European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes sunday december 9,1990 Page 10 columns Walter Mears Keating 5 from accused senators a familiar defense they broke no Laws no Senate rules breached no guidelines because there were none. From an accuser a suggestion that there is indeed a guiding Standard and that it should Lead a senator to avoid conduct that would appear improper to a reasonable intelligent person. That draws a line that could prove More important than the itemized inquiry into the conduct of five senators a the so Callea a Keating five a under investigation for their dealings in behalf of Charles h. Keatingjr. And his Effort to fend Federal regulators away from his now failed savings and loan business. The Senate ethics committee and eventually voters will judge the acts of the men involved in this Case the broader question of congressional conduct will remain after those judgments have been rendered. The senators insist they acted to make sure a constituent and an employer was being treated properly by government regulators. _ sen. Howell t. Heflin d-ala., chairman of the ethics k Artel summed up the dilemma in two observations As c opened the hearings. A Many of our fellow citizens apparently believe that your services were bought by Charles Keating that you were bribed that you sold your office that you traded your Honor and your Good names for contributions and other benefits a Heflin told the accused senators. But he also warned against a Standard of conduct that. Could make Congress too timid in going to executive a and regulatory agencies on behalf of constituents with grievances. Outlining the Case against the senators Robert s. Dennett special counsel to the committee said he agreed that members of the Senate can properly pres sure regulators. The difficult questions come in defining what is prop Quot or and when. A a. Quot a a Bennett offered one answer in describing a a Well recognized and established appearance standards to govern conduct a a senator should not engage in conduct which would appear to be improper to a reasonable non partisan fully informed person a Bennett said a such conduct undermines the Public a Confidence in the integrity. Of the government and is an abuse of ones official position. Such conduct is wrong in addition to appearing to. Be  a. _. # that has the ring of common sense. But it relies on the judgment of the beholder. Sen. Alan Cranston  of the accused senators said that under the guidelines Bennett wants applied a senator would be afraid to act in behalf of any constituent who had contributed to his Campaign no matter How legitimate the Issue. R then again Keating was no Ordinary contributor. He gave $49,000 for Cranston campaigns and $850,000 to voter registration funds the senator was pushing. Cranston who is suffering from prostate  has said he Wilt not seek re election in 1992, complained that Bennett wants to judge the accused senators a on the basis of rules which have never been written and standards which have never been  he said that. Deprives the five senators of guarantees the Constitution Grants every  other senators Are Dennis Deconcini Darla. Donald w. Riegle jr., a Mich John Glenn a Ohio and John Mccain a Ariz. Bennett has recommended that the Case against Glenn and Mccain be dismissed. The complaint that there Are no rules so none was broken has been heard before in congressional ethics cases. A a a a a a the late sen. Thomas j. Dodd of Connecticut raised it in defending himself against ethics accusations in 1967, saying he faced Senate discipline for rules formulated after the  the very committee that considered his Case. He was censured by the Senate for using funds raised through testimonials and Campaign solicitations a for his personal Benefit a later there were rules on that conduct a it was sanctioned so Long As it was disclosed. A a. A a a a a r a a a a when he quit As speaker of the House in 1989, Jim Wright claimed there was uncertainty in the rules under which he was accused of violating House restrictions on gifts and outside income. A members Are entitled to know what the rules mean a Wright said suggesting that the House set up an office of counsel to provide official advice on ethical  the current Case the decision of the committee and of the Senate on the accused senators will draw lines for future conduct. Without the Campaign finance reforms that so far have failed to pass Congress there Are sure to be More situations linking constituent favors and Campaign contributions. A unless these trends Are recognized and dealt with we will have More cases like this a Bennett warned a and the reputation of this body and its members will be  _. A a. A c a Sola tech press a a. . Rosent Almust we on a Fine autumn morning in new York just before thanksgiving when the streets were full of handsomely dressed people off to work a Gray haired woman about 60 years old stepped off the curb at Park Avenue and 67th Street raised her dress bared herself and defecated in the i did what everybody else did. I turned my head in disgust and walked away toward the  that morning i found it a Little harder to walk away from the mentally ill of the City. A demented Man was stretched on his Back near Madison Avenue eight blocks South of the woman in the Park Avenue Quot Gutter shouting out loud to the demons of his mind. A mile on a few Steps away from the office a woman Lay Quot in a doorway As she does every Day in filth of body and pain of. Mind she clutched the bottle of liquor almost never out of hand a the gift of death by Poison that passers by give to her with their coins. About 15,000 mentally ill people live on new York streets a almost one third a a a a of the homeless. But this is not one More new York horror Story i have seen the Park Avenue lady and the raw faced woman m the doorway in Chicago san Francisco los Angeles Houston Miami a if you travel America try getting away from the homeless mentally ill a try. How did we get to this Point where americans calmly accept the fact that we cannot Deal decently with scores of thousands of destitute americans who suffer so desperately in their minds that they cry their pain in the streets where we Send them to live a a a when and Why did this country accept madness in the streets As part of the City scenery turn its Back on the deeply disturbed unless they happened to defecate in front of our delicate eyes in the mid-�?T50s, there were More than 550,000 patients in american Public men Tel health hospitals now there Are about 100,000. The Public saw the mental hospitals As Snake pits. Some were and some were not but closing them was supposed to save the states a Nice pile of tax Money. A Little later tranquil Izer drugs seeded the emptying of the  but on the streets without care or attention the mentally disturbed did not take the drugs and regressed rapidly the idea was to give the mentally ill Post Hospital care in Halfway houses or Community centers officials and taxpayers never came up with enough Money. When the hospitals closed the mentally ill poor went into the Street. That helped push at least a third of them into even More Nightmare worlds a alcoholism and drug addiction. As Long As they do not commit a serious crime a not just the Misdemeanour of be fouling private or Public property they have the right to live in the streets and the right to die there. Some advocates argue that there is no such thing As mental illness just another Way of looking at reality. Maybe they Are right. Is what we have come to accept really sanity a that mental illness is a right to be exercised to the Point of suicide rather than a disease demanding medical care for the victim is caring for people too sick to know they need care truly a violation of their Freedom. A it is a disservice to All the homeless to Lump their problems together. Thai makes Horine Tessness seem unsolvable when it is not. / the economically destitute homeless need economic help a and can respond to it As full members of society not some murky psychically troubled mysterious underclass. The addicts or mentally disturbed a estimated at 70 percent of the homeless a need a Range of treatments if they Are to escape the streets into decent housing. Is it beyond the american Legal and medical mind to provide that help even to those who do not grasp that they need if. _ _. A. A if we wont put enough taxes a yes taxes a or attention into doing the Job lets have the honesty not to blame the governor or mayor. Lets just shut up keep on. Walking away from the lady on Park Avenue and enjoy our next thanksgiving. In new York times