Congressional trip to Burma -- tax-

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Subject: Congressional trip to Burma -- tax-exempt fact-finding or     lobbying?

Congressional trip to Burma -- tax-exempt fact-finding or
      lobbying?
      March 13, 1997
      2.18 p.m. EST (1918 GMT)

      WASHINGTON (AP) -- When four senior House Republicans landed in Burma
three
      months ago as guests of the country's military dictators, their
official mission was
      to inspect drug interdiction efforts. But that was not the only agenda. 

      During part of the trip, Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and an aide flew
by helicopter
      over the remote area where a U.S. oil company, Unocal, and its French
partner,
      Total, are building a natural gas pipeline. 

      That $1.2 billion project, Burma's largest foreign investment deal,
could be in
      jeopardy because of possible U.S. sanctions against the southeast
Asian country. 

      The trip by Hastert, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, New York Rep.
      Bill Paxon and Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce was paid for by the Asia
Pacific Exchange
      Foundation, a tax-exempt organization in Washington. 

      The group's president, Richard G. Quick, declines to say where its
money comes
      from. But Unocal acknowledged it is among the foundation's sponsors. 

      By donating to Quick's foundation, Unocal could claim a tax deduction for
      underwriting a congressional fact-finding trip to its pipeline, in
effect using a
      taxpayer subsidy to lobby against U.S. government policy. 

      Congressional aides who went on other trips the foundation sponsored
last year said
      they included meetings with Chinese automakers and a tour of an
aircraft plant that
      is a joint venture between China and Boeing. Ford Motor Co. and Boeing
both are
      sponsors of the foundation. 

      In an interview Quick denied his group, which has the tax status of a
charity, is a
      lobbying arm for its corporate donors. 

      Itineraries for trips are set to meet the interests of the lawmakers
and their aides, he
      said. "If that coincides with the interests of one of the
contributors, so be it,'' he
      said. 

      Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in
tax-exempt
      groups, said it appeared that the foundation was used to "put some
distance'' between
      lawmakers and the corporate sponsors of a lobbying trip. 

      "What this reveals is that there are a lot of ways to lobby,'' she said. 

      The Clinton administration is considering whether to cut off
investments in Burma,
      where generals canceled the democratically elected government in 1990
and put its
      leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest.
A law
      Congress passed last year permits sanctions if repression worsens. 

      Unocal spokesman Barry Lane declined to say how much the company has
paid to
      Quick's foundation. The donations make business sense because "part of
their
      charter is to improve relations, and we're very heavily involved in
Asia,'' Lane said. 

      Unocal has put much of its energy into expanding business ties in
Burma, and would
      be the most affected by any ban on U.S. investment. The pipeline would
move
      natural gas from offshore wells across a mountain range to Thailand. 

      In addition, the company announced three weeks ago it had signed a
deal with
      Burma's rulers to greatly expand its offshore gas development, paying
them several
      million dollars as a signing bonus. 

      The State Department and human rights groups say Burma's military
rulers are guilty
      of widespread repression and human rights violations, including use of
forced labor
      to build the pipeline. The oil companies deny the charge. 

      At the sites he was shown, Hastert said, he saw no evidence of human
rights abuses.
      Instead, there were well-paid villagers operating heavy equipment. 

      "It was a good insight for me,'' he said. 

      Founded in 1987, Quick's foundation has become known on Capitol Hill
for its Asia
      trips. It raised $576,000, the bulk from corporate sponsors, in 1995,
the most
      recent year for which figures are available. 

      Last year, the group sent at least 30 lawmakers and aides on trips to
China, Japan,
      Hong Kong and other Asian destinations, at a cost of $162,000, making
it one of
      the most active sponsors of private congressional travel. 

      Quick is a former congressional aide, a businessman, and a brigadier
general in the
      Army Reserve who carefully guards his privacy. His phone number is
unlisted, and
      his group's name is missing from the building directory where he rents
office space.

      The Burma trip was front-page news in the state-controlled newspaper.
A photo
      showed the delegation meeting with top generals. The government
sponsored a
      dinner for the group, which included the spouses of DeLay and Pryce
and two aides,
      and they stayed at a government-owned hotel. 

      The State Department was given no advance notice of the trip, which
came at a tense
      time of student unrest. The department had issued a travel warning on
Dec. 9
      because of the potential for street violence. 

      The group made no effort to meet with opposition leaders, Quick said,
because the
      lawmakers expressed no interest. Another lawmaker, Rep. John Porter,
R-Ill., was
      denied a visa when he sought a visit at about the same time to explore
human rights
      issues. 

      Once there, the group did invite a U.S. Embassy official to go along
on its pipeline
      and drug interdiction forays, Quick said.