Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Rostenkowski Glum on Prison Prospects

Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski said on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley” that he did not willfully break the law and that going to prison is “constantly on my mind . . . I’m not happy.” The Illinois Democrat last week pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and was sentenced to 17 months in prison and fined $100,000. Rostenkowski, 68, who for years was the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, repeated his assertion, made in announcing his guilty plea, that he was singled out for a practice that was once common in Congress. He explained his illegal activities in terms of failing to keep track of changing rules on the use of congressional office funds. He has 30 days to report to prison.