ABSTRACT
William A. Steiger, a Republican from Oshkosh, serves the sixth district of Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives. Born in 1938, he was elected to the House in 1966 after a six-year stint in the Wisconsin legislature. In 1968 he was a U.S. Jaycees selection as outstanding young man. In addition to being young and popular, Steiger is an heroic fellow. For he has attempted, over the past couple of years, to change the way the Congress uses its most sacred cow, the Congressional Record, to mislead the American electorate. Steiger is fighting for the unthinkable—to amend the rules of the House to make the Record a more faithful account of floor proceedings and debates. In this quest he has gathered over 70 cosponsors for his resolutions, but it is not at all clear that the vast majority of representatives wish to bring integrity to the Record. It is, however, clear to me that Steiger himself desires that the Record be fact rather than the fictionalized account it often is. I shall try to document Steiger's sincerity while showing, alas, that his is a futile struggle.
