Sanford Bishop denies steering scholarships to family, friends

By RAY HENRY

Associated Press

U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop said Wednesday he wasn't involved in awarding scholarships from the nonprofit Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to his stepdaughter and niece, an issue dogging his re-election bid in southwest Georgia.

Bishop told The Associated Press in a sitdown interview that he was unaware that scholarships from the nonprofit charity, which is closely tied to the Congressional Black Caucus, went in 2003 to his stepdaughter, Aayesha Owens Reese, or to his niece, Emmaundia J. Whitaker, in 2003 and 2005.

Republican challenger Mike Keown and a government watchdog group have criticized the Democratic congressman for permitting those scholarships to go his family members. Other scholarships went to people with connections to Bishop's office in Congress or his wife, Vivian Creighton Bishop, clerk of the municipal court in Columbus.

"I was not involved in that at all," said Bishop, who has repeatedly distanced himself from the awards.

He said awards to his family members were "inappropriate."

Bishop said officials at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation or a group of lawmaker spouses who help raise money for the charity must have been the decision makers. Bishop's wife headed the spouses group from 2003 to 2005, roughly when his stepdaughter and niece won scholarships.

The lawmaker said he has discussed the scholarships with his wife, but he would not say what she told him. His wife did not return a phone call seeking comment.

"Let's just say that the selections were made," said Bishop, who said he was never involved in the decisions. "She had a role in the selection process. And, you know, it was unfortunate that the process allowed the family members to be awarded scholarships."

The foundation generally raises a pool of scholarship money each year. Each caucus lawmaker gets a set amount to award to local students.

CBC Foundation attorney Amy Goldson said it was long an understanding within the foundation that family members of people awarding scholarships should not benefit from the process.

Lawmakers typically create a local selection committee to decide which students receive the awards, Goldson said. Bishop said he never had a selection committee and did not know how the decisions were made.

The charity started an internal audit of its scholarship program this summer after U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas acknowledged that she steered scholarships to her relatives and a staffer's children.

Besides the scholarship to Bishop's stepdaughter and niece, additional awards went to people with connections to Bishop's wife, a former intern and campaign volunteer and the niece of a staffer for Bishop's office in Congress.

Goldson said nothing she has examined so far suggests that Bishop was involved in selecting scholarship winners. The review is ongoing.

Bishop said that he has a track record of bringing home money for important industries in southwest Georgia.

He sits on the House Appropriations Committee, which controls huge amounts of federal spending, and serves on subcommittees focusing on military and agriculture affairs, both major employers in the district.

"I realized that in order to really get something done, you've got to be on a committee that can actually fund the programs and can fund the projects," Bishop said.

Besides protecting local military bases from closure, Bishop said he has backed federal funding for infrastructure and other improvements that allow them to grow while others close. A Marine logistics base in Albany now employs roughly 4,000 people, making it the largest employer in the Albany area.

Fort Benning, south of Columbus, will see an additional 19,000 troops headed there. That economic impact grows when factoring in contractors and their families who must also come to the area, Bishop said.

Bishop said his committee assignments also allow him to maintain funding for agriculture research and influence federal laws affecting the farming industry.

Bishop said he supported President Barack Obama's health care overhaul because the lawmaker said the plan will make primary care more available to his constituents.

The plan, he said, will also shield families from being bankrupted by health care costs, reduce out-of-pocket drug expenses for seniors and cut down on indigent care costs. He also praised the reform measure for shedding rules that keep people with pre-existing illnesses from getting health insurance coverage.