"Preventing public officials from talking to church groups is the wrong approach," he said.

And companies have almost always been able to prevent federal officials from keeping money that has been seized.

"To everyone else, I appeal to you to form pickets outside government buildings to prevent officials from getting to work."

The defense secretary said he could not prevent military officials from making controversial statements.

The bill could also prevent former officials from exploring complex issues in a historical context, he said.

Residents say they are irritated by the dispute because it prevents officials from focusing on the city's real problems.

The rules are intended to prevent corporate officials and large shareholders from speculating in a company's stock.

The spread of development in the Vail area prevented officials from releasing the wildcats there.

The idea is to prevent former officials from later working on projects they dealt with in government.

The least they could do is to prevent corrupt officials in the future from collecting a public pension.