Mr. Blunt has had long and substantial ties to shipping giant UPS.  

 Blunt's Favor For UPS

CQ reported in April 2003, that Blunt was pushing a provision that would have prevented DHL, an international shipping company and a competitor to UPS, from competing for certain contracts.

 A provision that has quickly come to symbolize the use of must-pass spending bills as vehicles for special-interest legislating is running into a wave of op-position.

The language, which could effectively bar cargo carrier DHL Worldwide Express from winning Pentagon airlift contracts in postwar Iraq, was inserted without debate into the Senate version of the wartime supplemental appropriations bill (S 762) on April 3.

But on Tuesday, as negotiations on the bill's final form intensified, House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., signaled his resis-tance to the language -- which was pushed by the Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens R-Alaska, and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

"That's an issue," Young said. DHL's headquarters for North and South America is in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Young said Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida told him he opposed the provision.

The White House also opposes it, arguing in a statement that it would have an "immediate and adverse effect on our nation's airlift capabilities." House Ma-jority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, also opposes the rider, according to industry officials.

DHL is a subsidiary of German-owned Deutsche Post AG, and domestic rivals FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. have argued for years that DHL does not meet foreign ownership requirements for U.S. air carriers.

In conference, Stevens strengthened language in the Senate bill that would effectively bar DHL from Pentagon airlift contracts and could complicate DHL's pending acquisition of Seattle-based Airborne Express.

Blunt's son Andrew is a UPS consultant, and FedEx and UPS have major pres-ences in Missouri. Alaska is home to Lynden Air Cargo LLC, which recently lost out to DHL on a Pentagon contract.

If the provision is retained, it also could complicate DHL's pending acquisition of Seattle-based Airborne Express Inc.

As you can see, Mr. Blunt intervened quite specifically on behalf of UPS.

Favors By UPS For Blunt

 UPS-A Generous Contributor To Blunt

According to a May 17, 2005 Washington Post story, UPS is one of Blunt's most generous contributors.

 

Over the years, seven companies with business before Congress stand out as the most reliable Blunt supporters: Altria, SBC Communications, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, Verizon, United Parcel Service and BellSouth have together given more than $1.2 million to political committees tied to Blunt. Altria is the largest contributor, giving more than $270,000. Blunt, a vocal social conservative, divorced Roseann Blunt, his first wife, to marry Altria lobbyist Abigail Perlman in October 2003.

UPS has contributed more than $153,000 to Blunt controlled political entities during his tenure in Congress.

In addition, a September 22, 2000 Washington Post story reported on a "thank you" event that Rep. Tom DeLay sponsored in appreciation for those special interests who had helped fund the events co-sponsored by DeLay and Blunt at the 2000 Republican National Convention.  UPS was once again very generous.

Jim Ellis, executive director of DeLay's PAC, Americans for a Republican Ma-jority, said DeLay organized the trip to raise money and accommodate some donors to the GOP convention who had not been able to participate in the golf tournament there. Some participants paid $ 5,000 and the weekend netted $ 50,000, Ellis said, adding that it cost roughly $ 20,000 to sponsor.

UPS spokesman Ted Segal said the company donated the plane as an "in-kind" contribution to DeLay's PAC and was still tabulating the costs based on compara-ble commercial flights. He added that the contribution would likely range be-tween $ 30,000 to $ 50,000.

At that time, Jim Ellis was also the director of Roy Blunt's Rely On Your Beliefs PAC.  An exhaustive review of the campaign finance reports filed by both DeLay and Blunt fail to reveal any disclosure for the costs of the plane trip referenced above.

Roy Blunt's Son, Andy, Was Hired By UPS

As noted in the CQ story above, Rep. Blunt's youngest son, Andy, is a registered lobbyist for UPS in Missouri.

This April 9, 2003 editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch raises serious questions about the ties between Rep. Blunt, UPS and Andy.

ANDREW BLUNT would seem an unlikely choice to be a legislative lobbyist for a $30 billion Atlanta-based worldwide express corporation. After all, he is only 27 years old, fresh out of the University of Missouri School of Law, and a newly-minted partner in a new law firm in distant Jefferson City, Mo.

But according to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Blunt had a special attraction for United Parcel Service, Inc., when UPS decided to hire him as a lobbyist. Mr. Blunt's father is the third-ranking Republican in the United States House of Representatives, where -- by the sheerest of coincidences -- UPS had a key piece of legislation pending.

What can Brown do for you? It can give your kid a job. And what can you do for Brown? If you're Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Stafford, you can quietly urge Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, to secretly amend the $79 billion emergency appropriation for the war in Iraq in a way that benefits U.S. shippers like UPS and FedEx Corp.

If you're Roy Blunt, the amendment has the added political benefit of punishing a German-owned rival of UPS. The amendment requires that military cargo be carried only by companies with no more than 25 percent foreign ownership. These rules on foreign ownership of U.S. air carriers date to the 1920s, but have been honored more in the breach than the observance.

Mr. Blunt and Mr. Stevens want to enforce them on war-related cargo, in part to punish the German government for refusing to join the U.S.-led war coalition and in part to benefit UPS and FedEx. The Stevens amendment effectively squeezes the German-owned firm DHL Worldwide Express out of billions in war cargo and re-construction business.

Not only that, it threatens DHL's plans to acquire Airborne Express of Seat-tle, which could create a formidable challenger to the UPS and FedEx strangle-hold on all U.S. air-express business. If the Transportation Department were to enforce rules limiting U.S. air carriers to no more than 25 percent foreign ownership, that merger would be dead.

This is protectionist legislation that makes no sense in a global economy (even if it does scratch a patriotic itch). It panders to Congress' worst xeno-phobic instincts, punishes U.S. trading partners and stifles competition. House and Senate conferees should remove Mr. Stevens' amendment.

This affair also carries the unpleasant aroma of peddled influence. Andy Blunt is a bright young man who ran big brother Matt's successful race for Mis-souri Secretary of State in 2000. He might well run Matt Blunt's race for governor next year. He can look forward to a long and successful career in business and politics. He shouldn't need -- or accept -- freebies from Dad's friends.

In fact, Andy did run his brother Matt's campaign for Governor in 2004, and Andy's lobbying practice has only grown from that point forward.