Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) couldn’t have been happier to welcome his old friend and prayer-group buddy, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), back to Congress earlier this year. So much so, that when Coburn decided to shack up with Wamp in a house on Capitol Hill, the Tennessee House member gave Coburn the best bedroom in the house — the one with its own bathroom.

The story, apparently, is that Coburn’s wife, Carolyn, wouldn’t stay in the house unless there was bathroom in their bedroom. Wamp was cool about it. He says he was glad to give the Coburns what they wished, describing Coburn as “somewhere between a father and brother figure.”
 

Rep. Jindal among sexiest South Asian men

ITK doesn’t know how we missed this, but earlier this year, freshman Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) was named among the top five sexiest South Asian men in Bibi Magazine, a bridal magazine for Indian-Americans.

Jindal, 34, admitted the accuracy of the accolade. “When I called my wife to tell her, she was laughing,” he said, “so I don’t know how to take that. I was flattered, but my wife’s reaction was to laugh.”

In the magazine, Jindal was asked for his definition of sexy. His reply: “Being married to your best friend.”

Serrano’s bloodshot left eye

ITK would like to wish Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) a speedy recovery on his eye condition.

Though Serrano was unable to spell it, he was able to say it: pterygium. It’s a growth in the eye — in his case, the left one, which is looking pretty red. Serrano had the growth surgically removed about two weeks ago, but it’s still causing him grief: “Ugh, it still hurts,” he said with evident sincerity.

The longest e-mail address in Congress

ITK is wondering if there is a longer congressional e-mail address than that of freshman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). Hers is This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Lobbyist returns from Thailand happy and refreshed

Healthcare lobbyist Jeff Kimbell recently returned home from judging the Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok.

How did the pageant go?

“Easily one of the most amusing 12-day stretches of my entire life,” he said, “If you combined senior week in high/prep school, all of your spring breaks in college, convention weeks for each political party in ’96, ’00 and ’04, and threw in a couple of bachelor parties in Cabo, Vegas and Rio — combined, you’d start to scratch the surface.”

One highlight involved posing this question to Miss South Africa during the question-and-answer round: “If you were in a grocery store and about to get into a food fight ... what would you grab? Answer: ‘A cake.’”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Town mourns death of chief of staff

A funeral service for Brenda Elaine Pillors, the chief of staff for Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), was held Friday at Christ United Methodist Church in Washington.

Pillors died early Sunday morning, June 12, at the age of 52 from complications resulting from an asthma attack. A native of Los Angeles, Pillors worked on Capitol Hill for 25 years and had worked for the congressman since his election in 1982. She previously served as legislative director for the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.).

“There are no words to express Brenda’s loss,” said Towns. “She was truly an incredible person whose generosity and care for others knew no bounds.”

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