[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Congress & $$$



Burma Readers, for your information, it helps to know something about 
who you are writing to, in congress, dawn star

     Welcome Back Congress: Wealth Watch

     Congressional Megabuck Members:
     Top Five In Roll Call Fifty Are Worth $50 Million or More

     1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass)

        * $760 million Senator's 1994 disclosure form shows assets of
          $50,000 to $100,000, with liabilities of $65,000 to
          $180,000, making him one of least wealthy Members; new
          bride's holdings, however, estimated at $760 million by
          Forbes magazine; wealth derives from inheritance from late
          husband John Heinz, who topped our original Roll Call 50
          listing in 1990 and was the great-grandson of ketchup and
          food product magnate; according to Forbes, Mrs. Heinz sold
          some 13.5 million shares of stock in 1995 to diversify
          holdings. Sen. Kerry's middle name, Forbes, somewhat
          prophetic.

     2. Rep. Amory Houghton (R-NY)

        * $350 million You'll find Houghton in the family section of
          the Forbes 400, but we list him separately because he
          controls family trusts. Forbes puts family fortune at around
          $530 million Ñ up from last year's assessment of $470
          million; Amo's namesake founded Corning Glass Works in 1851,
          manufacturing glass casings for Thomas Edison's light bulbs;
          House financial disclosure form sets wealth at only around
          $10 million.

     3. Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wis)

        * $250 million Made his money in family grocery business; owns
          Milwaukee Bucks basketball team as well as real estate
          interests, such as shopping centers and office buildings in
          Milwaukee; to win election in 1988, spent nearly $7 for
          every vote he received; in 1994, election cost him just over
          $7 per vote (perhaps inflation is to blame); 1994 financial
          disclosure report sets his net worth at more than $10
          million (one of the highest in Congress); transactions
          included selling off part of his Scudder International Bond
          Fund and interest in a Milwaukee shopping center.

     4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa)

        * $200 million Great-grandfather, John D. Rockefeller, world's
          first billionaire; J.D. IV, known as "Jay," served as West
          Virginia governor; spent $12 million of own money on 1984
          Senate race; spent $2 million in 1990 against minor
          challenger; DNC finance chairman, raised millions for party
          by joking about his wealth at fundraisers; Forbes estimates
          family fortune worth more than $6 billion; '94 financial
          disclosure shows individual net worth of $7 million.

     5. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif)

        * $50 million Diversified holdings with husband Richard Blum;
          most are in his name, but she is beneficiary of $1
          million-plus Bertram Feinstein Trust, which includes 50
          percent interest in Carlton Hotel Properties of San
          Francisco; other holdings include: real estate (S.F.,
          Hawaii), paintings, stock (BankAmerica, Wolfgang Puck Food
          Company, AGP Industrial); 1994 financial disclosure report
          shows net worth to be at least $8 million, changed
          significantly from earlier forms which showed at least $38
          million; reason: most of Blum's holdings now listed on form,
          but not assigned a specific value.

     6. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

        * $40 million Founder of ADP data processing firm, with 16,000
          employees; spent $5 million of own money to get elected in
          1982; ponied up just $750,000 of his own money in 1994;
          financial disclosure for 1994 sets wealth at nearly $4
          million; holdings include stock in ADP and two blind trusts
          in excess of $1 million; each earned income greater than $1
          million in 1994.

     7. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass)

        * $35 million Kennedy's father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, was
          Boston bank president by age 25; founded political and
          financial dynasty, made millions in liquor business; family
          inheritance no longer makes Forbes list, which starts at
          $340 million; in 1990, Forbes estimate of Kennedy fortune
          was $850 million; holdings, such as Chicago Merchandise Mart
          and Apparel Center, other real estate, oil and gas
          interests, have been losing value; divided among at least 50
          surviving heirs; Sen. Ted reports holdings of just over $3
          million on latest financial disclosure report, but various
          blind trusts generate annual income of at least $400,000.

     8. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)

        * $30 million Highest-ranking freshman on our list; financial
          disclosure form filed during 1994 campaign shows wealth of
          at least $25 million; 1994 form more difficult to measure,
          with most holdings in trusts; family first arrived in New
          Jersey in 1720s; four Frelinghuysens served in US Senate in
          the 1800s; Rodney's father, Peter, served in US House for
          two decades in this century; widely diversified stock and
          bond holdings, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson &
          Johnson, Eli Lilly; land in New Jersey and Massachusetts;
          inheritance trusts.

     8. (tie) Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah)

        * $30 million Resume includes Nixon Administration, Robert R.
          Mullen Company (a PR firm employing Watergate burglar Howard
          Hunt), J.C. Penney, Microsonics Corp., and Summa
          Corporation, the massive Howard Hughes conglomerate; Bennett
          became CEO of Franklin International Institute, a
          day-planner manufacturing and motivational materials firm in
          mid-1980s; took it from four employees to 800, revenues
          skyrocketed from almost nothing to more than $80 million a
          year; company went public in 1992 and Bennett reportedly
          netted $25 million after selling his stock; 1994 disclosure
          form shows more than $25 million, including detailed Smith
          Barney report showing diversified portfolio worth more than
          $21 million.

     8. (tie) Rep. Norman Sisisky (D-Va)

        * $30 million Former Pepsi distributor in southeastern
          Virginia region; still has large stock (even holds at least
          $1 million worth of stock in rival Coca-Cola) and real
          estate holdings, and limited partnerships with varied stock
          holdings, valued on disclosure form at more than $11
          million; net worth probably substantially higher; an active
          stock trader, he got into GE, Intel, and Microsoft in 1994,
          but sold Disney, Procter & Gamble, Pacific Telesis.

     11. Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn)

        * $20 million Transplant surgeon is second wealthiest freshman
          in 104th Congress; disclosure form lists nearly $10 million
          in assets, but Tennessee sources say holdings in Hospital
          Corp. of America, which was founded by his brother, are
          worth more; spent nearly $4 million on Senate campaign;
          other holdings include stock in Shoney's Inc., IRAs, real
          estate and hotel holdings in California, Massachusetts,
          Tennessee, Washington, and Texas; also controls several
          inheritance trusts.

     11. (tie) Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va)

        * $20 million Former lawyer, governor, Vietnam vet, and White
          House Marine guard has millions in banking and land
          holdings; married to Lynda Bird Johnson, heiress of LBJ-Lady
          Bird broadcast fortune; most recent disclosure form reports
          more than $11 million; reaped more than $1 million in
          capital gains and interest from the LBJ Holding Company.

     11. (tie) Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI)

        * $20 million Newport blue blood; real estate, timber, and
          other investment holdings make up widely diversified
          portfolio started with inherited wealth; has more than $1
          million in GE stock; financial disclosure reports set worth
          at $15 million.

     14. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif)

        * $15 million Wife of Sidney Harman, founder of Fortune 500
          electronics company, Harman International Industries, which
          manufactures high-end stereo equipment; her common stock in
          the company worth well over $1 million; has other holdings
          in various stocks, Treasury bills, real estate partnerships,
          and four separate trusts; disclosure form shows net worth of
          at least $7 million.

     14. (tie) Rep. Dick Chrysler (R-Mich)

        * $15 million An automotive executive, but not for the company
          that bears his name; got his start on a Chevrolet assembly
          line, then became floor sweeper at Hurst Performance,
          earning $1.50 an hour; within ten years, his bio states, he
          became vice president of the company and eventually bought
          it; in 1970s, he founded Cars & Concepts, an automobile
          conversion company; sold it in 1987 and founded another
          conversion company, RCI, which manufactures police cruisers
          and electric-car batteries; disclosure form lists real
          estate and bond holdings worth at least $5 million.

     16. Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio)

        * $13 million Former astronaut owns interest in two Holiday
          Inns; other stock and real estate holdings; most of his
          money in two blind trusts, hard to determine actual amount;
          reports holdings of at least $2.7 million on disclosure
          form.

     16. (tie) Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif)

        * $13 million Daughter of former Rep. and Baltimore Mayor
          Thomas D'Alesandro, Pelosi has real estate and business
          investments; investor husband has wide real estate, bond
          holdings, including San Francisco condos and Napa Valley
          vineyard; in late 1994, husband sold Bethany Beach, Del.,
          condo worth between $100,000 and $250,000; she reports joint
          holdings of at least $9 million on disclosure form.

     18. Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla)

        * $9 million Former CIA agent, newspaper publisher; with
          spouse, controls large portfolio of stocks, bonds, real
          estate; disclosure forms show his wealth to be at least $8.3
          million.

     19. Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-NC)

        * $8 million Faircloth reports stock in Jefferson Pilot life
          insurance, Lundy Packing Company (a meat processing company
          of which he is a director), Glaxo, plus interest in real
          estate partnership and 100 percent ownership of Faircloth
          Construction Co., valued at more than $1 million; other
          holdings include farming, automobile dealership, and timber.

     19. (tie) Rep. Jimmy Quillen (R-Tenn)

        * $8 million Extensive stocks and bonds (Kodak, various
          utilities); oil royalties; also has real estate interests;
          contributed in '94 to Holston Valley Healthcare Foundation
          11,000 shares of Thomas Nelson Inc., common stock, worth
          $250,000 to $500,000.

     21. Rep. Sid Yates (D-Ill)

        * $7 million Lawyer, has served in Congress more than 40
          years; real estate holdings, Treasury notes, and Public
          Housing Authority Bonds (which he trades with some
          frequency) make up a good portion of wealth; also in
          partnership that owns two Kentucky shopping centers; 1994
          report lists at least $4 million in assets.

     21. (tie) Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)

        * $7 million Former New York state official married to lawyer;
          biggest asset comes from Lowey, Dannenberg, Bemporad &
          Selinger, P.C., her husband's law firm; also has sizable
          holdings in T-bills and varied stocks; disclosure form sets
          wealth at $7 million.

     23. Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla)

        * $6 million Father worked way up from poverty to become
          wealthy dairy farmer and real estate investor; after
          graduating Harvard Law School, young Bob joined dad in real
          estate, helped develop entire town of Miami Lakes, Fla;
          stepbrother was late publisher of Washington Post, Phil
          Graham; sold real estate in 1994 while buying stock in
          Merck, Microsoft, Home Depot; stocks, municipal bonds, and
          farm add up to more than $3 million on most recent
          disclosure form.

     23. (tie) Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)

        * $6 million Congress's only tree farmer, Taylor owns
          thousands of acres in North Carolina, plus other real estate
          interests and bank stock; 1994 disclosure form shows at
          least $5 million in holdings.

     25. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla)

        * $5.6 million Sophomore Rep., brother of former Rep. Dan,
          sold more than $500,000 in holdings in cellular phone
          company he helped run to another firm, Centennial Cellular,
          then exercised option to buy Centennial stock; also holds
          Florida, Washington, DC, and North Carolina real estate.

     26. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis)

        * $5.4 million A lawyer by profession, Sensenbrenner goes
          above and beyond the call of duty by offering complete
          listings of his net worth. Backbone of his $3.9 million
          stock portfolio is more than $2 million in bathroom products
          giant Kimberly-Clark Corp. (that stock was recently trading
          at $80 a share, significantly higher than the $52 price
          Sensenbrenner reported in March 1994); other major blue
          chips include pharmaceutical leader Merck & Co. and Exxon.

     27. (tie) Rep. John Spratt (D-SC)

        * $5 million Lawyer, banker, real estate investor; owns
          800-acre farm in Fort Mill, S.C., and other land in N.C.;
          stock in Exxon, Citicorp.

     27. (tie) Sen. John Warner (R-Va)

        * $5 million Won $7 million divorce settlement from first
          wife, a Mellon; later married and divorced actress Elizabeth
          Taylor; sold main holding, Virginia hunt country farm, in
          1994, for more than $1 million; also has other real estate,
          including more Virginia farmland, plus trust income, stock
          and bond holdings, works of art; reports a NationsBank
          checking account with balance greater than $1 million;
          latest disclosure form sets wealth at more than $4 million.

     27. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)

        * $5 million The former Navy POW, together with his wife,
          holds stock in a beer distributorship and a land partnership
          in Mesa, Ariz., both in the highest category; disclosure
          form shows more than $4 million in joint holdings, up from
          $2.3 million in 1993 Ñ moving him up three spaces on our
          list.

     30. Rep. Owen Pickett (D-Va)

        * $4 million A lawyer and accountant, Pickett's largest
          disclosed (and only million-dollar) holding is more than
          1,000 acres of farmland in Caroline County, Va. Real estate
          partnerships dot many other spots on his portfolio as well.

     30. (tie) Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa)

        * $4 million Leach shows million-dollar trusts in the names of
          his deceased parents, as well as other seven-figure assets,
          including Adel Wholesalers and Foxley Cattle Company; a
          former gas company president, Leach's portfolio also
          includes real estate, minerals, and stocks; disclosure form
          shows more than $3 million in holdings; drops from $6
          million in last year's list because, as Leach notes in his
          disclosure, certain trust holdings that he had previously
          reported were distributed to a nephew and a niece.

     30. (tie) Rep. Pete Geren (D-Texas)

        * $4 million His largest disclosed assets are more than a half
          million dollars in Texas Municipal Bond Fund. Other assets
          include varied interests in major stocks, oil and gas
          partnerships, and Fort Worth real estate.

     30. (tie) Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)

        * $4 million Lucrative law practice in Austin was built on big
          product liability cases; holds diversified stock, mutual
          fund, real estate, and bond holdings. Stocks include Boeing,
          Enserch Corp., and Intel Corp. Main real estate holdings are
          rental properties in Austin; sold two properties worth at
          least $1.5 million in Austin and purchased Capitol Hill
          home, so he's here for the duration.

     30. (tie) Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R-Fla)

        * $4 million Timberland and real estate form the base of his
          portfolio; also stock in Nordstrom, Blockbuster; in 1994,
          bought and sold Treasury bills with some frequency; also
          holds bonds; disclosure form shows holdings worth at least
          $3 million.

     35. Rep. John Linder (R-Ga)

        * $3.5 million Dentist and former lending company owner in '94
          sold holdings in Linder Financial Corporation for at least
          $1 million; also has IRA and real estate properties.

     36. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio)

        * $3 million Former House Member and lieutenant governor's
          wealth derives from inheritance trusts and real estate;
          holdings in two family businesses are spread among himself,
          his wife, and his eight children.Also holds joint blind
          trust formed in 1993 with assets exceeding $1 million.

     36. (tie) Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif)

        * $3 million Founded two California banks by age 31;
          California real estate (including warehouse in San Francisco
          worth at least $1 million), oil holdings; owns one of most
          valuable houses on Capitol Hill; disclosure form puts wealth
          at less than $2 million.

     36. (tie) Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala)

        * $3 million Newspaper publisher and real estate developer
          Everett spent nearly $1 million of his own money to win
          House seat in 1992; most of his holdings now in Merrill
          Lynch account, Treasury bills, and a note from his campaign
          committee worth $500,000 to $1 million.

     36. (tie) Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska)

        * $3 million This former banker publicly values his real
          estate, oil, and gas holdings at a minimum of $2.9 million,
          including stock in Delta Airlines, Citicorp, Chevron, and
          Merck; sold some mining holdings at a loss in 1994.

     36. (tie) Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass)

        * $3 million RFK's son discloses less than $100,000 in
          inheritance and stocks, included in four separate Kennedy
          family trusts.

     36. (tie) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)

        * $3 million Along with spouse, Maloney has real estate
          holdings in New York City, Jamaica, Connecticut, and
          Tidewater Virginia; also stocks, bonds, mutual funds;
          disclosure form shows net worth of approximately $2.5
          million.

     36. (tie) Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev)

        * $3 million A lawyer who also chaired Nevada's Gaming
          Commission, Reid has most of his wealth in real estate; sale
          of some of his wife's land in 1994 yielded between $100,000
          and $250,000; disclosure form shows approximate net worth of
          more than $2.6 million.

     36. (tie) Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala)

        * $3 million Millionaire felt more comfortable with Republican
          party; switched to GOP the day after 1994 election. Alabama
          Senator's share of the Tuscaloosa Title Co. is worth more
          than $1 million (he's also the chairman of the board); also
          has other valuable real estate holdings in Alabama and
          Washington.

     36. (tie) Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)

        * $3 million Like cousin Joe, holdings mainly in Kennedy
          family trusts, one of which paid him income of between
          $100,000 and $1 million in 1994. Sold small interest in
          Arctic Royalty Limited Partnership, an oil and gas concern,
          as well as a rental home in Providence, R.I. Spent $135,000
          of his own money on 1994 election campaign.

     45. Rep. Harry Johnston (D-Fla)

        * $2.9 million Lawyer from wealthy West Palm Beach family
          holds stocks, bonds, and real estate.

     46. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla)

        * $2.7 million Stearns sold interest in motel in Silver
          Springs, Fla., and other rental real estate in 1993, netting
          more than $1 million; in 1994, real estate still forms base
          of his disclosed wealth, listed on form at more than $1.3
          million.

     46. (tie) Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan)

        * $2.7 million With wife, Elizabeth, owns stock in major
          companies such as AT&T, Bausch and Lomb, Southwest Airlines,
          Walt Disney, and Hershey. Mrs. Dole also owns between
          $50,000 and $100,000 share of a Kansas golf course, 120
          acres of land worth between $250,000 and $500,000, and part
          ownership of an office building, valued at between $500,000
          and $1,000,000.

     48. Rep. Martin Hoke (R-Ohio)

        * $2.5 million Diversified stock and bond holdings, including
          IBM, Westinghouse, Ford Motor Co., Walt Disney, and Red
          Carpet Cellular (the company he founded, then sold to
          Cellular One); also various state and county bonds, etc.,
          valued on form to be at least $2.2 million.

     48. (tie) Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md)

        * $2.5 million Engineer and former university professor has
          real estate in Maryland and West Virginia, including two
          parcels in Frederick County worth at least $1 million
          apiece; also has bond and precious metals accounts.

     50. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

        * $2.4 million Diversified stock portfolio rather than large
          holdings; Fleet stock and savings account at Fleet Bank are
          valued at more than $1 million, with dividends and interest
          between $50,000 and $100,000.

                                  [Image]
        Roll Call Online was designed and created by Online Magic.
           Copyright © 1996 Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.