Maryland Delegation

WASHINGTON -- Maryland's congressional Democrats fared well and Republicans poorly in a "report card" issued yesterday by the NAACP that reviewed votes in Congress on affirmative action and other issues important to the Baltimore-based civil rights group.Speaking at a news conference, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume urged the group's members to seek the ouster this fall of lawmakers who received low grades."We intend to use this information as a sword to defeat delinquent legislators of both parties," Mfume, a former Democratic congressman from Baltimore, said of the biannual survey.

SAN DIEGO -- As television cameras followed Jack Kemp across the convention floor Tuesday night, Victor Clark, a member of the Maryland delegation, tried to make himself conspicuous."

Maryland Democrats rendezvous in Chicago this weekend to renominate their party's incumbent president and to realize long-standing personal dreams.Proud of the Clinton administration's record, they are also seeking what Mary Ellen Shine called "a culmination" of her family's reverence for the American political process. She began to understand her parents' commitment to conventions when a strict rule of daily life was suspended."It was the only time we were allowed to eat our meals in front of the television set," said the PTA member and alternate delegate from Silver Spring.

WASHINGTON -- Gloomily conceding that the Republican-controlled Congress will redeem its pledge to rein in federal spending, Gov. Parris N. Glendening yesterday urged the Maryland delegation to use its limited clout to cushion the blow to the state's budget.With most of his Cabinet in tow, the governor made a pitch for education funding, environmental programs and Medicaid spending for the poor and elderly."I know that the political winds have shifted in America and the states are going to receive substantially less money," Mr. Glendening said.

WASHINGTON -- With a resounding bipartisan vote, the House yesterday joined the Senate in ordering an end to U.S. participation in the arms embargo against Bosnia.The 298-128 House tally, which follows a Senate vote last week of 69-29 on an identical measure, sends the binding resolution to the White House with margins large enough in both chambers to override President Clinton's threatened veto.But Democratic foes of the embargo said they did not expect to be able to hold all their troops in line against what is likely to be enormous White House pressure.

Helen Delich Bentley fought for defense contracts to keep the Sparrows Point shipyard alive and strong-armed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dig the harbor channels deeper. Around the world, she buttonholed shipping executives, who knew she could turn the federal spigot off and on for maritime subsidies.In hiring Mrs. Bentley as a consultant, the port of Baltimore has hedged its bets against losing her indisputable influence in Washington. But even so, in Congress and federal agencies, a relentless prodder is missing and uncertainty prevails.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland congressional Democrats may be singing the blues after a lobbying group parodied them in song Friday as Congress' biggest spenders, but even the most thrifty Republican from the state could do no better than a "B".The National Taxpayers Union gave all six Maryland Democrats in Congress an "F" letter grade for voting against spending cuts and for tax increases in 1993.In the report, Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski was rated the eighth biggest spender in the Senate, while Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes was 18th.

When Congress returns from its summer break, the hottest item on its agenda will be the pending North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. The White House waited until lawmakers were away from Washington before concluding side accords fulfilling President Clinton's campaign pledge to add environmental and labor standards safeguards to the agreement.Now Mr. Clinton has the task of containing a rebellion in his own Democratic Party, one that has already seen the defection of House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt.

WASHINGTON -- After three months in office, this much is clear about Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett: He is playing better at home than in Washington.During his first 100 days in office, he has managed to offend Asians, feminists and fellow members of Maryland's delegation to Congress. But the 66-year-old Republican, elected to Congress at an age when most Americans are retiring, shows no signs of becoming part of the Washington establishment.He makes it clear that he sees Congress, government and those who rely financially on government as the enemy.

NEW YORK -- During their bus ride here Sunday, members of the Maryland delegation used the intercom system to introduce themselves and to talk briefly about expectations for the Democratic convention.When John Stuban's name was called, someone said, "He's the guy with the earrings."Mr. Stuban stood and said, "To those who may have been wondering and who may have put two and two together, I'm queer."The word he chose for his introduction, he said, "is a harsh one, but it's softer when gay people use it. We do it to take the sting away from it when you're called queer by heterosexual people."

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele called John McCain a leader who "understands the life lessons of those who sacrifice" last night during a Republican convention address that included a plea for voters to "put your country first." Steele introduced a convention hall and television viewers to his mother, Maebell Turner, for the second time in four years. Last night, he called Turner "a sharecropper's daughter who throughout her life suffered many hardships" but who instilled in him "the ideal of putting family, community [and]

A dog named Martha is talking - and talking and talking - on PBS, thanks to some errant alphabet soup and a University of Maryland professor. Martha Speaks, a children's show that debuted across the country Monday, is based on a series of books by Susan Meddaugh. It's all about a family dog who acquires the power of speech after slurping down a bowl of alphabet soup. ("The letters in the soup went up to Martha's brain instead of down to her stomach," the story goes. "That evening, Martha spoke."

Has Maryland ever exercised more power in Congress than it does right now? In the 110th Congress, the state's two Democratic senators and six Democratic representatives enjoy a degree of influence that may exceed any of the 109 previous sessions. Only 13 states have as many House Democrats as Maryland's six - and just eight of those states also boast two majority-party senators, as Maryland does in Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin. Even Wayne T. Gilchrest, one of the delegation's two House Republicans, frequently crosses the aisle to vote with the majority.

Republican U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett broke with his party - and the rest of the Maryland delegation - to vote against the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 this week. All seven of the state's other representatives voted for the bill, which was passed by the House in a 336-75 vote Tuesday. Maryland Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes voted in favor of the measure yesterday in the Senate. The bill, based on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, will create a national intelligence director, set up a counter-terrorism center and a civil liberties oversight board, increase the number of immigration agents, and upgrade aviation security, border control and cargo inspection measures.

YEARS OF TOIL on behalf of Maryland's minority party paid unexpected dividends for state Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell last week. O'Donnell was plucked from the floor of Madison Square Garden on Thursday night before President Bush delivered his convention nominating speech, and was given a seat on the stage. He stayed for three hours and, at the end, told Bush that the president hit a "home run" with his remarks. O'Donnell, the House Republican whip from Southern Maryland, was a convention whip - meaning he coordinated with convention staff about the daily message, sign coordination and other details during the four-day gathering in New York City.

NEW YORK - Maryland Republicans return home today energized for the final two-month push to Election Day but aware that they"re on their own in an uphill effort to deliver the state's electoral votes to President Bush. State GOP delegates spent much of the week here trying to convince themselves and others that Maryland is winnable for the president and that a 12-point lead Democratic nominee John Kerry held in the most recent statewide poll could quickly be erased. "This is the Maryland that voted for Bob Ehrlich.

NEW YORK - Maryland Republicans return home today energized for the final two-month push to Election Day but aware that they're on their own in an uphill effort to deliver the state's electoral votes to President Bush. State GOP delegates spent much of the week here trying to convince themselves and others that Maryland is winnable for the president and that a 12-point lead Democratic nominee John Kerry held in the most recent statewide poll could quickly be erased. "This is the Maryland that voted for Bob Ehrlich.

STATE AND LOCAL political leaders' journey to Michigan on Monday was a welcome show of bipartisan support for creative approaches to saving the more than 1,100 high-paying manufacturing jobs now at Baltimore's General Motors plant on Broening Highway. The future of the 68-year-old Broening plant is now so bleak that it requires the unusual specter of Maryland's leading bitter rivals - Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his potential opponent in the next gubernatorial race, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley - joining together in a lobbying campaign.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Maryland lawmakers will wind up a five-day conference with legislators from across the country today after a week that has been heavier on policy and lighter on perks than in past years. About 60 Maryland lawmakers traveled here for the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures -- many of them drawn by a Montgomery County delegate's ascension into the top ranks of the organization. A midsized state, Maryland sent the third-largest delegation to this year's gathering, according to Del. John Adams Hurson, a Montgomery County Democrat who will be installed as the organization's president-elect today.

Representatives of the Maryland horse industry and the state Department of Agriculture left last week on a 12-day trip to Russia. The primary goal was to secure Russian buyers for Maryland horses. The Marylanders hope that Russians will attend the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling sale Oct. 1-3 at Timonium to buy thoroughbreds for upgrading their racing and breeding operations. That could begin a relationship in which Russians buy Maryland thoroughbreds and standardbreds and even veterinary medicine and feed, and Marylanders perhaps buy Russian show horses.