Nervous Congress members call off LV visit

Benjamin Grove

Monday, Jan. 28, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers routinely roll out the red carpet for fellow members of Congress who travel to Las Vegas.

The trips, often paid for by private groups, are fairly common and legal. The trips give the Nevadans a chance to play tour guide at resorts and teach their colleagues more about the misunderstood gaming industry.

In many cases, the trips also give the out-of-town lawmakers an opportunity to schedule a fund-raiser or two.

But at least a few members of Congress may be nervous about visiting Sin City -- unless it's under the cloak of secrecy.

On Friday Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., canceled a trip for "four or five" Republican and Democratic members of Congress he had invited to Las Vegas last weekend to meet with gaming leaders and for tours of Caesars Palace and the Bellagio. A small fund-raising event -- "a little thing" -- was also planned, Ensign said.

Ensign canceled the trip after a Las Vegas newspaper story about it appeared Friday. He said he did not want further publicity to cause trouble for the lawmakers. Ensign would not name them.

One Nevada source said the lawmakers were nervous that their constituents might assume a trip to Las Vegas was merely for fun or to raise campaign money from the gaming industry. The lawmakers were apparently jittery when a Las Vegas reporter called their offices last week.

"You have to be sensitive to other members," Ensign said. "You don't want to publicize (a Las Vegas trip)."

Ensign had enlisted the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute to pay for the Las Vegas trip. The nonprofit, Washington-based foundation hosts educational forums on a wide variety of topics in locations worldwide, including Russia, Japan and Germany.

Ensign said he did not know if he would try to organize another trip for lawmakers to Las Vegas, but Nevada's three other members of Congress will continue extending invites.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said last year that she took about 20 members on Las Vegas tours.

The lawmakers either pay for the trips themselves or private groups pay. Private organizations can pay for the trips under congressional rules if the trips have an educational purpose and do not exceed four days for travel within the United States or seven days overseas. Records of the trips must be submitted to congressional clerks.

"The congresswoman has had tremendous success in getting people to come out to Las Vegas and people love to come out there," Berkley spokesman Michael O'Donovan said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who was scheduled to join Ensign at an institute event Saturday, also has played host to numerous lawmakers.

"We have never met any member who is reluctant to travel to Nevada," Gibbons spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.

The trips, which sometimes feature back-of-the-house and sports book tours at hotels, are partly designed to dispel misconceptions that the gaming industry is loosely regulated.

The trips also allow Nevada lawmakers to lobby their colleagues against a bill pending in Congress that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada sports books. The bill is backed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and opposed by Nevada lawmakers.

Over the years, a number of lawmakers have proved they are eager to come to Las Vegas -- to raise money, regardless of what their constituents might think. They include House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who hosted a GOP fund-raiser in Summerlin Jan. 17; and House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt, who helped Berkley raise $100,000 at an event last April.

The gaming industry doled out $10.8 million to congressional politicians in the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign money watchdog.

The American Gaming Association, a top industry trade group, is one of several groups that hosts congressional campaign fund-raisers in Las Vegas. The AGA hosts four fund-raisers a year, one each for Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, House Democrats and House Republicans.