Boxer to divest of energy-company stocks
She makes the announcement after the release of financial-disclosure
forms.
June 15, 2001
By DAN NOWICKI
The Orange County Register
WASHINGTON Sen. Barbara Boxer promised Thursday to sell off stock she and her
husband own in energy companies that have drawn fire for their roles in the state's electricity
crisis.
The shares owned by Boxer and her husband, Stewart, in power wholesaler Mirant and
natural-gas supplier El Paso Corp. came to light Thursday when the congressional
financial-disclosure forms for 2000 were made public.
The documents also revealed that freshman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, whose district includes
a portion of Orange County, is one of the richest House members.
Boxer, a Democrat, said her family relies on a financial adviser for investment decisions, but
"in light of the current energy crisis in California, I have instructed my adviser to divest our
holdings of all energy stocks."
The Mirant stock was worth between $1,000 and $15,000. The El Paso Corp. stock was
worth $15,000 to $50,000. The report said the couple also owned stock in Diamond Offshore
Drilling and Halliburton Inc., another oil-related company. At some point during the year,
Boxer's financial adviser sold stock in Duke Energy, another generator. The stock was worth
between $1,000 and $15,000.
Boxer spokesman David Sandretti put her total holdings at $1.7 million.
Congress requires all members to annually reveal sources of outside income,
public-appearance honoraria, assets, debts and travel costs. But the figures are only reported in
broad ranges.
The financial-disclosure forms made public Thursday suggest Issa could be worth more than
$200 million. The report said his assets at end of last year were worth between $56 million and
$208 million. He raked in another $11 million to $42 million from dividends, interest and
capital gains on money funds, municipal bonds and stocks.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is worth between $1.8 million and $6.7 million, according to
her disclosure form. Her husband, real estate baron Richard C. Blum, is worth more than $25
million, the report shows.
The reports also showed:
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., lists a half share in a home in Aberdeen given
him by his mother, worth $50,000 to $100,000, as one of his largest assets. He had several
dozen investments, but only one that earned him in the $5,000 to $15,000 range.
The Senate's GOP leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, earned $192,010 from timber sales in
Carroll County, Miss., and had a large portfolio of stocks, mutual funds and money market
accounts, most worth less than $15,000.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., sold a 270-acre farm in Shipman, Ill., for $250,000 to
$500,000. He also held a 75 percent interest in an "opera house" in Plainfield, Ill., which once
housed a theater and his father's restaurant.
His Democratic counterpart, Richard Gephardt of Missouri, had 31 mutual funds and other
investments with his wife, but none worth more than $15,000 to $50,000. |
