Here are excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad. June 4 The Dallas Morning News on honorariums: Apparently, the political liabilities connected with accepting speaking fees have become too great for 34 senators. A spot check by Congressional Quarterly magazine has found that the lawmakers are either declining all honorariums from outside groups or directing the money to charity. That number is 15 more than last year. For many voters, the practice among lawmakers of accepting speaking fees from the same special interests that seek to influence them has become a striking symbol of what is wrong with Congress. Last year, House members, in exchange for a pay raise, voted to ban honorariums beginning in 1991. But the Senate refused to follow suit. Instead, the senators adopted a wimpish plan to abolish speaking fees gradually, reducing the amount they can keep each year by the amount they receive in cost-of-living salary increases. Judging by the Congressional Quarterly survey, however, a fair number have taken it upon themselves to end the payoffs immediately. Good for them. ... Ideally, the Senate will come to its senses soon and ban honorariums altogether, with or without a pay raise. Until then, one can only hope that these examples of self-denial catch on.
