WASHINGTON At least two Arkansas congressmen, and most likely a third, will spend their Memorial Day breaks in Europe, though details are limited about the 10-day trip.
Reps. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and John Boozman, R-Rogers, left Friday. They were scheduled to be in Germany for four days to participate in a bi-annual conference of lawmakers from NATO countries. Both are members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, is not a parliamentary assembly member, but may also be on the taxpayer-funded trip.
His spokeswoman, Angela Guyadeen, declined to say anything about Berry's travel except that "he is going on a NATO trip."
"I'm not authorized to tell you anything more about the trip," Guyadeen said. "We'll fill you in once he returns."
Congressional offices often cite security concerns as a basis for declining to release information about upcoming trips to the Middle East or to military installations overseas.
According to the NATO association's Web site, the meeting in Berlin began Friday and concludes Tuesday.
Press secretaries for Ross and Boozman said they will also visit Turkey as part of their NATO trip and will return June 2.
"We can tell you more about the trip when he gets back," said Boozman spokeswoman Sara Lasure.
Both Boozman's wife, Cathy, and Ross' wife, Holly, accompanied their husbands.
It is unknown now whether Berry's wife, Carolyn, is with Berry.
The NATO trip is paid for by the U.S. State Department. Last year, the NATO meetings were in Portugal and Iceland.
The state's two senators have events scheduled in the state during Congress' weeklong recess.
Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, is visiting Oregon to attend his niece's high school graduation, according to his spokeswoman.
Political Hot Shot
Ross claimed a spot among Congress' best marksmen last month with a first-place win at the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation's annual "shoot-out."
In a break from the verbal shots they fire at each other daily, about 50 House members participated in a shooting contest at a range outside Washington.
Ross won in the sporting clays category.
Republicans took the overall prize at the event, which included contests in skeet, trap and sporting clays.
An avid hunter, Ross is lead sponsor of legislation to eliminate a District of Columbia gun ban.
Huckabee for VP
If readers of a Washington-based political Web site have any pull with John McCain, then Mike Huckabee should prepare to re-emerge on the campaign trail.
Huckabee won in a runaway the "VP Madness" contest on cqpolitics.com, a site affiliated with Congressional Quarterly magazine.
Voters advanced Huckabee through five rounds of a "March Madness"-style tournament bracket, naming the former Arkansas governor as who they would most like to see as McCain's running mate.
He soundly defeated Alaska Gov. Sarah Pallin 72 percent to 27 percent in last week's championship round. Along the way, he was chosen in head-to-head matchups over Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Huckabee's real-life loss to McCain in the South Carolina primary effectively ended Huckabee's bid for the Republican presidential nomination in January.
Huckabee has said he would be interested in joining McCain on the GOP ticket.
House clears vets bills
Two bills designed to help the nation's veterans and sponsored by Boozman passed the House without opposition last week.
Boozman's "Veterans Benefit Awareness Act" orders the Department of Veterans Affairs to advertise nationally the benefits available to veterans and their dependents.
Another measure requires the VA to conduct a 20-year study of vocational rehabilitation and education programs provided to seriously injured veterans. The results would help Congress and the VA make better management decisions, Boozman said.
Boozman is the top Republican on a House veterans affairs subcommittee.
