The Senate's Internet "Election Freeze" (fwd) [nothing like infoming the

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Forwarded Message:
Date:    Tue, 9 Aug 1994 20:22:50 -0500
From:    Scott Fritchie <fritchie () STOLAF EDU>
Subject: The Senate's Internet "Election Freeze"
Resent-Sender: rre-request () weber ucsd edu


Hi everyone --


One day while surfing the World Wide Web, I'd run across a Web "home
page" for Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).  [For those interested, the
URL is "http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/Kennedy/homepage.html";.]
When I looked it up again the other day, I was dismayed to find this:


  Election Freeze
  ===============


  In compliance with regulations of the Senate Rules Committee for a
  Senator who is a candidate for any public office, no materials will be
  electronically posted to the Internet or other computer bulletin
  boards from Senator Kennedy's office between July 23rd and November
  8th, Election Day. Senator Kennedy's WWW pages and FTP directories at
  M.I.T. are frozen, except for routine maintenance. The Senator's
  Gopher site and FTP archives at the Senate will also remain largely
  inactive. But, the Senator's electronic mail address
  (senator () kennedy senate gov) will remain active.


I'm working on a project called Minnesota E-Democracy 1994, a
non-partisan effort to provide the public with greater access to
U.S. Senate and Minnesota governor campaign/election information in
electronic form.  I read this message about the freeze in amazement.
Though Senator Durenberger (R-MN) is not running for re-election this
year, would the freeze apply to Senate candidates?  What's the scope
of the Senate rules?  What if we wanted to expand the scope of the
project to cover US House of Reps races -- does the House have a
similar rule?


With so many questions buzzing in my mind, I had no choice: I sent an
email note to Senator Kennedy's email address (above) and asked them
all.


I got a phone call a couple of days later from Chris Casey, a staffer
in Senator Kennedy's office.  He was *extremely* helpful in explaining
things and sorting out what the Senate rules do and don't apply to.


This is (arguably) the first election where electronic communication
tools, such as those available on the Internet, will come into play.
The Senate Rules Committee has a set of rules governing the use of
these communication tools (attached below in full -- thanks Chris!)
which apply to all standing members of the Senate.


The "election freeze" mentioned in Senator Kennedy's Web home page is
a reaction to a Senate rule prohibiting:
        1. mailings of unsolicited email (Snailmail?  My notes are
        unclear) totalling 500 messages or more
        2. use of Senate facilities, such as sound recording studios,
... 60 days prior to an election (general, primary, or runoff).  The
Senate gopher server, gopher.senate.gov, since it is an official
"facility", is covered by the rule, and therefore its use during the
next 60 days by Senator Kennedy is prohibited.


Senator Kennedy's Web home page, it should be noted, is *not* being
served by the Senate's Gopher server, freeing it (technically) from
Senate rules.  In order to comply with the spirit of the rules,
however, Senator Kennedy has agreed to comply with the 60 day ban on
all electronic "publishing" services: the Senate Gopher, the home page
(and related documents) on MIT's Web server, and the Massachusetts BBS
system (dunno the name, sorry) where much of his material distributed.


[An interesting side note: according to Chris (and my notes), the
 Senate Rules Committee was going do pull the plug on the *entire*
 Senate Gopher on of September 9th (or thereabouts).  That's the day
 where the 60 day ban would affect 1/3 of all Senate members, due to
 upcoming elections.  Poof!  No more Gopher server, period.  Chris said
 he had to wage a tremendous fight to avoid the shutdown.  The
 compromise is the replacement of all individual Senator information
 with the single menu entry "Notification - 7/28/94".  Retrieval of
 that file simply states "Senate policy restricts a Senator's use of
 the Senate Internet servers during the sixty days before an election."


 The Gopher server and its documents on Senate committees should be up
 and running through the elections.]


The directories at the House of Representatives's Gopher server,
gopher.house.gov, for individual members all point to Gopher servers
at universities (presumably) within their districts.  (Six
Representatives are listed there.)  Chris doesn't know of any similar
restrictions on House franking privileges with respect to the House's
Gopher server.  Even if the House had the same rules as the Senate,
would that mean the the House Gopher would have to remove the pointers
to information stored off-site & unrestricted by the rule?  {Chuckle}


So, with the House taking a laissez faire approach to member use of
the Internet, what's stopping members from renting Web- and
Gopherspace via name-your-favorite-Internet-service-provider-here?
Not much, it seems, other than perhaps ignorance.  And what's keeping
Senators from doing the same thing?  With Senator Kennedy, it's a
desire to honor the spirit of the Senate rules.  How many other
Senators will decide *not* to do the same thing?


Or, how long will it take before the Senate Rules Committee amends its
rules to limit explicitly its 60 day ban to official Senate electronic
facilities?  Or, at the very least, allow members to distribute their
information electronically through public service projects like
Minnesota E-Democracy?


Following this story of the Senate's struggle with new tools has
definitely been interesting.  {Hearty laugh}  Feel free to redistribute
it, keeping in mind this is about 265 lines long.


-Scott


P.S.  Aside note: I've heard rumors that addressing messages to
"senator_lastname () lastname senate gov" now works for all Senators, but
I haven't tested it yet.


P.P.S. For more information about the Minnesota E-Democracy project, send
email to "E-Democracy () Free-Net Mpls-StPaul MN US".


P.P.S. Full text of (some) Senate rules follows



---
Scott Fritchie, UNIX Systems Manager                 Secretary:
Academic Computing Center, St. Olaf College          Twin Cities Free-Net
1510 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, MN  55057            Organizing Committee
fritchie () stolaf edu ... 507/646.3407                 (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
"Activism is the killer app for the net." -- Steven Cherry <stc () panix com>


--- snip --- snip --- snip --- snip --- snip --- snip --- snip --- snip ---


U.S. SENATE FTP SERVER USAGE RULES AND POLICIES


I.  Policy


A.  Purpose


    1.  The United States Senate FTP Server ("FTP Server") will provide read-
only access to information files Senate offices may choose to make available to
the general public.  It is the policy of the Senate that the privilege of using
the FTP Server be established in these rules in order to assist and expedite
the conduct of the official business, activities, and duties of the United
States Senate.


    2.  It is not the intention of the Senate that the FTP Server be used as a
repository for official records.  Official records such as those produced by
the Secretary of the Senate are not to be placed on the FTP Server unless
otherwise approved by the Secretary of the Senate and prepared in accordance
with Section 501 of Title 44 of the United States Code.  Such records include,
but are not limited to:  bills, public laws, committee reports, and other
legislative materials.


B.  Scope


    1.  The Vice President, each Member of the Senate, the Secretary of the
Senate, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Senate Committees, the Legislative
Counsel of the Senate, and the Senate Legal Counsel may transmit to the FTP
Server information files which contain matter relating to their official
business, activities, and duties, as intended by the Senate and set forth in
subsections C, D, and E.


    2.  If a vacancy occurs in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the
Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, the Legislative Counsel of the Senate, or the
Senate Legal Counsel any authorized person may exercise the FTP Server
Privilege in the officer's name during the period of the vacancy.


C.  Materials Which May Be Placed on the FTP Server


    1.  It is the intent of the Senate that matters which may be transmitted to
the FTP Server specifically include, but are not limited to:


    (a) matter regarding programs, decisions, and other related materials of
public concern or public service, including any matter relating to actions of a
past or current Congress;


    (b) the usual and customary Senate newsletter or press release which may
deal with such matters as the impact of laws and decisions on State and local
governments and individual citizens;  reports on public and official actions
taken by Members of Congress; and discussions of proposed or pending
legislation or governmental actions and the positions of the Members of
Congress on, and arguments for or against, such matters;


    (c) the usual and customary congressional questionnaire seeking public
opinion on any law, pending or proposed legislation, public issue, or subject;


    (d) matter which consists of voter registration or election information or
assistance prepared in a nonpartisan manner;


    (e) matter which constitutes or includes a biography or autobiography of
any Senator, or any biographical or autobiographical material concerning such
Senator or the spouse or other members of the family of such Senator;


    (f) matter which constitutes or includes a personnel directory or similar
information about a Senator's office.


D.  Materials Which May Not Be Placed on the FTP Server


    1.  It is the intent of the Senate that matters which may not be
transmitted to the FTP Server specifically include, but are not limited to:


    (a)  Personal Matter


        (i)  matter which in its nature is purely personal and is unrelated to
the official business, activities, and duties of the public officials;


        (ii)  matter which constitutes or includes any article, account,
sketch, narration, or other text laudatory and complimentary of any Senator on
a purely personal or political basis rather than on the basis of performance of
official duties as a Senator;


        (iii)  reports of how or when such Senator or the spouse or any other
member of the family of such Senator spends time other than in the performance
of, or in connection with, the legislative, representative, and other official
functions of such Senator;


        (iv)  any transmission expressing holiday greetings from a Senator.
This prohibition does not preclude an expression of holiday greetings at the
commencement or conclusion of an otherwise proper transmission.


    (b)  Political Matter


        (i)  matter which specifically solicits political support for the
sender or any other person or any political party, or a vote or financial
assistance for any candidate for any political office;


        (ii)  matter which mentions that the Senator or an employee of a
Senator is a candidate for political office, or which constitutes
electioneering, or which advocates the election or defeat of any individuals,
or a political party. The use of the political designation "D" or "R" when used
for purposes of party identification in an otherwise proper transmission is not
prohibited.


    (c)  Solicitation of Funds


        (i)  no solicitation of funds for any purpose may be made on the FTP
Server.


E.  Restrictions on the Use of the FTP Server Prior to an Election


    1.  No Member may place or keep on the FTP Server any matter, except
personnel directories, during the 60 day period immediately before the date of
any primary or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) for any
national, state, or local office in which the Senator is a candidate for
election.


    2.  No Member may place or keep on the FTP Server any matter, except
personnel directories, during the 60 day period immediately before the date of
a biennial general Federal election.




III.  Responsibilities


    1.  The FTP Server privilege is the personal responsibility of each
Senator.  While individual employees within the office of a Senator have the
day-to-day use of the FTP Server as directed by the Senator, it remains the
responsibility of the Senator to oversee the use of the FTP Server privilege by
his or her office and to ensure that the use of the privilege is consistent
with the requirements established by statute, these rules, the Standing Rules
of the Senate, Interpretative Rulings of the Select Committee on Ethics,
Regulations established by the Committee on Rules and Administration, and any
other applicable statutes, regulations, and rules of the Senate.  An improper
use of the FTP Server will be imputed to the employing Senator under most
circumstances.  To help avoid violations, Senators should provide for the
training and supervision of employees and their familiarization with these
regulations.


    2.  As with the use of other Internet services by Senate offices, the
"Acceptable Use Policy" of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) NSFNET
"backbone" is applicable to all Senate use of the FTP Server.  This policy (see
Attachment I) governs all uses of Internet services traversing the network
backbone provided in the United States by the NSF.


------------------------------







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