TOBACCO, ALCOHOL CO'S., GIVE TO GOP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The tobacco, alcohol and banking industries want
something from Congress this year, and all were among the most generous
contributors during the first three months of 1998 to the Republicans who
run the House.

Their contributions helped the National Republican Congressional Committee
raise $8.7 million in regular contributions between Jan. 1 and March 31,
plus $4 million in ``soft money'' for party activities, which is not
subject to federal limits.

Senate Republicans and House and Senate Democrats are to report their
latest contributions next week.

In the 15-month period that began Jan. 1, 1997, the NRCC raised $29 million
- -- more than twice the $13 million collected during the same period in
1993-94, the last time members of Congress ran in a nonpresidential
election year. Soft-money contributions to the NRCC rose from $2 million
during the comparable period in 1993-94 to $14 million in 1997-98.

``We target groups who share our philosophy of smaller government and
greater freedom,'' NRCC spokeswoman Mary Crawford said Friday.

Much of the money raised by the committee came from industries affected by
legislation moving through Congress at the time.

On Feb. 24, for example, as tobacco executives testified before the Senate
Commerce Committee, Philip Morris contributed $100,000 to the NRCC.

The Republican committee raised $227,750 in soft money from the tobacco
industry during the first three months of 1998, as legislation embodying a
proposed settlement with the industry began moving through Congress. B

But the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill April 1 that the industry
considers financially ruinous.

``With their backs to the wall, the way the tobacco companies have
responded is by vastly increasing their political contributions,'' said Ann
McBride, president of Common Cause, a private group that advocates changing
the way congressional campaigns are financed.

The Republican committee also received $86,750 from the liquor industry
during the first three months of 1997, led by $50,250 in soft money from
the Distilled Spirits Council.

On March 31, the House GOP leadership prevented an attempt to amend a
six-year, $217 billion transportation spending bill to establish a .08
percent blood alcohol content as the nationwide standard for drunken
driving.

Other big givers in the first quarter included the credit union and banking
industries. On April 1, the House voted to negate a recent Supreme Court
ruling and allow federally chartered credit unions to continue including
more than one group in their memberships. The bill had been the subject of
a massive lobbying effort by the credit unions and banks.

The American Banking Association and the Credit Union Legislative Council
each gave $15,000 to the Republican committee.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., whose endorsement of the legislation
helped pave the way for its approval, received $2,500 from the American
Bankers Association and America's Community Bankers, two groups that
lobbied hard against the credit union bill. He also received $1,000 from
the credit union political action committee.

Gingrich, who raised $2.9 million last year -- more than any other House
candidate -- took in an additional $846,436 between Jan. 1 and March 31. He
had $1 million in the bank March 31.