25th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Heritage Foundation Session Draws McKeon

Buck McKeon, the Republican congressman-elect who will represent the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys and parts of the San Fernando Valley, will attend a congressional orientation program this week sponsored by the conservative Heritage Foundation rather than the traditional program at Harvard University.

McKeon has been participating in orientation and House organizational activities in Washington for the last week along with his 63 Democratic and 46 Republican colleagues.

Today, the newly elected lawmakers will depart for either the Heritage program in Annapolis, Md., or the Harvard seminars in Boston, Mass.

McKeon was one of 35 Republicans who decided to participate in the Heritage orientation, being offered for the first time this year.

Among those who will address the group are Gary L. Bauer, president of the Family Research Council; Heritage Foundation President Paul M. Weyrich; the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Orange County-based Traditional Values Coalition; Jack Kemp, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and GOP pollster Richard Wirthlin.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh will be a featured speaker.

“Somebody told me that Harvard is kind of a brainwashing session and is more liberal-oriented,” said McKeon, who will represent the 25th Congressional District.

“They said Annapolis is shorter--only three days versus a week--and it’s paid for by private money instead of government money and it’s more family-oriented.”

The Heritage Foundation is one of three sponsors of its program; the others are the Free Congress Foundation and the Family Research Council.

The Harvard program at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government has been held since 1974.