PENNSYLVANIA Records reveal officials' finances

U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie was one of Congress' top travelers.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart may be steeling herself for a political challenge from an heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune, but she doesn't mind making a few bucks off the multibillion-dollar business named for his family.
The two-term Republican from Pittsburgh, who also represents parts of Lawrence and Mercer counties, earned up to $200 in dividends last year in H.J. Heinz Co. stock, according to House financial documents released Wednesday. Her Heinz stock is valued at between $1,000 and $15,000, the records show.
Chris Heinz, 31, is eyeing a possible run for Hart's job -- perhaps as soon as 2006 -- in the 4th Congressional District in western Pennsylvania. Heinz is the son of the late Republican Sen. H. John Heinz III and Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the stepson of Democratic presidential presumptive nominee John Kerry.
Hart "likes to invest in local companies that economically support the region," said her spokesman, Lee Cohen.
Heinz Co. employs about 1,000 workers in the Pittsburgh area, Cohen said.
Detailed in records
The House records detail lawmakers' personal financial situations for the 2003 calendar year. They show how some members of the Pennsylvania delegation juggled their $154,700-a-year jobs with paying off student loans, collecting rent from tenants and moonlighting as college instructors.
The records, released annually, also reveal lawmakers' investments and assets in broad ranges of dollar amounts. They tally how much money lawmakers turned over to charity and from whom they accepted all-expenses-paid trips, usually held in resorts of exotic locales, to attend conferences.
Like Hart, the rest of Pennsylvania's 19-member House delegation invested money, mostly in stocks, bonds or retirement accounts. Some -- like Republican Rep. Curt Weldon and Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle -- sold property worth tens of thousands of dollars. Doyle sold a Pittsburgh property for between $15,000 and $50,000; Weldon, meanwhile, sold property simply marked as "land" for between $100,000 and $250,000.
Weldon also earned $20,000 from Drexel University in Philadelphia as an "approved teaching fee," according to the records.
Lawmaker landlords include Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, a Democrat who collected between $15,000 and $50,000 in rent in 2003 from tenants at a Wilkes-Barre property; and Rep. John Peterson, a Republican who earned between $2,500 and $5,000 in rent from a property in Pleasantville.
Free trips accepted
More than half of the delegation -- 10 of the 19 lawmakers -- accepted free trips to lush locations, often taking their spouses or other family members along.
The trips all appear to have been paid for by private firms and foundations and were not at taxpayers' expense. But they do highlight some of the perks that lawmakers receive while doing the people's work.
The two top travelers were Republican Reps. Phil English of Erie, who also represents part of Mercer County, and Jim Greenwood of Doylestown.
English accepted free trips to Germany, Spain, Brazil, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Alabama, the records show.
Greenwood, meanwhile, traveled to Miami; Bermuda; London; Santa Ana, Calif.; Baltimore; Hershey; and Philadelphia.
Other exotic destinations included Aruba (Doyle); Thailand and South Vietnam (Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican from Lancaster); and Yellowstone National Park in Montana (Rep. Joe Hoeffel, a Democrat from Abington).
Republican Rep. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Allentown, was given an extension to file his report at a later date.
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