Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Taxpayer-Funded Advertising by Department of Education

Letter

Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Taxpayer-Funded Advertising by Department of Education

U.S. Representatives Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-03), Sherrrod Brown (OH-13) and Rahm Emanuel (IL- 5) yesterday wrote to the Inspector General's office of the Department of Education to request an investigation into taxpayer-funded advertising for the Administration's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The Department awarded a contract valued at $700,00 to Ketchum in violation of federal law.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that federal funding should not have been used by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a promotional video on the Medicare law. The lawmakers believe the same holds true for this contract.

"This taxpayer funded media strategy clearly served no policy objective," wrote the lawmakers. "Its dual purpose was to combat eroding public support for NCLB and help prevent voters from losing confidence in the President's domestic policy agenda."

"There is a growing pattern with the Bush Administration that when one of its initiatives fares badly with the public, it launches an ad campaign with public funding," said DeLauro. "Each dollar spent to tout this program that is underfunded by $27 billion should be returned to the government."

"The Bush Administration won't invest anywhere near the resources needed to realize the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, but they will spare no expense to advertise it," said Brown. "All the spin in the world won't turn a hollow promise into a real one, and every tax dollar they wasted should be returned to the federal treasury."

"I wish the Administration were as focused on developing kids' reading and math skills as they are in applying their political skills," said Emanuel. "We would all be better off."

The full text of the letter follows.

October 19, 2004

John P. Higgins, Jr.
Office of the Inspector General
Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave, SW.,
Washington, D.C. 20202

Dear Mr. Higgins:

We are writing to request an investigation of the Department of Education (DoEd) involvement in a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign to promote the Administration's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Both the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003 and the Antideficiency Act prohibit the use of appropriated taxpayer funds for publicity or propaganda purposes. We believe a contract DoEd awarded to Ketchum incorporated for the purpose of promoting NCLB is in violation of these laws.

Under its contract with DoED, valued at $700,000, Ketchum engaged in a comprehensive, national media campaign that included:
1. A compilation of journalists and news organizations writing favorable stories on President Bush and his political party's commitment to education;
2. Marketing tactics to improve public perception of the NCLB and improve the image of the Department;
3. A video news release that fails to identify the government as the source of the report, and does not make clear the person purporting to be a reporter was someone specifically hired for the promotional video.

This taxpayer funded media strategy clearly served no policy objective. Its dual purpose was to combat eroding public support for NCLB and help prevent voters from losing confidence in the President's domestic policy agenda.

Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a similar media contract for the purpose of promoting the new Medicare law. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the media activities for which HHS contracted constituted "covert propaganda," and that such activities should not have been purchased with government funds. We believe the same holds true for the Ketchum contract.

We therefore request that you investigate the Ketchum contract to determine whether DoED engaged in illegal activity by using federal funds for publicity or propaganda purposes. More importantly, we ask that you require the Secretary of Education to recover all taxpayer dollars inappropriately expended to promote NCLB.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,