On Feb. 1, 1996, the US House of Representatives voted to pass the Telecommunications Reform Act. This Act included the Communications Decency Act, which sought to criminalize posting to the Internet any material deemed indecent and patently offensive, with no exception for socially redeeming material. On Sept. 11, 1998, the US House of Representatives voted to release the Referral of Independent Counsel Starr on the Internet. 365 individuals were Members of Congress during these two votes, 196 Republicans and 169 Democrats. Of that total, 284, or 77.6%, voted Aye both times. 185 of the Republicans, or 94.4%, voted Aye both times. 96 of the Democrats, or 56.8%, voted Aye both times. Had the Communications Decency Act withstood judicial review (which it did not), posting the Starr report to the Internet arguably would have subjected the posters to fines of $250,000 and 5 years in prison. The question of who voted for both the CDA and the release of the Starr report is not cut-and-dried, because Congress did not record a roll-call vote for the CDA in isolation, but only for its vehicle the Telecommunications Reform Act. Also, the vote Friday to post the Starr report was primarily a vote to start up impeachment machinery. Nevertheless, if accountability to the voters means anything in this democracy, the Congress members who voted "Aye" on both February 1, 1996 and September 11, 1998 ought to come in for a bit of uncomfortable public exposure. <href=http://www.tbtf.com/resource/hypocrites.html>http://www.tbtf.com/resource/hypocrites.html</a>