorry if you got the idea that my comment was calling this a mistake. As mentioned, it clearly is a criminal act. There is a lot of work required to determine what has happened before all of us learn what it is. However, from my personal experience in directly dealing with this problem for more than a decade, I can assure you that everyone is in for huge shocking surprise. It may even make many want to throw their computers away!

Hey Laura - Five hundred dollars says you will find this is not the first time a bill was altered after passage but prior to presidential signing.

Surely it can not be that hard to get MS Word versions of both and use Word's built in text comparison tool.