Inouye:
Military aide is
separate

The officer does not
do personal work for him,
the isle senator says

By Star-Bulletin staff and wire

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye says a military aide cited in a Pentagon investigation is assigned to and works for the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and does not do any work for him personally.

A lack of space on Capitol Hill prompted Inouye, a ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, to offer the military space in his office 10 years ago when he was subcommittee chairman.

Over the past decade Inouye said the Pentagon has assigned 10 officers to him -- all of whom work for the subcommittee and have been paid by the Pentagon.

"None of them do any constituent work for me," Inouye said. "I don't select them."

Inouye said the current military officer is a Navy captain. "All of the officers have been high ranking and some have even become flag officers."

A Defense Department investigation has concluded that the Pentagon routinely assigned military officers to work on the congressional staffs of individual lawmakers, contrary to rules requiring that they work for committees.

The investigation by Eleanor Hill, Pentagon inspector general, found lax oversight in the assignment of military officers to congressional staffs but reached no conclusion on whether House Speaker Newt Gingrich had officers work on political tasks.

The report circulated to lawmakers last week indicated that Gingrich was a frequent user of military officers to augment his staff.

Gingrich was by no means the only lawmaker who had military officers assigned by the Pentagon for staff work, nor was the practice exclusive to one political party.

Senior Democrats as well as Republicans are listed in the inspector general's report.