
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990                   TAG: 9005310152
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SENATOR REPORTS PAST GIFT, LOAN

Sen. David Durenberger, already the subject of an ethics probe, said Wednesday he failed to report an earlier gift and loan, while Senate colleagues disclosed they talked, wrote, invested and even fiddled to raise their incomes last year.

Durenberger, R-Minn., amended his financial reports for five years to acknowledge a friend's gift of 35 days of lodging in Florida and a $484,000 loan to buy a house. He is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee because of a $100,000 book-promotion deal that was not listed on past reports.

The figures on income, speaking fees and gifts for senators were included in financial disclosure reports that were made public on Wednesday.

Although there is growing concern about the practice of accepting fees for speaking to special interests, a compilation by the Common Cause lobbying organization showed 74 senators spoke for pay last year. By next year, the report said, 34 senators will no longer keep such fees, compared with 19 in 1988.

The 74 collected $2.7 million, donated $685,449 to charity, and kept the rest, Common Cause said.

Although Democrats control the Senate, the top two Republicans earned more in speaking fees in 1989. Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas picked up $108,900 in honoraria; his deputy, Alan Simpson of Wyoming, got $90,600. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, senior Republican on the Labor and Human Resources Committee, was paid $92,499 in fees.

Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, was paid $39,000 for speeches, but his deputy, Alan Cranston, D-Calif., no longer accepts honoraria.

Neither of Virginia's senators accepted speaking fees. Democrat Charles Robb did, however, fly frequently at others' expense. Such trips included visits to Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; Jamaica; Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. Robb listed his income as between $149,375 and $246,659, his assets at $447,010 to $755,000 and up, and liabilities of $100,001 to $250,000.

Robb listed the assets of his wife, Lynda, daughter of President Lyndon Johnson, at several times the value of his own holdings.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., accepted four Washington Redskins season tickets and a copy of an equestrian statue. He listed his income at $493,821 to $844,376 and up, assets of $3,014,546 to $4,826,508 and up, and liabilities of $600,156 to $1,050,155.

Warner's income-producing farms in the state make up a major share of his assets.

One of the wealthiest senators, John Heinz, R-Pa., whose family started the food company, reported assets that could exceed $17 million; his income for the year may have topped $2.5 million. Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., whose family founded Ralston Purina, disclosed holdings that could be in the $15 million range.

Because the forms are so vague, it is impossible in most cases to discern an official's true financial status. For example, a $10 million piece of real estate may be listed on the forms as worth "over $250,000." Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., included in his income $120.80 in royalties from a record of fiddle music he recorded several years ago.

by CNB