Two messages come across loud and clear from the interview with former-congressman-turned-lobbyist Doug Walgren [The Scientist, April 1, 1991, page 1]. The first is, I will be your friend and support your cause, whatever it is, if you send money and help me get re-elected. The second is, Don't send information or confuse me with facts; everything I need or want to know is in the newspaper. These messages may merely confirm what many think about the way Congress operates, but they also may indicate why science, and the United States in general, is in the condition it is in.
RICHARD C. BANKS
Alexandria, Va.
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