The annual reports by Rhode Island's four representatives in Congress are not detailed, and are aimed at revealing potential conflicts of interest.

01:56 AM EDT on Friday, June 17, 2005

BY JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- One senator and one congressman are blessed with large, inherited fortunes.

The other senator has used public service to climb out of his modest origins and build some holdings in savings, stocks and real estate.

The other congressman's estate is worth several million dollars, largely derived from damages awarded after an accident that crippled him as a youth.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of this year's financial disclosure reports by the members of Rhode Island's congressional delegation.

In addition, three of the four legislators report having accepted one or two free trips from interest groups.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat, reported being reimbursed for a trip from Boston to San Francisco in December, where he made four speeches over the course of two days at an event sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Reed's office said he was reimbursed about $807 for the trip.

Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democrat, accepted two free trips. One was from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Taiwan and back to the United States via Los Angeles between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2004. Kennedy's office said the Chinese International Cooperation Association reimbursed him $3,400 for transportation on that trip, $930 for lodging and $370 for meals.

Kennedy's office said the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society reimbursed him $156 for lodging at the group's annual conference in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 25 and 26. Kennedy's office said he traveled to the conference on a plane chartered by the health-care group. His office set the value of the ride at $11,243.49.

Rep. James R. Langevin, a Democrat, took a trip to Taiwan from Dec. 1 to 4 last year, paid for by the Chinese International Economic Association. Langevin's office said he was reimbursed $3,500 for travel, $970 for lodging and $370 for meals.

The laws requiring the annual reports, first enacted in the wake of the Watergate scandals of the 1970s, preserve some privacy for public officials by requiring them to report holdings and income (beyond their public salary) only in broad categories of value, such as $1,001 to $15,000, or "over $1,000,000."

The idea behind the reporting of these assets is that officeholders would reveal potential conflicts of interest. A fortune based on oil, for example, might show potential conflicts in a legislator's voting record on oil-related issues.

In addition, the documents disclose transactions such as free travel conferred by interest groups -- a hot topic this year because gifts of travel have prompted calls for ethics inquiries into dealings among certain lobbyists and members of the House.

Here are some details of the financial reports from each Rhode Island legislators. The reports do not give enough information to build a comprehensive financial profile of any member.

Republican Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, while reporting no free trips or outside income in 1994, gave a glimpse at his family holdings through the annual disclosure, required of federal officeholders and candidates, plus certain congressional staffers and members of the executive branch.

Chafee's 2004 report again confirms what he first revealed after he was appointed to the Senate in 1999: his family estate is much larger than that of his late father, by virtue of his marriage to the former Stephanie B. Danforth.

Chafee's report shows that, counting the trusts of Stephanie Chafee and their children, his family fortune exceeds $61 million. But because of the quirks of the disclosure system, the report tells little about the estate's value.

For example, Stephanie Chafee's principal blind trust is valued at "over $1,000,000." Because the trust is his wife's, Chafee is not obliged to fix its worth more specifically. But in his first such report several years ago, Chafee valued this trust of Stephanie Chafee at more than $50 million -- still accurate today, Chafee spokesman Stephen Hourahan confirmed.

Chafee goes beyond the law's requirements in his disclosure form by providing nine pages that list stocks and other financial instruments that make up the trusts, plus ranges of income from those sources. Those annotations outline a diverse portfolio, with holdings in telecommunications, mining, drugs, chemicals, oil, computers and other industries.

Reed reports assets worth between about $275,000 and $876,000, most in savings, retirement accounts and other such financial instruments. Reed also lists stock holdings in several industries, including finance, drugs and food. His largest stock holding last year was a stake in Qualcomm, a computer software and equipment concern, that he valued at between $50,000 and $100,000.

Kennedy's 2004 report, as in previous years, tells little about his inheritance as a member of one of the nation's most prominent families. The congressman lists two trusts among his principal assets, both established before his birth, one by his father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, and one by his late grandmother, Rose F. Kennedy.

As is permitted under the reporting rules for blind trusts, Kennedy discloses nothing about the value of these trusts. He reports earnings last year of between $15,001 and $50,000 on the trust granted by his father and $200 or less from the other trust.

Kennedy also lists among his assets a holding worth between $50,001 and $100,000 in Arctic Royalty Limited, which owns oil and gas royalty interests. Kennedy reports having earned between $15,001 and $50,000 last year from Arctic.

Langevin lists savings, insurance and other financial holdings worth between about $813,000 and $2.37 million. He also lists real-estate holdings -- including several rental houses that he owns in Warwick -- valued at between $1.2 million and $2.85 million.

Langevin was injured in a gun accident as a teenaged Warwick police cadet. He was awarded $2.2 million in damages by the city, among other settlements.

The Center for Responsive Politics makes available on its Web site financial disclosure information from Congressional members.