Some in GOP Leadership of Modest Means, Reports Show : Congress: Documents disclose a number of leaders rank near bottom of Capitol Hill’s financial ladder. Armey’s assets consist of college pension.

Some of Capitol Hill’s most powerful GOP leaders turn out to be men and women of relatively modest means, new financial reports show.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas reported no significant assets except the pension he receives from his years as a college economics professor. Reps. Susan Molinari and Bill Paxon of New York, two junior members of the GOP leadership who are married, list their chief assets as a car, a house and a few savings accounts. Even House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, by no means strapped for cash, does not possess the kind of high-rolling portfolio of investments that some of his colleagues enjoy.

To be sure, Republican control of Congress has also catapulted into power some well-heeled lawmakers. And some new committee chairmen in the House and Senate have sizable investments in businesses likely to be affected by legislation they handle. Still, several Republicans at the top of the Washington power hierarchy appear to rank near the bottom of Capitol Hill’s financial ladder.

This glimpse into lawmakers’ wallets is provided by the annual reports all members of Congress are required to file, which disclose information about their outside income, investments and trips they have taken at lobbyists’ expense. The information is sometimes sketchy, because lawmakers report the value of their assets within broad ranges, not in exact amounts, and do not have to report the value of their homes, nor of the generous pensions all members of Congress receive.

The 1994 reports provide the first look at the finances of the big class of freshmen elected last fall, including some who added to the ranks of millionaires in Congress. Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio reported a personal holding company valued at more than $1 million. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, whose personal wealth helped finance his campaign last year, reported more than $1 million in stock in a huge health care conglomerate founded by his father.

While most of the five freshmen elected from California were of average means, the state’s 54-member delegation retained its share of millionaires. Wealthiest among them is Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who holds considerable personal wealth in addition to that of her husband, Richard C. Blum, a San Francisco merchant banker.

Many members of Congress supplemented their $133,600 annual salary with outside income--some from unusual sources. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) the former professional basketball player, received $23,708 in pension money from the New York Knicks.

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) received $2,000 from Castle Rock Pictures for playing himself in a bit part of “City Hall,” a yet-to-be-released movie starring Al Pacino.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was paid $1,000 for appearing on television’s “Murphy Brown,” a fee she then donated to charity.

Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.) received $5,000 from International Creative Management for a screenplay version of his 1993 novel, “Murder in the Senate.”

But the most famous aspiring author in Congress is Gingrich, whose disclosure report shows he received between $15,000 and $50,000 in an advance for “1945,” a forthcoming novel that has gotten advance notoriety for some racy scenes.

Gingrich and his wife, Marianne, list total assets falling within a range of $69,000 to $336,000. Much of their net worth is tied up in checking accounts, IRAs and Treasury notes.

Some of the Republicans Gingrich chose to be House committee chairmen also have modest fortunes by Washington standards. Administration Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) reports assets of $16,000 to $65,000, offset by a debt of $10,000 to $15,000.

However, other key committee chairmen would be at home in the silk-stocking crowd. Assets of Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach (R-Iowa) include about 60 stocks, bonds and other investment instruments with a combined value of at least $3.2 million. Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, GOP caucus chairman, reported more than $1 million in stock holdings in a packaging company he headed for years.

Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, in 1994 had a huge portfolio of stocks and bonds--including investments in telephone, drug and other companies with business before his committee. He recently placed his securities in a blind trust, in response to reports that he has cast votes and taken other actions affecting some of his holdings.

Bliley is not the only new committee chairman whose finances call attention to one of the murkier areas of congressional ethics: lawmakers who have invested in or accepted free travel from companies directly affected by their actions.

As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) helps determine the fate of legislation affecting mining, logging and drilling. According to his disclosure report, Murkowski owns stock in Champion International, a paper and wood products company; James River Co., a paper manufacturer; Louisiana Pacific, a lumber and wood products maker; Chevron Corp., a major oil and gas company; Amax Gold, which mines aluminum, gold, coal, oil and natural gas; Echo Bay Mines, a gold-mining firm, and Rio Tinto Zinc, another mining concern.

Murkowski said in an interview that he viewed his holdings as too small to present a serious potential for a conflict of interest. But he added: “If it becomes an issue, I’ll sell it.”

Murkowski was also one of many chairmen who traveled last year at the expense of groups with an interest in legislation before their committees. Murkowski and his wife were guests at events sponsored by the Gold Institute and the Interstate Natural Gas Assn.

Democrats were as likely as Republicans to travel at the expense of special interest groups. House Minority Whip David E. Bonior (D-Mich.) reported six trips in 1994, all of them financed by labor unions.

With Congress coming under fire from voters angry about the perquisites of power, many members of Congress have seemed more reluctant to take junkets in recent years. Last year, 26 senators reported taking no expense paid trips. Others were not so shy. Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.) took 15 trips, eight of them to warm-weather destinations, such as Florida and Arizona.

Times staff writers Faye Fiore and Warren Vieth also contributed to this story.