WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy says he wants to have the most communicative office on Capitol Hill.

He's on his way to reaching that goal, according to congressional records. The Upper St. Clair Republican spent $405,454 on printing costs and taxpayer-funded mailings to his constituents last year, significantly more than Western Pennsylvania's six other House members.

Rep. Tim Murphy

The No. 2 spender was Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, who allocated $190,418 for printing and mailings. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, spent the least: $7,796.

"It's my obligation to inform people about what we do," Mr. Murphy said in an interview last week. "My goal is to communicate."

The mass mailings, known as "franked mail," provide information on a wide range of issues being considered by Congress. They have long been a point of contention for good government advocates, who acknowledge the need for elected representatives to reach out to their constituents but worry about possible abuses of taxpayer-financed publicity.

		Graphic: How they spent their money

"We certainly hope the frank is being spent on solid communications with voters, and not being used as a thinly guised campaign ad," said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause.

That concern grows in election years, like 2006. Pennsylvania incumbents last year faced the toughest political environment in more than a decade. Four GOP members, including Rep. Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods, lost their seats.

House rules prohibit members from sending out franked mail during the 90 days before both primary and general elections, meaning nearly half of 2006 was off limits.

All Western Pennsylvania representatives obeyed that regulation, but they spent vastly different amounts during the rest of the year, not including printing costs: Mr. Murphy, $171,053; Mr. Doyle, $106,918; Ms. Hart, $92,401; Rep. Phil English, R-Erie, $73,360; Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Blair, $24,806; Mr. Murtha, $6,365; and Rep. John Peterson, R-Venango, $6,078.

In total, the House's 435 members spent $24 million on mailings, according to the Committee on House A dministration, which oversees the process. The average sum was $55,172.

Each dispatch bears the same message in small print: "This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense."

The franking privilege dates to 1775, when the Continental Congress encouraged its members to contact constituents just as the American Revolution was getting under way.

Lawmakers have added strict regulations in the past several decades. A franking commission must pre-approve all mailings, following the guidelines in a 66-page rule book. The documents should deal with "official business." They can't be partisan. Nor can they solicit money. In fact, any campaign or election references are forbidden.

Members also must avoid excessive self-promotion. Personnel references -- including "I" and "me" -- are limited to an average of eight per page. Only one standalone photo of a congressman is allowed for each mailing. Extra photos must contain other people, and they can't cover more than 20 percent of a page.

Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican from Staten Island, N.Y., inadvertently violated that rule last year when one of his mailings included a photo of him with Elmo the Muppet, who, technically, isn't a person.

The franking commission also must approve scripts for automated phone messages and text of mass e-mailings, although an exception is made when constituents sign up for a representative's e-newsletter.

Even with the advent of e-mail, franked mail is still one of the best ways to reach as many households as possible in sprawling congressional districts, especially among Western Pennsylvania's many senior citizens who aren't frequent computer users.

Members can spend as much as they want on mass mailings, but they then have less for other expenses. The average budget for a congressional office last year was $1.3 million.

Mr. Murphy, the most frequent mailer, spent $698,442 on staff salaries, while Mr. Murtha spent $1,039,532 on his staff.

"When I was first running for office, one of the things I heard from people was that their congressman was invisible," said Mr. Murphy, a former Pennsylvania state senator who is in his third term in the House.

Mr. Murphy has tried to be anything but invisible, and he said franked mail was just one means of reaching out to constituents in his district, which covers parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland counties, including Pittsburgh's southern suburbs.

He holds frequent "telephone town hall" meetings, and his staffers hand out pamphlets at community events and deliver information door to door.

The congressman also places a heavy emphasis on his Web site, Murphy.house.gov, which has won a medal from the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes a more "effective" Congress.

His office sent out 11 mass mailings last year, including three districtwide mailings, which go to 350,000 households. They covered health care, national security, energy costs, veterans and senior issues, and advice for small business owners seeking federal contracts.

"Protecting our borders, our ports and our homeland" reads a headline on the national security mailing, which also has a photo of a Coast Guard cruiser gliding past the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor and a head shot of Mr. Murphy in the corner.

The four-page, full color pamphlet details Mr. Murphy's opposition to federal approval of a Dubai-based company's bid to manage some U.S. ports.

All mailings were approved by the franking commission.

Mr. Doyle said he sends out districtwide mailings about once or twice a year.

"I like to provide some kind of regular report to all of my constituents, highlighting what I think are the major issues or legislation before Congress," he said.

Mr. Murtha prefers to send staff members out to more than a dozen locations in the district to meet with constituents "face to face," said Matt Mazonkey, the congressman's spokesman.

Last year, some of Mr. Murphy's former staff members alleged that the congressman was using his taxpayer-funded staff and resources to do work they viewed as part of his re-election campaign. Mr. Murphy referred the issue to the House Ethics Committee, saying he expected the panel to find no "intentional acts of wrongdoing."

He said he soon may send out new mailings to warn seniors about a letter from the Senior Citizens League that is soliciting donations. The letter mentions Mr. Murphy's name, although he isn't affiliated with them.

He also hopes to inform constituents about his newest legislative initiative, a bill that would clarify when universities could share students' mental health information with parents. It comes in the wake of last month's tragedy at Virginia Tech, where a student with a history of mental health problems fatally shot 32 people.