Senate budget chief accused of abusing power

Government watchdog groups are blasting a prominent Alaska lawmaker who allegedly pressured the Pentagon to award a military housing contract to a real estate company in which he had a significant financial stake.

The Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exposing federal mismanagement, on Friday called for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, to resign from office in light of a Los Angeles Times report revealing that he had used his influence as head of the Senate Appropriations Committee to accumulate a personal fortune.

Stevens has served as chairman or ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee for two decades, and has been the chairman or ranking member of the full Senate Appropriations Committee since 1997.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a conservative watchdog group, on Thursday asked Stevens to step down as head of the Appropriations Committee. The group also asked the Senate Ethics Committee to "investigate the full extent of his alleged conflicts of interest."

The Los Angeles Times story, published on Dec. 17, indicated that Stevens exerted his influence on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to ensure that the Air Force awarded a $450 million military housing contract to an Anchorage real estate developer. Stevens had invested at least $50,000 with the developer-a sum that has grown to $750,000, according to the newspaper.

In Sept. 2000, Air Force officials rejected the developer's bid to renovate and expand housing at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, the article said. But over the next three months, Stevens pressured the Air Force to change its mind.

By December of that year, the Air Force did just that. Stevens may have convinced a fellow lawmaker to threaten to withhold funding from a Pentagon privatization program unless the Air Force awarded the contract to the Anchorage developer, the Los Angeles Times article said.

In response to the report, Stevens said he had acted out of a responsibility to protect his constituents' interests. He further asserted that he does not exercise tight control over his investments and was unaware that he had money tied up in Anchorage real estate deals.

But the investigation into Stevens' finances reveals the "most blatant example in recent history of a government official profiting from his power in public office," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. "To some, public service has become the equivalent of winning the lottery."

Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz said the investigation reveals the need for better ethics rules governing lawmakers' business dealings. "Apparently the longest-serving Republican in the Senate thinks he can get away with anything in the pursuit of a plush retirement," Schatz said.