Lawmakers Still Take S&L;, Bank Money : Congress: They are accepting contributions and free trips, disclosure forms show, despite the furor surrounding the ‘Keating Five’ scandal.

Key lawmakers dealing with the savings and loan and banking crises, which are expected to cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, are still accepting money and free trips from those industries, congressional financial disclosure forms released Friday show.

Despite the controversy surrounding the “Keating Five” scandal, in which five senators were investigated for accepting campaign contributions from Lincoln Savings & Loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr. and then intervening on his behalf with federal regulators, congressional leaders dealing with the banking and thrift industries continue to accept such contributions.

Many senior members of the House Banking Committee collected thousands of dollars in speaking fees and free trips from dozens of thrifts, banking groups and other industry lobbyists, according to the reports, which cover honorariums and other personal fees received in 1990. The committee must vote this year on banking reform and on refinancing the federal agency that is dealing with the S&L; cleanup.

Rep. Bruce F. Vento (D-Minn.), a key banking committee member and the chairman of a special task force to oversee the Resolution Trust Corp., which is in charge of selling off properties seized by the government from failed S&Ls;, accepted trips and speaking fees from savings and loan and banking groups, the records show.

Vento, a vocal critic of the RTC and the Bush Administration’s handling of the thrift crisis, accepted $2,000 in speaking fees and free travel expenses from the Texas Savings & Loan League, and another $2,000 from the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. He accepted thousands of dollars more in fees and honorariums from other financial industry lobbying organizations.

Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D-Pa.), another key member of the committee and its financial institutions subcommittee, which just voted on bank reform legislation, accepted speaking fees and free trips from thrifts in California. Kanjorski accepted a $2,000 speaking fee from Countrywide Thrift & Loan in Pasadena, along with free air fare from Washington to Los Angeles and three days’ worth of food and lodging for him and his wife.

Kanjorski also accepted a $1,000 fee to give a speech in San Diego to financially ailing Home Federal Savings & Loan. Home Federal split the cost of his travel expenses and four days of lodging, along with air fare from San Diego to Orlando, Fla., with another lobbying organization.

Rep. John J. LaFalce (D-N. Y.), another senior banking committee member, accepted $93,350 in honorariums from a wide range of trade groups, including many financial services lobbying organizations. In one instance, he accepted $2,000 from the U.S. League of Savings Institutions, an S&L; trade association. He also accepted $2,000 in fees from MNC Financial Corp., the parent company of a troubled bank in Maryland.

Rep. Gerald D. Kleczka (D-Wis.), who has criticized both Congress and the Bush Administration as not successfully handling the S&L; and banking crises, accepted $2,000 in fees from First Republic Thrift & Loan and free air fare from Washington to San Francisco and three days of lodging from the California Thrift & Loan Assn.

Many committee members in the House said they gave at least a part of their fees to charity. And they defended their willingness to accept contributions from S&Ls;, despite the scandal that has rocked the industry.

“We still have an S&L; industry, and there are S&Ls; in the congressman’s district,” said a spokesman for Rep. Chalmers P. Wylie (R-Ohio), the ranking Republican on the House Banking Committee, who accepted thousands of dollars in fees from lobbying groups representing both the banking and S&L; industries. “So I think it is appropriate that they contribute, as long as they don’t try to specify what their contributions are for.”

Senior members of the Senate Banking Committee, which became enmeshed in much of the negative publicity stemming from the “Keating Five” scandal, accepted far less in fees from industry groups than the House Banking Committee members did.

Most notably, the two Senate Banking Committee members directly involved in the “Keating Five” scandal filed disclosure reports stating that they received little or no fees from banking or S&L; groups in 1990.

Sen. Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the banking committee and a member of the “Keating Five,” told the banking and financial industry associations that paid him speaking fees to send the funds directly to charities in Michigan. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), another of the “Keating Five” and a banking committee member, did not receive any honorariums.

LUCRATIVE APPEARANCES: Members of Congress collected $8 million in honorariums from special interest groups. A16