Washington Journal

By JOHN BALZ

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 17, 2001

Olympic organizers seek political help

Florida Olympic organizers understand just how far a little political muscle may go to bringing the Games to Tampa in 2012. So this week they attended a meeting of Florida lawmakers and then met privately with the Florida delegation chairman, Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale.

Among their requests was a letter from each member of the delegation in support of the Olympic bid, a full-time staff liaison for Olympic issues, and delegation support of 10-year, $12-billion funding plan for high-speed rail around the state. The I-4 corridor from Tampa to Orlando would be the top priority for the funds.

Shaw said the Florida 2012 committee probably could expect some help eventually from lawmakers, although he noted that asking for a full-time staff member was a bit much. But he said he didn't expect any real action unless Tampa is chosen as the U.S. candidate city this fall.

"We don't know what our role is going to be," Shaw said. "It's a waiting game right now."

The season of congressional appropriation has arrived and everyone is scrambling for their share. Florida agriculture leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss how to increase federal funding in their fight against citrus canker. On hand were Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Bronson.

Already more than a million trees have been chopped down and the government awarded $66-million in compensation funds this year to farmers. But Boyd, Putnam and Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Palm Bay, are trying to secure up to $24.5-million for the tree-removal efforts.

Putnam and Boyd have been particularly aggressive on agricultural issues and have written to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman specifically about citrus canker. In April nine members of the delegation wrote to Veneman about the need for stronger defenses against pests and diseases at U.S. ports.

At age 79, Sen. Jesse Helms has experienced what's usually a preteen right of passage -- he attended his first rock concert.

The North Carolina Republican was invited to a U2 concert in Washington by his friend Bono, lead singer for the group.

"It was filled to the gills, and people were moving back and forth like corn in the breeze," Helms said. "They had that crowd going wild. When Bono shook his hips, that crowd shook their hips."

Bono and Helms -- known for his unbending conservative positions on issues such as abortion, gay rights and federal funding for the arts -- struck up a friendship last fall when the singer lobbied the senator on international debt relief.

Helms and his grandchildren watched Thursday's show from a sky box. They were invited backstage before the concert, where Helms met U2 guitarist the Edge.

Helms said he was impressed with Bono's stamina.

"I don't see how he lasts physically," he said. "He runs and skips and just goes and goes."

Helms also said he turned down his hearing aids and put his hands over his ears during the concert because it "was the noisiest thing I ever heard. It was so loud I couldn't really understand what he was saying."

It seems almost comical, but two years ago air travel seemed to have hit rock bottom. So the airlines decided to improve their service and customer relations offices. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation subcommittee, is planning for an annual checkup this week.

He will be calling airline representatives, including the chairman of American Airlines and Aloha Airlines, as well as the Department of Transportation's inspector general before his subcommittee.

In February a DOT report found the airlines progress on customer satisfaction to be a mixed bag. The subcommittee will be looking into some of the inspector general's recommendations, which included new ways to reduce delayed and canceled flights, track baggage more accurately and give customers the lowest available fare anywhere tickets are sold.

Last year was painful for stock market investors, but if it's any consolation, many members of Congress also were caught up in the turmoil.

Just as ordinary investors were seduced, and then betrayed, by the fleeting promise of technology firms, many lawmakers also lost bets on the new economy, according to annual financial disclosure reports released last week.

Florida's senior senator, Bob Graham, was among the victims.

Graham, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, could have used better information when making investments. In last year's first quarter, Graham invested in three tech companies, America Online, Citrix Systems and Oracle Corp., buying between $15,000 and $50,000 in each stock.

In the last three months of the year, he sold the stocks for between $1,000 and $15,000.

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