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Cheney makes Capitol Hill rounds

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President-elect Dick Cheney picked up a valuable piece of political real estate on Capitol Hill Friday while spending most of day meeting with key Republican power brokers. In a move that suggests Cheney will play an active role in selling his administration's agenda in Congress, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, offered the vice president-elect some of the most prized real estate in Washington: an office in the Capitol building just off the House floor. As vice president, Cheney will also have office space on the Senate side.

"Dick Cheney is a man of the House," said Hastert spokesman John Feehery. "We expect him to play an active role shepherding legislation, hearing from members, twisting arms." In the 1980s, Cheney was a representative from Wyoming and a member of the top Republican leadership in the House.

Cheney had one-on-one meetings with GOP leaders Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, the highest ranking Republican woman in the House and Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Oklahoma, the only African-American Republican in the House. Covering all his ideological bases, Cheney also met with Rep. John Shadegg, R-Arizona, leader of the Conservative Action Team, and with several members of the Tuesday Group, which is comprised of Republican moderates.

"Bush and Cheney are very pragmatic, they understand that to get things done they will need the support of the moderates," said Elizabeth Brealey, spokeswoman for Rep. Mike Castle, R-Delaware. Brealey described Castle's meeting as "a listening session" for Cheney, who said he would like to attend a meeting of the Tuesday Group in the near future.

Castle has previously expressed concerns about the size of President-elect George W. Bush's $1.3 billion tax cut proposal, but according to Brealey, the subject did not come up in this meeting.

On the Senate side, Cheney met with Republican Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, and Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee.

After his meetings with Republicans, Cheney met with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate.

"He was paying respects, listening and talking about upcoming legislation," said Juleanna Glover Weiss, Cheney's press secretary.


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Friday, January 5, 2001


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