Heard on the Hill: Warner’s Roving Eye
Roll Call Staff
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Sen. John Warner, you old dog you! The Virginia Republican — who was once married to film star Elizabeth Taylor — is quite the connoisseur of the fairer sex, and on Tuesday he confessed to letting his “wandering eye” roam the scenic Senate.
Warner was responding on the Senate floor to a tribute from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who lavishly praised the retiring Virginia gentleman. Warner reciprocated with a mash note of a speech to Collins, calling her a “fighting lady.” Then he went on to marvel at the number of women now serving in the Senate, recalling how when he first took office (back in 1978) there weren’t any ladies in the chamber. Then along came Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (also in 1978), followed by a veritable flood of Senators of the female persuasion.
“From that beginning ... commenced the transformation of the Senate in many ways, from one lady to where today we have many,” he announced. “As a matter of fact, we don’t count them, because they have gotten into the full fabric of the Senate.”
Warner added that although others might not notice the now fully assimilated womenfolk in the chamber, he still does. “Everybody is totally unconscious, except people like myself with a wandering eye,” Warner said.
And more from what turned into a bit of an impromptu roast of Warner on the Senate floor: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) revealed a few little-known facts about Warner, namely that Warner’s son once dated the late Paul Newman’s daughter, and that the Majority Leader has long coveted Warner’s thick mane of (all natural!) white hair.
“I’m so envious of your hair,” Reid confessed. Warner replied that over the years, many women have called his office on behalf of their husbands to inquire where he gets his wigs.
Cafeteria Crisis. Saving the U.S. economy is tough work, but just try doing it on an empty stomach.
HOH has heard the gripes from exhausted Capitol Hill staffers who worked over the weekend on the now-defeated bailout bill. Not only did many of them have to show up on Saturday and Sunday, but the office-building cafeterias weren’t even open, causing further stress for hungry Hill aides, who were too busy trying to salvage the economy to venture out — in the rain, no less!
HOH has gotten to the bottom of Cafeteriagate, and it seems that, coincidentally, the struggling economy was to blame.
A spokesman for Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, who oversees cafeteria operations, explained to HOH that although officials knew closing the cafeterias would be an inconvenience to staffers, the cost of keeping them open was too high.
So Beard’s staffers and officials at Restaurant Associates — the outside vendor that runs the cafeterias — decided to keep open the Members’ Dining Room, Capitol Carryout and Capitol Market but close everything else, CAO spokesman Jeff Ventura said.
“At the end of the day, Restaurant Associates is still a business, and they need to have the guarantee that the demand will be there,” Ventura said. “We can’t expect a company like that to incur a loss when we know that the demand for food isn’t there.”
Not all staffers were convinced, arguing that at least one office building cafeteria remained open in past weekend sessions. (The Longworth House Office Building food court remained open during a July 2006 weekend session, for example.)
But Ventura defended the decision, saying CAO officials hoped that staffers had interns available to grab lunch or were able to order food.
“People were extremely busy. It was tough, and we understand the frustration that people had,” Ventura said. “But that’s why there’s pizza delivery — and people did that.”
Still, try telling that to those burned-out staffers.
“Instead of arranging to keep House food services open for Members and staff ... the new CAO snidely suggests we order pizza? Somehow I don’t think they understand,” one House staffer complained.
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