Porter to play for troops

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005 | 8:27 a.m.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., is heading to Iraq for a congressional delegation tour, and he has penciled in four to six shows for his congressional rock band, the Second Amendments, to play for the troops.

Porter (keyboards) is leading the lawmakers and his classic-rock ("Takin' Care of Business," "Wonderful Tonight") band mates: Reps. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo. (drums); Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. (guitar); Collin Peterson, D-Minn. (vocals); and Dave Weldon, R-Fla. (bass). Nonband member Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., is also making the trip.

The tour will stop in Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan between Christmas and New Year's. The media has been asked not to publish its exact itinerary, to discourage autograph hounds. Kidding itineraries are often kept under wraps for security reasons. Ensign plays ensign

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., spent Dec. 12 bunking in the belly of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, docked off the Southern California coast, saying he was struck by the crew's professionalism and high morale.

Ensign, a member of the Armed Services Committee and chairman of its military readiness subcommittee, said he wanted a look at daily life aboard the nuclear-powered warship.

Ensign said he declined an offer to stay in the ship's VIP quarters and instead slept in a bunk room for enlisted personnel, claiming a middle rack (Navy talk for bed) in a three-high stack.

The Printer's printer The U.S. government's top printer Nevadan Bruce James sent out about 2,000 personal Christmas cards be.tting a man who has spent decades in the printing business.

This was no cheap portrait postcard. The front of the thick-stock glossy card features a photo of snowy Lake Tahoe, taken by James' wife, Nora, and folds out to reveal a photo of their Lake Tahoe home.

Also inside are shots of the couple on adventure this year: at the San Francisco Ballet, at the Biltmore Mansion in North Carolina, at the U.S. Capitol for President Bush's inauguration, in Elko for the Cowboy Poetry gathering, in Sicily, at the White House.

On the back is a breezy description of the couple's busy year.

So who does the chief executive of the Government Printing Office rely on for his personal printing?

He won't say. Revealing that could be viewed as an endorsement, which would be inappropriate under government ethics rules, GPO spokeswoman Veronica Meter said. James hired a Washington-area private commercial printer and paid for the job himself, she said.

Benjamin Grove can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at grove@lasvegassun.com. Porter to play for troops