Disclosures Make Lawmakers' Finances an Open Book

Who knew that members of Congress were such a literary bunch?

More than a dozen lawmakers reaped book royalties ranging to millions of dollars last year, according to their annual financial disclosure reports, released yesterday. And when they weren't at their writing desks, some were at gambling tables or lottery kiosks, netting a few thousand dollars from casinos or winning tickets.

Meanwhile, scores of House and Senate members and their spouses traveled the world as guests of think tanks and corporations, even though recent lobbying scandals have prompted some to curb their wanderlust.

Book Royalties

Rank-and-file lawmakers received salaries of $162,100 last year, but several boosted that income by writing or contracting to write books. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) collected $847,167 from Random House, the first installment of $1.9 million that he will receive for writing two nonfiction books and one children's book. He said $200,000 of that amount will be donated to charity. Obama, 44, also received $378,239 in royalties for his 1995 memoir, "Dreams From My Father," which remains in print.

Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) also listed either advances for or royalties from books.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, an heiress, are listed as agreeing to write a book on the environment without any mention of advances or royalty payments.

The subjects of these tomes vary widely. One of Kennedy's recently published books is for children and is called "My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C." Kennedy also wrote a book on politics and policy, "America Back on Track."

The working title of Dorgan's book is "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics is Selling Out America."

Bayh's proposed book is on fatherhood, with the proceeds going to charity. McCain's royalties also go to charity, the filings said. Both men, along with Biden and Kerry, are weighing presidential bids in 2008.

McCain also lists an agreement with A&E Television Networks for an option to produce a film based on his best-selling book, "Faith of My Fathers."

The Clintons

The reports confirmed that former president Bill Clinton has regained his lucrative speechmaking groove. Spouses' income must be reported, and Hillary Clinton noted that her husband raked in $7.5 million for delivering more than 40 speeches last year, in addition to those he made at no charge.

Bill Clinton earned more than $9 million a year for making speeches in 2001 and 2002, but his speechmaking income dropped to $4.4 million in 2003 -- when he was writing his memoirs -- and less than $1 million in 2004, when he had heart problems.