Harkin one of 50 richest members of Congress

The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call is out with its annual, eagerly anticipated “50 Richest Members of Congress” list and, once again, Sen. Tom Harkin is the only Iowan to make the cut.

Harkin was the 33rd-richest member of Congress this year. In 2013 he was No. 30, according to Roll Call’s analysis of the financial-disclosure reports that lawmakers must file annually.

Harkin, who is retiring at the end of the year, reported minimum assets of $11.85 million in his 2014 filing with the secretary of the Senate, down from $11.88 million in 2013.

“Most of the assets belong to Harkin’s wife, Ruth,” Roll Call reported. “The two most-valuable assets are an investment in ConocoPhillips and another in United Technology Corp., both owned by Ruth Harkin, each totaling at least $1 million.”

For comparative purposes, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., topped the list with reported net worth of at least $357.25 million. Yes, that’s in millions.

Issa first made his fortune in car alarms — he’s the voice warning “stand away from the car” — and has supplemented it through investments.

At the bottom of the top-50 list, but still doing quite nicely, thank you, was Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., who reported  net worth of at least $7.47 million.

As the former editor-in-chief of Roll Call, your Potomac Watch correspondent knows what an enormous newsroom task it is to put together the top-50 list.

Members of Congress are required to report all kinds of information about themselves — but they are not required to make it easy to find or to assess.

“Like many things Congress does, the financial-disclosure process is antiquated and cumbersome. Forms are submitted to the House clerk or Senate Ethics Committee,” Roll Call editor Christina Bellantoni wrote in a blog about compiling the list. “These days, mercifully, they are posted online. You used to have to go sorting through them at the Legislative Resource Center. If a citizen shows up today at the office to ask for printouts or a digital file, that isn’t free. And they are about as opaque as you can get.”

For one thing, members of Congress report their assets in broad ranges.

“To be as accurate as possible, we use the minimum value of each and subtract any liabilities to come up with a minimum net worth for the ranking system,” Bellantoni explained. “Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., could be worth $800 billion. But you’d never know it.”

Even if it is flawed, though, combing through the financial-disclosure records and offering even a snapshot of how our elected representatives make and accumulate their money is a valuable exercise.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appears to be the wealthiest among Congress’ top leaders, clocking in at No. 14 with assets of $29 million.

We may have suspected, but thanks to Roll Call we know, that California, New York, Florida and Texas send the most members to Congress who qualify for the top-50 list.

Members from California and Florida also dominate Roll Call’s “10 poorest” list, although outstanding loans and mortgages are generally responsible for their showings. They may be brown-bagging it on occasion, but “poor” is a very relative term when it comes to members of Congress.

Telecommunications, high finance, real estate and being born a Rockefeller are among the ways the wealthiest lawmakers built their millions.

Members from coastal states dominate the top-50 list.

Farm land and real estate propelled a few House members from rural districts onto the list, but that seems an exception.

You can learn more about lawmakers’ fortunes at: http://media.cq.com/50Richest/.