One Congressional Record (Or Was It?) That Everybody Read

Laura Bush laughed. "Very funny."

Asked about the last time she had a "disagreement on an issue" with her husband, the first lady, who just visited Las Vegas, quipped: "Jay, what happens in the White House stays in the White House."

On the West Wings of Love

• Former Clinton White House economic adviser Gene Sperling, once dubbed Washington's most eligible bachelor by W magazine, is finally engaged at 45. The bicoastal relationship started three years ago when Sperling met Allison Abner, 38, at a Hollywood lunch for staffers of the NBC series "The West Wing," where she was a writer and he a consultant. He proposed last month beneath the same oak in Big Sur, Calif., where Abner's parents had wed. (How romantic!)

They expect to tie the knot by summer's end. It's the second marriage for Abner, mother of a 9-year-old son and now a writer and producer for the CBS show "Without a Trace." Sperling told us: "I've been in the quasi-spouse-parent role for a while now, so I'm comfortable and overjoyed by it."

Meanwhile, "The West Wing" crew was spotted filming in Washington this week.

SQUIBS

• In the wee hours yesterday morning, William Harrison Frist Jr. -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's son, who goes by the name Harrison -- was pulled over in Princeton, N.J., for improper passing, which led to his being charged with driving while intoxicated, police reported. The Princeton University sophomore, who turned 21 two weeks ago, was "polite and calm," Lt. Dennis McManimon told us. Frist was released shortly after 4 a.m. and has a court appearance next week. A spokesman for the senator offered no comment except, "This is a personal family matter."

• Congress: a thing of beauty? It was for more than 750 staffers and a few lawmakers yesterday in the Cannon Caucus Room, where they availed themselves of free haircuts, facials, manicures, makeup applications and massages from the Professional Beauty Federation, which came not just to lobby but also to prettify our elected leaders. Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) got a manicure. Rep. Henry Brown (R-S.C.) opted for a massage. "This is the greatest part of a free government, when people can come and petition to their member of Congress [and] showcase what they do," Brown told The Post's Juliet Eilperin. "They're small businesses. This is what makes America strong."

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(Christie's)

CHRISTIE'S Founding Father and First President George Washington laid claim to a new title yesterday: the Six Million Dollar Man. This 1780-82 oil portrait by Charles Willson Peale was sold at Christie's in New York for $6,167,500 -- a record for the artist, according to the auction house. The buyer was identified only as an American private collector.

With Anne Schroeder