Loan to bankruptcy bill sponsor is questioned

WASHINGTON -- In a final effort to block a bill sought by credit card companies to overhaul the nation's bankruptcy laws, opponents are pressing for an investigation into the relationship between a major credit card issuer and an important House sponsor who received a $447,500 loan from the company on what appeared to be highly favorable terms.

The recent disclosure of the 1998 loan to Rep. James P. Moran, a six-term Democrat who represents the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington and who has long been plagued by personal financial problems, is threatening to complicate the last-minute lobbying campaign on behalf of the bill, its supporters acknowledge.

The loan was made by the MBNA Corp. of Delaware, which describes itself as the world's largest independent credit card company and which has lobbied aggressively for the bankruptcy bill. The loan was made in January 1998, a month before Moran signed on as the lead Democratic sponsor of an earlier version of the bill.

The Federal Election Commission opened a preliminary review of the loan after a conservative group in Virginia filed a complaint against Moran, describing the loan as an illegal campaign gift.

Moran and MBNA have denied that there was anything unusual about the loan, which consolidated Moran's other debts when he owed tens of thousands of dollars in credit card bills and faced the prospect of bankruptcy.

Armey: Cuba embargo doomed

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he believes the United States should open trade with Cuba and that he has backed the restrictions on travel and trade only out of loyalty to two Cuban-American members of the House.

Speaking at a trade promotion event in Wichita, Kan., Armey acknowledged that congressional support for the 4-decade-old restrictions is fading. "If they last a year, it will be the last year they last," said Armey, who plans to retire from Congress at the end of the year.

Doubts raised about Osprey

The Pentagon's chief procurement official said Thursday that he remains skeptical about prospects for the V-22 Osprey and warned that it has only a year to prove itself.

Although the Osprey entered a new two-year flight testing program in May, Under Secretary of Defense Edward "Pete" Aldridge said a decision will have to be made in a year.

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