Post-9/11 Rush Mixed Politics With Security

Rogers said he is working in the interests of the nation and his district. He dismissed any suggestion that campaign money could sway his policymaking.

"It's demeaning," the 13-term congressman said in a recent interview. "Anybody that knows me and knows my record knows that I will go after whoever it is standing in the way of doing the right thing. I'm going to do what I think is best for the country, regardless."

A Magnet for Money

After 25 years in Washington, Rogers, 67, is an old-school politician who looks out for his constituents and remains intently focused on reaching the pinnacle of power on Capitol Hill.

In 2001, Rogers became chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, a post that would give him an important role in directing aviation-security projects after the terrorist attacks. Two years later, he climbed even higher, becoming the first chairman of the Appropriations homeland security subcommittee.

That put Rogers at the center of the largest restructuring of the federal government in a half-century. His subcommittee holds the purse strings for billions of dollars in homeland security spending, giving him tremendous influence over the 22 agencies that make up the Department of Homeland Security. He can deny them appropriations if they refuse to follow his direction. He can hold public hearings and order investigations to examine how the department spends its money.

"He had our attention," former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge said in a recent interview.

Like other powerful members of Congress, Rogers has become a magnet for political contributions.

Three years ago, Rogers made it clear that he wanted to become chairman of the entire House Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful jobs in Congress. Rogers formed Help America's Leaders Political Action Committee, better known as HALPAC. The PAC contributed to the campaigns of Republicans in tight races -- whose support Rogers hoped to draw upon in his quest to become Appropriations chairman. As of October, HALPAC had collected more than $1.8 million and had cash on hand of $545,236.

Contributors include a number of homeland security contractors. Some firms also moved parts of their operations into Rogers's district. They include Datatrac Information Services Inc., Science Applications International Corp., NucSafe and Reveal, the explosives-detection company.

With Rogers cheering them on, Datatrac and its corporate partners in 2003 received a 10-year contract renewal worth up to $200 million for border-crossing cards used by Mexicans, even though government investigators had concluded that the cards were not being used properly and were vulnerable to fraud. Many of the cards are manufactured at a government facility run by Datatrac in Rogers's district.

A Datatrac official declined to discuss the company's ties to Rogers. Campaign finance records show that a Datatrac executive gave $1,000 to HALPAC and $1,000 to Rogers's reelection fund in 2004.

SAIC, whose political action committee contributed $15,000 to HALPAC, opened an office in a Somerset, Ky., industrial park last year and said it would bring 100 new jobs to Rogers's hometown. SAIC spokesman Jared Adams said in a recent interview that the company moved there because it is inexpensive and close to Rogers.