As soon as he returns from the Middle East this week, Florida Rep. Gus
Bilirakis will shave his head, but not because of the heat. Rather, the Republican
congressman promised to lose his hair if the American Cancer Society met a
Florida fundraising goal.
"We are thrilled because when Gus shaves his head and goes to his office in
D.C., he will ... bring more awareness [of cancer] to the U.S. Congress," says
Mike Wick, chairman of the cancer society's Southeast Hillsborough unit.
Getting socked
Socks, which keep America on its feet, were the reason that Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez picked up the phone the other day and called a concerned
Alabama Rep. Robert B. Aderholt, assuring the Republican lawmaker that the
U.S. sock industry will be protected against foreign competition.
"The numbers don't lie," Mr. Aderholt said after taking the call.
U.S. census data finds American sock production dropped by 20 percent in 2006
and 14 percent in the first quarter of 2007. Commerce Department import
data, meanwhile, shows the number of imported socks from Honduras increased
almost 50 percent in the 12 months ending in April 2007.
Harry craze
An appreciative first lady Laura Bush, on hand this week in Austin, Texas,
for the dedication of the Laura Bush Community Library, observed that the
average book on the library's shelves is borrowed more than seven times per year -
"and that average was actually calculated before Harry Potter was just
released."
|