Rep. Beauprez taken with Rep. Johnson’s love story

The Rocky Mountain News last week asked various members of the community what books bring out the romantic in them. For Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.), the answer was simple: The Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW’s Story, an autobiography by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), a prisoner of war in Vietnam for seven years.

Beauprez told the paper, “I serve in Congress with a man named Sam Johnson. His wife is Shirley. He served in Vietnam and was a prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton. His wife was told by the military, by her pastor, by numerous friends, ‘Shirley, you’ve got to give it up. He’s probably not coming home.’ She didn’t give it up. When he was finally released from that hellhole — out of his seven years there, three and a half were in solitary confinement — he was disfigured, he was crippled, he had to undergo a number of surgeries — but she stood by his side, through no news and through the bad news. Even now, in their 70s, they are like a teenage romantic couple.”

(The Johnsons’ love story is included in the biography.)

Johnson was released from his years of captivity in Vietnam on Feb. 12, 1973 — 33 years ago last Sunday. He and his wife shared their love story with a group of congressional spouses yesterday, Valentine’s Day.

They have similar facial features, occasionally the same hair color and a certain Latino flair that sets them apart from many of the other female lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

But one thing the California Democratic Sanchez sisters do not have in common concerns the accent mark over the a in their surname: Loretta prefers to go without, while Linda has always insisted on it.

“It’s kind of a matter of preference,” explained Rep. Linda Sánchez’s press secretary, Stephanie Valencia (no accent mark, she jokes). “My boss was a Spanish major in college [at UC Berkeley] and has chosen to put the accent on her name because it is the original Spanish root.”

Valencia wouldn’t speculate why the other Sanchez sister doesn’t care for the accent. “Maybe it’s a matter of convenience. I can’t speak for Loretta,” she said.

Carrie Brooks, spokeswoman for Rep. Loretta Sanchez, explains: “She just never has used it, and there is not any real mystery about it. I don’t know that she’s given it a lot of thought. She has not used it throughout her congressional career.”

The accent mark has become an issue for Linda, whose district is 61 percent Hispanic, when she has appeared on C-SPAN because the station has no accent-mark capabilities. “They don’t have the function,” said Valencia. “We’ve asked them several times.”

Loretta Sanchez, whose district is 65 percent Hispanic, has not felt any reason to make an issue of the accent.

For the past few years, the staff at the Capitol Lounge has been organizing a day of curling (yes, the Olympic sport) for charity. The event takes place at the National Curling Center in Laurel, Md., followed by an afterparty at the Lounge that night that will raise money for a pancreatic cancer charity.

This year’s event will be held Saturday night. One bipartisan team is named “Curls Gone Wild.” Another is “Team Immigrant,” after two employees who work at the Lounge and the Pour House.

GOP aides threaten to take over Stetsons

Ever since Signatures closed in the fall amid the dust and downfall of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, GOP aides and lobbyists have been searching in vain for a new hangout that suits them and replaces the two-for-one Tuesday-evening sushi deal. Possibilities include the Daily Grill in Georgetown and Smith Point, the popular Bush-twin hangout that Dems have also been known to frequent.

“It doesn’t seem as if GOPers have latched on to a new hangout yet,” one Republican press secretary said. “Maybe we will have to try to take over traditional Dem stronghold Stetsons. I wonder how long it would take for them to notice that their crowd became clean-shaven and well-dressed. If that doesn’t work, Benihana’s in Georgetown is the likely backup.”

Would the GOP really choose a venue such as tableside Japanese?

If anyone has an idea of a new GOP hangout and why, please e-mail ITK at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . The best submissions will be printed.

Healthcare couple welcomes new addition

Rodney Whitlock, a Republican staffer who works on Medicaid issues for the Senate Finance Committee, and his wife, Sylvia, most recently director of government affairs at the National Rural Health Association, spent Super Bowl Sunday in the delivery room for the birth of their second child, Samantha Bailey.

In their announcement, the Whitlocks stated that Samantha joins her brother, Matthew, as part of ‘TeamWhitlock.’” The baby weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces.

“Mother is doing wonderfully,” Rodney wrote in an e-mail. “Matthew is generally disinterested.”