Poll: Public opinion of Congress hits new low

WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- A historically low 7 percent of U.S. residents trust Congress while 74 percent trust the military, said a Gallup poll released Thursday said.

The share of respondents who said they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress was the lowest since Gallup began polling on the issue in 1973. It was also the lowest confidence level Gallup has found on any institution.

At the other end of the scale, 7 percent of respondents said they do have confidence in Congress. In the middle, 42 percent said they have "some confidence."

The military ranked the highest among 17 institutions included in the poll. Small business at 62 percent and the police at 53 percent were the only others to be trusted by more than half of respondents.

Television news at 18 percent and Internet news at 19 percent were also near the bottom. Organized labor, 22 percent, and big business, 21 percent, were in a near tie, and newspapers were at 22 percent.

Gallup surveyed 1,027 adults by telephone between June 5 and June 8. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.