Mark Schoesler, the Washington state senator who represents both Pullman and Cheney, has an understandable interest in protecting the integrity of academic diplomas granted by Washington State and Eastern Washington universities.

Now his one-time legislative colleague, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, has a chance to reinforce Schoesler’s efforts at the federal level, where she’s on the House committee that is considering a bill to curb bogus diploma mills.

Schoesler labored for two years in Olympia pushing a measure that finally became law in 2006. It makes it a crime to sell or use phony academic credentials, a practice that can lead to unjustifiable public expense, among other complications, and can even threaten homeland security.

The issue is particularly germane in Spokane, home to Saint Regis University, the operation of Dixie and Steve Randock, of Colbert. The Randocks are awaiting trial on federal charges that the diplomas they sold over the Internet defrauded consumers around the world. Four of their co-defendants already have pleaded guilty, one of them admitting he paid thousands of dollars to Liberian officials so their nation would accredit Saint Regis.

The case played an influential role in U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s decision to sponsor the Diploma Integrity Protection Act. The Minnesota congresswoman and several fellow Democrats want to ban the sale and use of fraudulent college degrees used for federal purposes.

Job promotions – and the pay raises that accompany them – could be one such federal purpose. So could evaluation of visa applications by foreigners seeking admission to the United States. A college degree can improve an applicant’s chances of being admitted, and Saudi Arabia, home to the 9/11 terrorists, is one country where many of the degrees sold by Saint Regis went, federal officials say.

According to McMorris Rodgers’ chief of staff, Connie Partoyan, the Eastern Washington congresswoman backs the intent of McCollum’s bill, but has some reservations she hopes to resolve in the bill itself. As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, where the measure has been referred, McMorris Rodgers will have that chance.

We hope she pursues it diligently.

Taxpaying Americans shouldn’t have to shoulder the cost of inflated salaries for public employees who buy their way up the salary ladder with purchased rather than earned degrees. Nor should they be put at risk because private-sector workers have sneaked into sensitive positions they weren’t honestly prepared for. And none of us should have to face the consequences of hastening the arrival of prospective terrorists who are gaming our immigration system.

And, oh yes. Let’s not overlook the fact that upright citizens who study hard and do the work that goes into a legitimate degree are entitled to the benefits of their accomplishments when they compete for their place in the economy.