wow! that's smooth. after ten straight hours on my feet making small talk and breathing cheap cigar smoke, that's exactly the kind of line i'm ready to fall for.
sure, sure, forget it. can you just tell me, which one's congressman johnson?
oh. i see. so tell me, congressman, just how deep is the shit i'm standing in? tommy has to laugh.
celia kirby. i'm the legislative director of pro bono.
we're a public interest research and advocacy group. i'd like to brief you on our priorities this session. can i call your aa to get on your schedule?
i want an appointment, congressman, not a date.
no thanks. i really should be going.
i'm afraid i'm busy.
no thanks. nice to meet you. i'll be in touch with your office. i especially look forward to hearing your view on extending the sexual harassment law to include congressmen.
thank you for seeing us, congressman, we won't take up much of your time. this is ira schecter, our research director.
but you have people waiting, and --
well. she pulls documents from her briefcase and hands them to tommy.
these are issue papers. this session we're targeting auto insurance premiums, child safety, and food additives. as votes come up, we know you'll be hearing plenty from the other side. we'd just like a clean shot at making our case, too.
so, we'll follow up with your staff in the next week or.
well, we won't take up any more.
well, we're sponsoring a bill imposing safety standards on imported toys.
you want to do this in the evening?
fine. wednesday morning. nine- fifteen.
it comes down to a question of what is acceptable risk. are we willing to feed our kids a substance that causes cancer in lab rats? more important, who gets to make the decision? bureaucrats and big corporations, or the people whose lives depend on it?
and in the 1988 study, it was up to eight per hundred-thousand. um. am i losing you on these mortality rates?
hmmm, that's an excellent point. let me see something.  as she starts rummaging in her briefcase, we track around to a computer screen on tommy's desk -- it displays the
wow. you're right. maybe we can get them to amend merton-simmons. rack focus. reveals reinhardt in b.g., sitting at another computer terminal. he is typing in tommy's responses, which appear on tommy's screen.
i see. well, i must say i'm pretty impressed.
oh come on.
where did you go?
more like the petroleum institute ski cup, the nra open, the --
i can't -- we're having a press conference.
toy safety. wait a minute. tomorrow's friday. aren't you back early?
oh, i was for a while. it.  depressed me.
sometimes. mostly it gets me angry. and the anger keeps me going. sure, i wouldn't mind winning a few. and it's not like i'm allergic to money.
god, it's so embarrassing to come out and say it.
meaning. i need my life to mean something.
my question is, how'd you get named after a memorial?
and how's the pursuit going?
how about sunday morning?
i liked the sermon, uncle eli.
it's impossible to know. no one's really looked into it hard enough.
why didn't they investigate breast implants all those years? what about those side-effects of that sleeping pill, halcion? why isn't anything being investigated? it's always the same.
you got it.
don't tell me you're actually developing a conscience.
no, that's not fair. some people on the hill actually believe in things, and try to do a decent job, and don't forget why they went to washington, and who sent them.
make a stink. round up some members and hold a press conference. get that committee of yours to hold hearings. haul in in the environmental protection agency, the surgeon general, the national academy of sciences. get the issue on every breakfast table in america.
well, congratulations. you've found yourself your own hopeless cause.
mmmm.
so what did he say?
dodge. the hearings.
oh.
get away from him. he approaches her.
and get away from me.
go away!
you were set up? you were in the car! i didn't hear your name on the news!
"someone"?
yeah -- it's you! you don't give a damn about anything! and to think, the other night, i actually thought you cared about someone else.
not me, you jerk -- mickey juba! you caved on those power lines, didn't you? i knew it. damn it, i knew it! what did you get for it? tommy o'connor's box at the redskins? someone slip you a condo in the virgin islands?
god, i hate this town -- the only reason i stay is because i hate it so much.
get the hell out of here.
excuse me. she turns, starts to walk away. tommy stops her.
what?
but why? he gives her an enigmatic smile and slips away. as he rejoins dodge, tommy sees warburton enter the room. alarmed, tommy moves in on dodge, steering him to avoid the epa administrator.
i'm cutting out early.
you got that right. at the dais tommy has a private word with dodge.
tommy johnson. kamikaze congressman.
i can't wait to see that tape you made. tommy pulls it from his pocket, glances at it, and tosses it away.