STAMFORD, Conn. – A leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 was in Connecticut Saturday trying to help his party hold on to a key congressional seat.
Arizona Sen. John McCain praised U.S. Rep. Chris Shays work for campaign finance reform, social security reform, and against pork-barrel spending in Congress.
“We will reform this broken system that has wasted your tax dollars,” said McCain.
Shays is locked in a tight battle in the state’s 4th District with Democrat Diane Farrell.
McCain said he and Shays have worked together on many issues. But they disagree on the war in Iraq.
McCain on Friday said the United States should send another 20,000 troops to that country to prevent it from spiraling into chaos. Shays said he wants to hear from the Pentagon before deciding whether more troops are needed.
“Nothing better defines the status quo than Chris Shays’ answer to that question,” Farrell said. “It’s amazing that Chris Shays hasn’t been able to get a response from the Pentagon in over three years.”
Shays, who has made 14 trips to Iraq and has been a leading supporter of the war, also spent time Saturday answering reporters questions about a 2003 visit he made to Qatar.
The New Republic reported Thursday that Shays’ trip to attend the Qatar-American Conference on Free Markets and Democracy was paid for by The Islamic Free Market Institute, a nonprofit group founded by Republican activist Grover Norquist.
A travel disclosure documenting the visit was received Friday afternoon at a House clerk’s office, hours after Shays assured reporters that the paperwork had been filed on time.
Shays called the controversy an October surprise, designed to hurt his re-election chances.
“We filed with the clerk’s office, but regretfully, we didn’t put it in our financial disclosure,” Shays said Saturday.
That paperwork wasn’t logged with the Clerk of the House Legislative Resource Center until 3:09 p.m. Friday, several hours after Shays was first questioned by reporters on Friday the Hartford Courant reported.
R. Nicholas Palarino, staff director at the House national security subcommittee that Shays heads, said he remembers giving the form to a page to deliver to the clerk’s office, but it wasn’t received.
Shays said nothing about the trip should have come as a surprise to the media.
“Everyone knew I went on this trip,” he said. “Everyone knew I gave a speech.
Shays listed transportation expenses of $8,141, lodging of $600 and $150 for meals on the form.
“It’s unfortunate that the form was misplaced, but it’s the congressman’s responsibility to make sure it’s filed,” said Jim Morris, project manager at the Center for Public Integrity.
The institute’s expenses for the trip were quickly reimbursed by the trip’s real sponsor, the government of Qatar, the magazine reported. The constitution prohibits members of Congress from taking money from foreign governments, according to the article.
A poll released this week by the University of Connecticut and the Courant showed the race dead even, with Farrell and Shays each getting support from 43 percent of voters. The race is a rematch of the 2004 contest, which Shays won with 52 percent of the vote to Farrell’s 48 percent. The district is one of three in Connecticut that Democrats are targeting as they try to win the 15 seats they need to take back the House.
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