European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps Peter Jaeger the Perks of the House free Bank Only one of privileges enjoyed in Congress by Peter Osterlund the Baltimore Sun after he called on the House of representatives to shutter its private Bank House speaker Thomas Foley explained his action this Way Quot no member of Congress should enjoy any privilege. That a not available to any other  in his speech Foley d-wash., was referring to the Bank s practice of honouring rubber checks signed by lawmakers but if the speaker were taken at his word Quot his limousine would be the first to go a As rep Andrew Jacobs d-lnd., put it. And Foley would not be the Only member of Congress to endure the jolting transformation. Though some Industry captains May command cashier perquisites membership in Congress has its own unique privileges that is something newly elected lawmakers discover on their first Day at work when they Are handed so called Quot Green books Quot detailing the special services at their disposal. It costs about $2.3 billion a year to run the government s legislative Branch. Of that a bit less than $1.3 billion is set aside for the Congress proper a figure that works out to More than $2 million per lawmaker a Small part of that a it s difficult to say exactly How much a is dedicated to the provision of personal services and comforts. Need a workout choose from one of three fully equipped private gyms Complete with swimming . Feeling under the weather the 30-doctor Capitol physician s office is run by a two Star Admiral and All its services a including pharmacy medical lab and ambulance a Are free to lawmakers though they Cost taxpayers More than $2 million a year. Thinking about retirement the congressional pension system May be the nation s most generous. You can Start collecting your benefits after age 50 if you be served 20 years after age 60 if you be served 10. Want to curl up with a Good Book the Library of Congress has 27 million of them and you and your family a but not the voters a Are Welcome to Check a few out. A haircut less than $5. A car Wash they do it by hand in the Capitol garage a and for just $3. Child care the Best and the cheapest. Then there Are privileges Quot Lor which there is no real world equivalent. Lawmakers Fly Home free travel widely at government expense on official business Avail themselves of the convenient private Capitol travel Agency and procure passports directly from the state department without Ever waiting in line. Each commands a personal staff often of dozens whose collective purpose is to Advance the member s career. Lawmakers Park free at Washington National Airport too in an exclusive convenient parking it. It is hard to put a Price tag on some Perks. Many niceties for example Don t add a dime to the legislative budget though someone always seems to pay. Washington a Airport authority for example sacrifices $1,5 million a year to Clear 177 Premium spaces for lawmakers supreme court justices and diplomats. Other privileges Don t Cost anything. Like exemption from Many Federal statutes. Congress is not covered by Many of the Laws it passes because separation of Powers considerations prevent the executive Branch from enforcing congressional Observance of its own Laws. Quot in the name of civil social physical and economic working rights and standards for american workers we pass landmark legislation like the civil rights act of 1964, the fair labor standards act the occupational safety and health act and the rehabilitation act of 1973,&Quot said sen. Patrick Leahy Dot. Quot working standards for most american workers that is. Not if you re a member of  Congress has taken some Steps to bring itself in line with the rest of America though some doubt whether those Steps have had much practical effect. In 1979, for example Congress adopted a Rule prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race color religion sex National origin age or state of physical Handicap. But As sen. John Glenn a Ohio Points out the Rule Quot has no enforcement mechanism and no standards for  indeed 10 years after lawmakers adopted Rule 42, Glenn s Senate governmental affairs committee conducted a Survey of employees of the Capitol architect who is responsible for the Upkeep and maintenance of congressional buildings and property. It found that 90 percent of Black workers were employed in positions starting at $14,000 a year while 90 percent of White workers were in positions starting at $19,500 a year. Two years ago reports of dickensian working conditions in the House s main newsletter preparation facility triggered an outcry in the press and an embarrassed overhaul of congressional personnel policies a some of them anyway. Nevertheless a Bill to remove the congressional exemption from a Constellation of landmark civil rights and fair employment Laws disappeared in the last Congress with hardly a whimper. Quot what did you expect Quot said rep. Jacobs who nonetheless has introduced a similar Bill this year readers action linear amp to wont mail card to ap0, fp0 addresses Lee we Are gelling a raw Deal irom some companies who purport to support the military at amp to had an offer which i wanted to take advantage of namely a credit card which would have no service fee and which if used to make Calls would entitle the cardholder to a 10 percent discount. I talked to an at amp to representative who set out a stall in front of our Exchange and she sent me the appropriate form to fill out i duly tilled it out and sent it to at amp to they subsequently turned Down my request i believe that the Only reason that they did so was that i have an Apo address i fail to understand their thinking Tor doing this because a i have their Quot calling card Quot which i have had no problems with b i have a Gold visa card from first Usa Bank and c i have an impeccable credit history and resultant excellent rating. Maybe you could get Page 16 a the stars and stripes a spokesman to explain their logic. Robert c. Bates Shefford England a Lori k. Smith executive response Center at amp to Universal card replies we regret that some members of our military feel that at amp to Universal card services mailing policy is unfair causing their applications to be unjustifiably declined let me assure you that we recognize the value of our servicemen and women and would like to be Able to Issue cards to Alt of our military applicants. However for Security purposes Universal Bank the issuer of the at amp to Universal card has set a policy against mailing credit cards to p.o., Apo and Fpo addresses. Universal Bank requires that All credit cards be mailed to a physical address within the United states. This policy protects card members Universal Bank and at amp to Universal card services As Well we understand that this policy can make it difficult Lor some applicants to obtain an at amp to Universal card. However we Welcome these applicants and suggest that they use an alternate United states physical address for the purpose of obtaining a card. Once these cards Are wednesday october 16, 1991 received we can change the records to reflect their current address. In addition to the above requirement our applicants must have a credit profile with a United states credit reporting Agency a United states social Security number and Home Telephone number. It should also be explained that at amp to Universal card services is not an International credit card company. Our current charter restricts the issuance of cards to a foreign address. To write us -1 readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and done to know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers ii