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p o n th e R e c o r d%u2014Financial Disclosure Forms Show Congress Is More Than A LivingBY ROB TAYLORIn 1986, with members of Congress up forre-election, there is a heightened public interest in the financial dealings of elected officials.For information about the personal andcampaign finances of members of the Houseof Representatives, the public has access totwo forms %u2014 Financial DisclosureStatements and Campaign Committee Financial rports.Financial disclosure statements are filedwith the Clerk of the House of Representatives and detail the personal income, assetsand transactions of each member. Thestatements, which were to be filed by May 15,pertain to the personal income in addition tothe $75,100 congressional salary. They do notinclude the value of personal property suchas homes, art or jewels unless they supplement a representative%u2019s salary.The financial disclosure statements ofBrooklyn%u2019s representatives reflect theamount of public exposure each of them hasreceived. West Brooklyn CongressmanStephen Solarz (13th District) led the delegation in additional earnings, making speeches,writing articles and appearing on televisionall around the globe. The honoraria and feesSolarz received from outside activities exceeded the amount of money %u2014 $22,467 %u2014members of the House of Representativesare legally allowed to earn.In contrast, Park Slope/Flatbush Congressman, Charles Schumer (10th District),who prepared to run for re-election after hisfirst term against Solarz in 1982 followingthe redistricting that could have combinedtheir constituencies, earned no additional income.North Brooklyn Congressman Ed Towns(11th District) and Central Brooklyn MemberMajor Owens (12th District) both madespeeches around the country, though the totalof their honoraria did not come close toSolarz%u2019.The cam paign com m ittee financialreports for members of Congress are filedwith the Federal Elections Commission(FEC) and include contributions, expenses,and debts by and to the campaign organizations.Both Schumer and Solarz continue to havesix-figure campaign war-chests that werebarely touched in 1984. These treasuries werethe result of their anticipated 1982 race. In1985, the two representatives were able to sitback and allow the interest to accrue.Towns and Owens are not so lucky. Townsraised more money than the rest of thedelegation while Owens ended the year with anegative cash flow.MAJOR OWENSBy the end of 1985, Central Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens%u2019 campaign committehad raised very little money, probably areflection of the 12th Congressional District,which is rated as one of the ten poorest in thenation. Owens, however, had managed topersonally earn an additional $16,100 throughconsulting fees and speaking engagements.In his financial disclosure statement,which was filed 14 days late on May 29,Owens reported earning $10,000 as a publications consultant to Neighborhood OutreachService of Brooklyn. His financial disclosurestatement also listed five speeches includingone to the California Conference of Networking and one to the North Carolina LibraryAssociation, and one article which appearedin the Library Journal, for which he was paid$500.The Congressman reported one asset, arental residence at 335 Wyona St., from whichhe earned between $2,500 and $5,000. While hereported no liabilities, gifts or transactionsexceeding $1,000, his expenses to the libraryand networking conferences were paid by theorganizations.By the end of 1985, his campaign organiztion, Congressman Major Owens Re-electionCommittee, listed a bank account with$2,018.60 and total debts and obligations of$22,296.77. A large part of the outstandingdebt was to Neighborhood Outreach Service,the same organization for which Owens actsas a consultant. Owens also had a $600 loanoutstanding to Una Clarke of Brooklyn.H l i r i n j 1QR5 fW a n c rohn io Knino nKo llowo.ed in this September primary by Roy Innis,raised $27,097. Much of this moneypoured in during the last three months of theyear from numerous political action commitM a jo r O w ens Ed Tow ns C h arle s S ch u m er Steve S olarzWith a primary challengeahead of him, Owens %u2019campaign ended 1985 witha negative cash flow.Political Action Committeescontributed more than halfof the $62,953.73 collectedby his campaign in 1985.Little activity in his personaland campaign finances, butlots of money from 1982war chest.Topped his salary with anadditional $25,218 fromwriting 11 articles andmaking 16 speeches.tees, including the American Postal Workers,the Airline Pilots Association, the Con EdisonEmployees, the American Bankers and theAmalgamated Transit Union.ED TOWNSIn 1985, Congressman Ed Towns, whosedistrict stretches across northern Brooklynfrom East New York to Bushwick,Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Park Slopereported more contributions to his campaigncommittee than any other member of theBrooklyn delegation.The 11th district congressman%u2019s campaignorganization, the Committee to Re-elect EdTowns, reported total receipts of $62,953.75for 1985. More than half of the contributionswere from political action committees, including those of AT&T, the Coal MinersUnion, the Ladies Garment Workers Union,Chemical Bank, Brooklyn Union Gas, the National Education Association, Citicorp, NewYork Telephone and the local affiliate of theMarine Engineers Beneficial Association,which made the largest donation, $3,000.The remaining $27,161 came from individual contributors living in Brooklyn andManhattan. One listing on the Federal Elections Commission report was called %u201cVariousReceipts All Under $200 per Individual,%u201d andtotaled $14,788. Towns also received donations from former State Senator Anna Jefferson, Manhattan Borough President DavidDinkins and Caroll Gardens Assemblywoman Eileen Dugan.Chi his financial disclosure statement,which was filed 17 days late on June 2, Townsreported earning a total honoraria of $4,719 in1985. Making 11 speeches, he earned between$75 and $700 for each engagement that included the Chicago Board of Trade and sixchurches.Towns also reported rental income of lessthan $1000 from a half interest in a six-familyBrooklyn house. The congressman reportedno blind trusts, no liabilities, gifts or transactions exceeding $1,000 during the year. Expenses accrued from one trip to Texas werepaid by the sponsoring organization, theCouncil for a Secure America.CHA RLES SCHUMERChi his 1985 financial disclosure statementand FEC report, Park Slope CongressmanCharles Schumer reported no additional inCharles Schumer(10th District)$0 2Ed Towns(11th District)$4,719 1Major Owens(12th District)$16,300 2Steve Solarz(13th District)$25,218*** 14* Incom e earned in addition to th e $75,100paid every m em ber of th e H ouse ofR epresentatives.* * Fact-finding trips not paid for by the U.S.government, but by an outsideorganization.* * 'S o larz earned $2,750.51 in excess of alegal limitation. He donated the moneyto charity.come from honoraria or any other sourcesand few contributions to his campaign committee.In addition to his Congressional salary,Schumer reported that he received additionalincome from two Merrill Lynch and Company accounts valued between $50,001 and$100,000. The income earned from these accounts was listed as below $2,500 each.Schumer reported no gifts, liabilities ortransactions in excess of $1,000, but did include two expense-paid domestic trips fromthe Council for a Secure America and SearchGrot?), Inc.Schumer%u2019s campaign committee, Re-ElectCongressman Chuck Schumer, reported interest income $15,334.09 in 1985. This wasearned from his $439,342.91 campaigntreasury, much of it raised in 1982, whenredistricting nearly created a race betweenSchumer and Brooklyn CongressmanStephen Solarz.With no apparent serious opposition in 1906,Schumer has reported loans amounted toVann Announces Bid For ReelectionAssemblyman Albert Vann, DemocraticDistrict Leader from the 56th A.D., honoredcommunity people running for public officein the fall elections on July 19 at RestorationPlaza and announced his own bid for reelection to a seventh term. A guest at theevent was Democratic candidate for U.S.Senate Mark Green.Vann, who filed five volumes of petitionswith 2,488 signatures with the Board of Elections one week earlier, is being challenged inthe primary by Robert Hunter. Objections to--------------------~ f * 7 ---------------- v ---------------i l i ! -------------1------------I I -------------------------- %u2022 _______1 L i> w i u c u i v c u m a [ f c u u u u o i i a u u c c u i a i o c u , u u tno specific explanations had been filed.Honored at the Saturday ceremony fortheir contributions to the community wereVann%u2019s female district leader, Annette Robinson, and candidate for Second Civil CourtJudge, Yvonne Lewis.Robinson has been active in her BedfordStuyvesant area for more than 20 years andis an aide to City Comptroller HarrisonGoldin. Lewis has been a practicing attorneyfor 13 years and teaches law at HofstraUiiiversity. Vann, Robinson and Lewis all filed for the primary on the same slate and areworking out of the same campaign headquarters at 1424 Fulton a .%u201cThe current state of affairs in the black%u201c rnuv. It r n ip c ia u v c Uldt, UUi CUflstituents be kept informed concerningcritical issues and institutions that effectthem,%u201d said Vann of this event he billed as a%u201ccommunity report.%u201d$12,000 to some of his current and fomer colleagues in the House of Representatives including Congressman Sam Gejdenson fromConnecticut, Les AuCoin from Oregon, MikeLowry from Washington State, Robert Garcia from the Bronx and former CongressmanLeo Zeferetti from Long Island. All theseloans were made in 1982 and have not beensettled.STEVESOLARZIn 1965, Congressman Stephen Solarz, ofthe 13th District that runs from Greenpointthrough Brooklyn Heights to Flatbush andConey Island, gave more speeches and wrotemore articles than any other member of theBrooklyn delegation to the House of Representatives, Solarz tow ed off his congressionalsalary with an additional $25,218.He made five speeches to the UnitedJewish Appeal and received $1000 for eachappearance. Solarz made an additional 16speeches to educational institutions, businessgroups and an television shows receiving between $150 and $2000 for each.Solarz also penned 11 articles fornewspapers and magazines and earned between $18 and $350 for each piece. Three articles appeared in The New York Times, forwhich he was paid $150 each.The total honoraria and fees amounted to$2,750.51 in excess of the legal limitation.Solarz donated the excess money to a charitythat was not specified in his disclosure statement.Solarz also reported making 14 trips forwhich the expenses were paid by an outsideorganiztion, including two to England thatwere paid for by the Business InternationalCorporation and the American Ditchley Foundation and one to Germany that was paid forby Columbia University.Solarz%u2019 disclosure statement listed twoblind trusts that each provided interest income between $5,001 and $15,000 as well as a$250,000 vacation home in Sea view, NY.The only liability reported by the Congressman was to the Israel Discount Bankand was valued at less than $5,000. The statement listed no gifts or transactions whosevalue exceeded $1000.According to the campaign committeereports filed with the FEC for 1985, Solarzhad more incrane during the period than anyother member of the Brooklyn delegation. Atthe end of 1985, Solarz, who appears to be running unopposed in the 1966 primary andgeneral elections, had $606,618.30 in his campaign treasury. Most of this money had beenraised in the 1982 election year, so most of the1985 receipts were interest payments. Solarzreceived contributions of $1,835 and interestpayments of $72,614.19Most of the contributions were from individual contributors making small donationsbetween $20 and $500. Congressman BillGray, Chairman of the House BudgetCommittee donated $100 and Paul Surace ofBrooklyn gave Solarz $500.During 1985. Solarz%u2019 campaign committee,Solarz for Congress, conlriouted $17,805.50 toa variety of Brooklyn charities and politicalui gaiiuauuua including City CouncilmanSteven DiBrienza%u2019s campaign committee,B%u2019nai B%u2019rith, the National Congress ofNeighborhood Women and the People%u2019sFirehouse.July 24,1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 23