It's refreshing to hear the truth from a member of Congress about the complexity of the laws passed and the lack of understanding of those bills by the very lawmakers who send legislation to the president for his signature. But just as it might be refreshing, it's also disturbing.

During a speech last week at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., questioned the value of lawmakers reading the bills they vote on.

His view of the current health care reform bills being worked on in Congress was summarized when he said, "What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?"

So Conyers, who is a lawyer and serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, admits that he has not read the latest health care reform legislation — and sees no point in reading the legislation.

How many other members of Congress have not read the health care reform proposals being developed? How many lawmakers just trust staffers, or even lobbyists from the health care industry, to write the bills for them? How many read bills and understand bills before voting on them?

Conyers' comments about the health care reform legislation not being read or understood could probably also have been said about the $787 billion Stimulus Bill rushed through Congress earlier this year and the energy bill, known as Cap and Trade, which was passed by the House and contained about 1,000 pages as written, but then had a 300-page amendment added at the last minute. Still, the House passed it.

It's too late to do anything about the 1,073-page Stimulus Bill, which became law. But the energy bill still has to be considered by the Senate, and many lawmakers on their August recess will — or should — hear from voters who expect lawmakers to read and understand what they vote to approve and what they vote to impose on America.

That is their job. That is what they were elected to do.

Conyers, the second-longest-serving member of the House, deserves a jeer for not reading the heath care legislation. Viewed differently, Con-yers also could earn a cheer for telling the sad truth about how Congress works — or doesn't work.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly's controversial, albeit short-lived, 2005 middle-of-the-night pay raise wouldn't have happened if lawmakers hadn't been emboldened by the public's perceived lack of attention to the goings-on in the state capital.The volume of calls and e-mails being received by state lawmakers — in Butler County and elsewhere — about the current state budget crisis testifies to the fact that the public is now paying attention — and has abandoned any past reluctance about making feelings known to representatives.That is likely to benefit state residents not only in the days ahead but in the longer-term future — provided that the vigilance continues.Those who haven't made their feelings about the budget and the possibility of higher taxes known to their elected representatives should do so now. Then they should watch closely to see how their representatives vote, given the opinion they have expressed.The taxpayers who have spoken merit praise for the messages they have conveyed and the leadership they have provided for those who haven't yet spoken.This budget crisis should trigger an outpouring of public opinion rivaling what Harrisburg experienced in the wake of the pay-raise vote.

It didn't take long for misguided graffiti "artists" to begin defacing the General Richard Butler Bridge. Now, just a month after the new Mercer Road Bridge was opened to traffic, graffiti also has shown up on that span.Right-thinking people are justified in asking why pride in something new cannot override the temptation to scar the appearance of new community assets.If the graffiti is the work of young people, and presumably it is, the graffiti is testimony to parents' failure to instill proper guidance on do's and don'ts — and on what community pride should be all about.Then there's the issue of taxes. Tax revenue is what pays for bridge projects and other community endeavors. Those who deface public property are doing an injustice not only to the entity that brought about the project, but also to their parents and relatives who sacrifice as part of paying their tax bill.Immaturity is the basis for the graffiti that has been applied to the new bridges. More effort ought to be made to try to identify the graffiti vandals, in hopes that the punishment they receive might be a deterrent to others who consider ruining the appearance of other structures.Without such an effort, the community can only speculate how long it will be before the new Wayne Street Viaduct is a similar target.