Cash money millionaries

Congress's millionaires - a thriving breed

Congress's Millionaires-- A Thriving Breed

A fresh look into the financial dealings of members of Congress shows that, when it comes to their personal balance sheets, few lawmakers need worry about deficit spending.

While a seat in the House or Senate is no guarantee of wealth, most members live comfortably on incomes well above their $72,600-a-year salaries, according to 1984 financial-disclosure statements made public in late May. An examination of the reports reveals--

At least 53 members of Congress-- 30 in the House and 23 in the Senate-- report assets of more than 1 million dollars. Most earned their wealth in business ventures. Some inherited it. Two senators married into it.

Some lawmakers are "double dippers,' collecting pensions from previous government jobs or military service in addition to their congressional pay. Still others legally draw big earnings from outside endeavors.

Senators and representatives are as busy as ever augmenting their salaries with fees from public-speaking engagements. In 1984, at least 50 reached or exceeded the legal limit--about $21,700 for most members--and turned the excess honorariums over to charity.

Members of Congress are lavished with gifts from businesses, special-interest groups, constituents and publicity seekers. Last year, lawmakers received hundreds of items ranging from Cabbage Patch dolls to jewelry.

These disclosures are just the tip of the iceberg on congressional wealth. The Ethics in Government Act allows officials to list income, assets and liabilities in broad ranges--not in exact dollar amounts. Government salaries, personal residences and investments placed in blind trusts need not be reported.

The effect of these loose categories is to understate wealth. For example, Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), considered one of the richest senators, does not appear on the list of millionaires because most of his assets are in blind trusts. Freshman Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), great-grandson of the founder of Standard Oil and perhaps Congress's wealthiest member, lists assets of 4.1 million dollars "or more.' His actual net worth is reported to be about 150 million.

Of those lawmakers known to be millionaires, 11 inherited much of their wealth. In addition to Rockefeller, they include Senators Lowell Weicker (R-Conn.), grandson of a founder of Squibb pharmaceuticals; Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), a descendant of wealthy landowners; John Danforth (R-Mo.), an heir to the Ralston Purina fortune, and John Heinz (R-Pa.), whose family operates the H. J. Heinz food-processing giant.

At least 33 amassed huge fortunes on their own. Among the most successful are Senators Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), who prospered from real-estate investments; John Glenn (D-Ohio), real estate and stock; Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who helped found a data-processing firm, and Representative Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), real estate and stock.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kans.) became a millionaire by marrying the independently wealthy Elizabeth Hanford, now the Secretary of Transportation. Their joint holdings total about 1.5 million dollars.

Also wealthy by marriage is Senator Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), whose wife, the former Gayle Edlund Graham, inherited a fortune. Still other lawmakers parlayed modest inheritances or family ventures into personal wealth.

Some lawmakers got other payments from the U.S. Treasury in addition to their salaries. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) collected $13,207 in retirement pay from the Army and more than $11,650 in Social Security benefits. Other Social Security pensioners include Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill (D-Mass.), who collects $15,614 a year from the system, and Representative Claude Pepper (D-Fla.), $11,015 a year. Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) drew $14,912 in Air Force pension benefits last year, while Senator Glenn collected $14,488 from a Marine Corps pension.

Unlike House members, whose total outside earned income is restricted to 30 percent of their official salaries, senators are allowed unlimited earnings, except for a $21,780 cap on speaking and most writing fees.

Some senators reaped big earnings from outside business ventures. Russell Long (D-La.) collected $720,000 from royalties. Glenn received almost $700,000 from a real-estate partnership. Lautenberg drew a severance payment of $600,000 from the New Jersey firm he helped to found.

Speaking fees. Even with the limits on honorarium payments, House and Senate members pocketed substantial cash for speeches to interest groups. Senator Dole reported the highest income from such fees--$115,929, of which he assigned $95,580 to charity. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) got $93,800 in speaking fees and donated $72,000 to charity. Representative Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), one of the early front-runners for the 1988 GOP presidential nomination, reported $49,899 in honorarium payments and gave $28,450 to charity.

Accepting fees from interest groups is a practice that has long disturbed critics, including some in Congress, who charge that lawmakers cannot help but be influenced by the groups paying for their services.

Among top payers of honorariums-- based on an analysis of lawmakers' reports by Common Cause, a public-interest lobby: The Tobacco Institute, National Cable Television Association, National Association of Broadcasters and Ernest Wittenberg Associates, a public-relations firm.

Conflict issue. Details of some lawmakers' investments raise questions about potential conflicts of interest. For example, Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of a subcommittee on energy regulation, owns oil-company stock and is a partner in gas-and-oil leases. Senator Chic Hecht (R-Nev.), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, owns a large amount of stock in a Nevada bank.

The reports show that lawmakers accepted a variety of gifts. One of the largest went to Senator Mark Hatfield (R-Oreg.) as canceled interest totaling $26,291 on money he borrowed from a family friend. Representative Silvio Conte (R-Mass.) was given a Boston Red Sox ring, valued at $1,000, by retired team member Carl Yastrzemski. Senator Wendell Ford (D-Ky.) accepted a crystal eagle, worth $531, from Philip Morris, Inc., the tobacco company. Senator Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) received a crystal vase, valued at $234, from singer Wayne Newton. Senator Mack Mattingly (R-Ga.) was given $260 worth of Cabbage Patch dolls, which he donated to charity.

In the Money

The 53 members of Congress who reported minimum assets of more than 1 million dollars in 1984--

Representatives

Sidney Yates (D-Ill.) $6,990,000

Fortney Stark (D-Calif.) $3,478,000

Bill Green (R-N.Y.) $3,138,000

James Broyhill (R-N.C.) $2,721,000

Stewart McKinney (R-Conn.) $2,271,000

James Quillen (R-Tenn.) $2,180,000

Norman Sisisky (D-Va.) $2,052,000

Stan Parris (R-Va.) $1,980,000

Jack Brooks (D-Tex.) $1,963,000

Ralph Hall (D-Tex.) $1,953,000

Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) $1,793,000

Marvin Leath (D-Tex.) $1,732,000

Berkley Bedell (D-Iowa) $1,615,000

Clay Shaw (R-Fla.) $1,402,000

Silvio Conte (R-Mass.) $1,341,000

John Spratt (D-S.C.) $1,332,000

Jim Leach (R-Iowa) $1,327,000

Willis Gradison (R-Ohio) $1,308,000

John McCain (R-Ariz.) $1,251,000

Ed Zachau (R-Calif.) $1,203,000

Gene Snyder (R-Ky.) $1,187,000

Bob Whittaker (R-Kans.) $1,170,000

Sid Morrison (R-Wash.) $1,125,000

Tom Lewis (R-Fla.) $1,124,000

Elwood Hillis (R-Ind.) $1,105,000

Patrick Swindall (R-Ga) $1,101,000

Robert Lagomarsino (R-Calif.) $1,101,000

Richard Shelby (D-Ala.) $1,066,000

Joseph DioGuardi (R-N.Y.) $1,061,000

Bill Archer (R-Tex.) $1,018,000

Senators

Lowell Weicker (R-Conn.) $8,316,000

Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) $6,373,000

Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) $6,099,000

John Danforth (R-Mo.) $5,173,000

John Heinz (R-Pa.) $4,252,000

John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) $4,143,000

John Glenn (D-Ohio) $4,061,000

John Warner (R-Va.) $3,273,000

Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) $3,132,000

Russell Long (D-La.) $2,551,000

William Armstrong (R-Colo.) $2,471,000

Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) $1,869,000

Chic Hecht (R-Nev.) $1,577,000

Bob Dole (R-Kans.) $1,521,000

Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) $1,516,000

Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.) $1,490,000

Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kans.) $1,314,000

Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) $1,290,000

Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) $1,116,000

Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) $1,034,000

Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) $1,033,000

Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) $1,012,000

Thomas Eagleton (D-Mo.) $1,001,000

Speech Money: What Lawmakers Got and Gave

Members of Congress who earned the most in 1984 from speeches--and the honorarium income that they donated to charity:

Table:

Photo: Millionaries Yates and Welcker

Photo: Dole

Photo: Rostenkowski