Berry Big Problem
Roll Call Staff
Just a few days after Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) nearly lost his official Member lapel pin at a Georgetown bar, Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) misplaced his BlackBerry wireless device at a Capitol Hill saloon.
The wireless e-mail device was last seen atop the bar at Lounge 201, the swank new hangout where Moore was sipping glasses of chardonnay into the wee hours of April 8.
“I lost it somewhere,” Moore told HOH the following day. “We called over
[to Lounge 201] and they said they didn’t have it.”
Democratic aides had been sniping about security concerns raised by the fact that Ferguson’s lapel pin — which allows the bearer to skip metal detectors on the Hill — wound up in the hands of a young female student at Georgetown University. The woman says Ferguson handed it over; the Congressman insists it was snatched away.
Now Republican aides are slinging arrows at Moore for misplacing his BlackBerry during a late night of drinking. The devices were handed out by the Capitol Police after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks so that Members would have a means of receiving secure information in the event of another catastrophe.
In particular, GOP aides present that night raised questions about whether the 57-year-old Moore was distracted by the attention he was showering on a particular young woman.
“I was not rubbing anybody’s back,” Moore, the married father of seven children, stressed to HOH in response to Republican whispers. “But I do have a habit, if I’m talking to someone, of my putting my hand on their shoulder.”
Moore added that while he arrived at the bar alone, he spoke to many different people as he worked the room. “I was never alone with anyone,” he stressed.
As for the BlackBerry, Moore has given up on searching for it and has lined up a new one. His staff says the old one has been shut down so that prying eyes should no longer be able to download his private e-mail.
Noting that Moore plays guitar in some of his campaign commercials, one GOP aide offered some new lyrics for the Congressman, “I’m from Kansas City, Kansas City is where I’m from. They’ve got a lot of crazy little women there, but first I’m heading to Lounge 201.”
Run, Jesse, Run. Senior lawmakers like Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) are apparently pining for the days when former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) graced the Capitol’s corridors.
After double knee-replacement surgery, Helms used to buzz through the hallways with a special motor scooter. And now Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is utilizing the same type of vehicle because of a difficult case of bursitis.
Hollings rushed up to Domenici last week and patted him on the back. “Hello, Jesse,” he cracked.
Hear No Evil. While President Bush was eager to blast Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) during the racial controversy that erupted in December, word about Rep. Barbara Cubin’s (R-Wyo.) controversial remarks has not quite made it to the Oval Office.
During last week’s debate over gun liability legislation, Cubin raised more than a few eyebrows by saying, “One amendment today said we could not sell guns to anybody under drug treatment. So does that mean if you go into a black community, you cannot sell a gun to any black person, or does that mean because my ...”
Cubin was interrupted by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), who was outraged by the comment. Cubin later apologized and said it was unfortunate that she had been interrupted, though it’s hard to see what she possibly could have added to that stunner to set it straight.
Potts: Congress Must Not Allow Lobbying Efforts to Block Pro-Consumer Financial Planning Bill
March 18, 12:35 p.m.
Quietly hidden amid debates over which agency should house a consumer financial protection agency is a simple consumer financial protection proposal. It would safeguard Main Street residents from malpractice by people claiming to be financial planners. Read Full Article
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