Capital Games

Making a move

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Rothman's week

Sharing reminiscences with a foreign ambassador, a jet ride with the president and dinner with the secretary of state were all part of the week Rep. Steve Rothman just had.

Photo supplied by Rothman's office

Rothman and Israeli ambassador Michael Oren.

Normally, much of the work of Congress is far from glamorous. Lawmakers run from hearings to meetings to votes to receptions, as tag teams of harried staff members provide quick briefings about what to expect and say before each stop.

Sometimes there’s a photo op or press conference with a pretty celebrity touting his or her pet issue, but just as often you’re sitting down with the doctors or the accountants or the teachers or school kids from your district who are working the Hill on their issues.

Most members also spend too much of their time phoning strangers to ask for money so they keep can keep their taxpayer-funded jobs.

Christie on CNN

(Transcript provided by CNN)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR:      New Jersey, as all of you know, went for President Obama in the presidential election a year ago, typically votes largely for Democrats,
not necessarily always, though.  Will the voters this time oust the Democratic governor?  Could there be voter backlash against the president, who's getting ready to speak in New Jersey for Corzine right now?

    Our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, is here.  Our CNN correspondent Joe Johns is here.  Our chief national correspondent, John King, the anchor of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," is joining us.  And the man who hopes to defeat Jon Corzine, Chris Christie, the Republican challenger, is here as well.

    Mr. Christie, thanks very much for coming in.  We all have some good questions for you.

    But it's -- how tough is it when the president of the United States, who's very popular in New Jersey, comes into your state at this moment to try to beat you?

    CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE:  Well, listen, Wolf, it's a great day for New Jersey whenever the president of the United States comes here and our citizens get to see him.  And, so, I think it's a great day for the state to have the president here.

    But here's one thing the people of the state of New Jersey know.  They know that Air Force One is leaving tonight and that, if they vote for Jon Corzine, President Obama is not going to come to the statehouse and run the state.  We're going to be stuck with Jon Corzine.

Obama at Corzine rally

(Transcript provided by the White House press office)

6:17 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, New Jersey! (Applause.) It's good to be back in the Garden State! (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!
 
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be here. I want to make some quick thank-yous here. First of all, to the president of this outstanding university, Dr. Michael Adams. (Applause.)

Political Stile Wrap Corzine in Obama glow

To my dear friend, Caroline Kennedy. (Applause.) To our lieutenant governor candidate, State Senator Loretta Weinberg. (Applause.) My dear friend, Frank Lautenberg, senator from New Jersey. (Applause.) Two outstanding congressmen who supported me early in my race for the presidency, Steve Rothman and John Adler. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) One of the finest mayors not just in New Jersey, but in the country, Cory Booker is in the house. (Applause.) To all the other elected officials, to all the labor leaders and religious leaders that are in the house, and to all of you who are just -- just leaders, period. (Applause.)
 
I am so proud to be here on behalf of a man who is absolutely committed to fighting for New Jersey's families and New Jersey's future, your governor, my friend, Jon Corzine. (Applause.)
 

Adler tops $1 million; Pallone nearly 4x that

Freshman Rep. John Adler, a Democrat from Cherry Hill who captured what had been a Republican-held seat last year and is on the GOP's early hit list for 2010, has socked away more than $1 million for re-election already, new Federal Election Commission reports show.

But that's only one-quarter the bankroll amassed by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, whose more than $4 million gives him the biggest campaign cash balance in the entire House, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Pallone is chairman of the House health subcommittee and helped write one of the health care reform bills pending in the House. One report he filed this week shows that lobbyists for community pharmacists alone helped him raise more than $21,000, but his report for the July-September quarter is also full of donations from political action committees involved with health care.

Here's a full rundown of the delegation [Senators don't file electronically, so their data isn't as easy to grab]:

Congressman	Net receipts 7/1/09 thru 9/30/09	Cash on hand 9/30/09
ADLER	$404,406	$1,193,061
ANDREWS	$124,942	$195,211
HOLT	$142,351	$590,708
PALLONE	$355,662	$4,012,918
PASCRELL	$125,592	$1,373,321
PAYNE	$40,056	$1,154,070
ROTHMAN	$25,212	$1,759,842
SIRES	$65,339	$234,247
DEMOCRATS	$1,283,559	$10,513,378
FRELINGHUYSEN	$70,498	$494,810
GARRETT	$131,472	$267,587
LANCE	$107,661	$314,775
LOBIONDO	$101,562	$1,162,467
SMITH	$56,330	$120,481
REPUBLICANS	$467,524	$2,360,120

Rothman identity stolen

Fraudulent charges
Bethesda Court Hotel	$1,359.51
Peapod groceries	$657.54
Domino's Pizza	$161.54
Citibusiness Platinum Select Card	$64.60
Total	$2,243.19

Rep. Steve Rothman blazed a new trail with the Federal Election Commission when his campaign credit card number was used by someone this summer to run up more than $2,200 in fraudulent charges.

The tab included $1,360 for a Bethesda, Md., hotel, $660 worth of groceries and $185 worth of pizza.

“We called the hotel when we saw this. They said the person stayed there a week or two weeks, and they were getting movies, pizzas,” said Bob Decheine, Rothman’s chief of staff. “Somebody got ahold of the number somehow and they were able to charge everything without having the card.”

Decheine was surprised Citibank wasn’t more excited about the fraud, and simply credited Rothman’s account after the campaign filed a statement saying the charges were bogus.

Then came the question of what to do with the FEC, which requires Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, to report all expenditures and credits on the account.

“It screws up the reports,” Decheine said. “They said they’d never dealt with it before.”

The decision, shown on Rothman’s quarterly FEC report filed Tuesday, was to list the charges as expenditures with a memo indicating they were fraudulent, then list the amounts credited back by Citibank as receipts in a separate section.

Garrett tries to revive Water Gap panel

Rep. Scott Garrett is trying again to extend the life of a citizens advisory commission that has worked with the National Park Service since 1988 on issues near the Delaware Water Gap.

The federal government used eminent domain powers to buy the land along the river in the mid-1900s to build a dam, but ultimately decided against it. The land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey became a national recreation area, Garrett said on the House floor.

“Residents in the area were upset by the creation of the recreation area,” Garrett said, so the advisory commission was created with a 10-year lifespan, that was extended another decade in 1998.

In September, the House unanimously passed Garrett’s bill to extend it another 10 years, but that bill died in the Senate with no action. Garrett’s latest effort, HR-3476, was adopted by a 384-1 vote on Tuesday. Rep Ron Paul, R-Texas, was the only “no.”

“Communication is the key to addressing and resolving citizen concerns, and it is clear that residents and park users value the opportunity to respond to park decisions, as well as propose alternative ideas,” said Garrett, R-Wantage.

Pascrell: Keep fire safety pressure on

 
Rep. Bill Pascrell called on Congress to renew its commitment to ensuring parents and students at colleges have the information they need about fire safety on and off campus.

Pascrell spoke on the House floor today before a unanimous voice vote passed his resolution endorsing the goals of National Campus Fire Safety Month.

The resolution, H.Res. 167, encourages towns and school administrators to promote fire safety in September “and throughout the school year.”

A law enacted last year that will not likely take effect until next year called on colleges to report fire safety information to the U.S. Department of Education which must make it available to parents and prospective parents.

In a statement, Pascrell noted the fire at a Seton Hall University dormitory that killed three students and injured 50 more in January 2000.

“We cannot allow our vigilance to relent against this danger,” he said.

Garrett: Lawsuit provisions too much

Rep. Scott Garrett is warning that Congress may be overreacting to the role credit rating agencies such as Moody’s played in the economic meltdown by making it too easy to sue the agencies.

Garrett, R-Wantage, spoke out Wednesday at a hearing of the capital markets subcommittee, which was reviewing a draft bill to revise regulations governing credit agencies.

“Unlike many of my friends across the aisle, I do not believe the solution to all of society’s ills is simply more lawsuits,” Garrett said in his opening statement.

Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., the subcommittee chairman, said rating agencies “greatly contributed to our current economic problems by inappropriately issuing triple-A ratings for mortgage-backed securities  and other complex financial instruments that later failed.”

The Obama administration has proposed the Securities and Exchange Commission be responsible for ensuring the rating agencies follow their procedures. Kanjorski wants to go further and add the potential threat of being sued for not only their own actions, but also the actions of other rating agencies.

“This reform will hopefully incent participants in this oligopoly to police one another and release reliable, high quality ratings,” Kanjorski said in his statement.

Garrett questions whether that’s constitutional.

“I don’t see what positive can be attained by holding all of the [rating agencies] accountable for the bad actions of one,” he said.

Sigourney Weaver, Lautenberg discuss oceans

Photo courtesy of Sen. Lautenberg's office

Actress Sigourney Weaver and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., discussed the importance of curbing the rising acidity of ocean water at an event in the Capitol today. The two, joined by Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, spoke before the screening of an NRDC film about acidification, which Weaver narrated.

Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is raising acid levels in ocean water, which is affecting marine life, especially shellfish. Lautenberg sponsored a bill that became law this year to provide funding for research.