05-14-2005

From the K Street Corridor

Peter H. Stone and Paul Singer (Email this author)
© National Journal Group, Inc.

DeLay Aides' Marianas Mission
In late 1999, two former aides to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, went to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on an unusual mission. Michael Scanlon, who had just finished a stint as DeLay's spokesman, and Ed Buckham, DeLay's former chief of staff, were working to help Ben Fitial win election as speaker of the island government's 18-member legislature.

During their mission to boost Fitial as speaker, Buckham and Scanlon met with two key Marianas legislators. According to the Los Angeles Times, the former DeLay aides promised that if the two legislators backed Fitial, they would press for U.S. appropriations for the islands, including money to resurface an airport on the island of Rota. Sources say that Brett Loper, another DeLay aide who is now his deputy chief of staff, also went to the islands in early 2000 to assess possible appropriations projects.

In a previously undisclosed letter to Scanlon in December 1999, Rota Mayor Benjamin Manglona thanked the former DeLay aide for "visiting our island" and lauded DeLay for the "great many supports ... he has given us over the years."

Just weeks later, in January 2000, Fitial was elected speaker. Not long after his victory, the House Appropriations Committee (whose transportation subcommittee included DeLay as a member) directed the Federal Aviation Administration to give priority in its 2001 budget to discretionary grants for several airport projects, including Rota's. FAA records show that the Rota project received grants of almost $900,000.

DeLay spokesman Dan Allen declined to comment on the appropriations. But he told National Journal that DeLay "had an ongoing interest in the successful free-market reforms in the CNMI," referring to the Marianas.

In a follow-up letter to Scanlon on January 13, 2000, Manglona wrote, in apparent reference to Fitial's election, "We hope that the action of our CNMI leadership would please [DeLay]. We hope we can now work together as a real good team to enhance and improve our CNMI/Federal relationship."

Fitial, a top executive in the Marianas garment industry, was well known to DeLay's office. In 1997 and 1998, DeLay had famously helped the islands' government and its garmentindustry by blocking legislation in the U.S. House that would have ended the Marianas' exemption from U.S. minimum-wage laws. Garment makers in the Marianas, a territory of the United States, depend heavily on cheap immigrant labor.

Back in the United States in April 1997, Fitial had attended a charity fundraiser in Houston for the DeLay Foundation for Kids. A few days later, he joined a team of lobbyists for the Marianas who used DeLay's congressional office in Washington as a base while they spent hours making their pitch on Capitol Hill. Fitial was also close to Jack Abramoff, the longtime lobbyist for the islands and a close DeLay ally.

That teamwork also proved beneficial to Abramoff. His contract to represent the islands had expired in late 1998, but six months after Fitial took office, the Marianas government awarded Abramoff a new $1.6 million contract.

In April 2000, Scanlon briefly joined Abramoff at Preston Gates after the DeLay aide left the Hill. The two would go on to represent six Indian tribes in the United States that operate casinos, receiving $82 million in fees from the tribes over three years. Now, a federal criminal investigation is probing their lobbying efforts.

-- Peter H. Stone

Ney Hires Lawyer for Advice
House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio, recently retained white-collar lawyer Mark Tuohey of Vinson & Elkins for legal advice related to a possible House Ethics Committee probe of Ney's ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In August 2002, Ney participated in a golfing junket to Scotland with Abramoff and other lobbyists -- including Ney's former Chief of Staff Neil Volz -- that was largely financed by Abramoff's Indian tribe clients. After lobbying by Abramoff, Ney became involved in an abortive legislative effort in 2002 to help the Tigua Indians of Texas reopen a casino that had been shut down by a federal court. Ney has said publicly that he was "duped" by Abramoff. Don McGahn, general counsel of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is also advising Ney.

-- P.H.S.

Propane Politics
It's been a long time coming, but the propane people are trying to turn up the heat in Congress. After being in business for almost 75 years, the National Propane Gas Association recently hosted its first annual "Propane Days" event, two days of grassroots lobbying on Capitol Hill by as many as 300 members of the propane industry. The event was part of the group's larger effort to raise its profile in Washington, and it was accompanied by a series of radio and print advertisements on D.C.-area radio stations and in Washington publications, including National Journal.

The association moved its headquarters from Chicago to Washington three years ago and has increased its annual lobbying budget to more than $500,000. NPGA's political action committee upped its contributions to $150,000 last year, with a goal of $200,000 by 2006. "It took us many decades to realize that ours was an industry that was becoming more and more influenced by the decisions of policy makers" in Washington, said association President Rick Roldan.

The group wants to carve out an identity for propane in broader discussions of energy policy, Roldan said, and to include tax credits for propane as an alternative fuel. Propane is generally the fuel of choice for backyard grills. But it is also used for home heating in rural areas and is widely used as fuel for construction vehicles and forklifts. NPGA says propane should not be classified among the other "extremely hazardous materials" that may face growing transport restrictions because of security concerns.

-- Paul Singer

 

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