DeLay's attempt to help rum maker draws criticism; Watchdog groups protest congressman's efforts to help Bacardi fend off Cuban

19 Oct 2003 // WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's behind-the- scenes attempt to help the rum maker Bacardi-Martini Inc. fend off Cuban competition is drawing fire on Capitol Hill. Watchdog groups and some business interests have already objected to the Texas Republican's efforts. Last week, four House Judiciary Committee members protested after an article in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that DeLay planned to slip an amendment revising U.S. trademark statutes into the annual defense authorization bill.

The amendment had not been properly vetted by their panel, which is supposed to oversee trademark law, said the letter signed by the Judiciary Committee objectors.

Jonathan Grella, spokesman for DeLay, confirmed that the majority leader is seeking to pass the Bacardi amendment but added that he had not yet decided where to insert it. DeLay's effort is not the first attempt to help the Bermuda-based company run by a politically plugged-in Cuban exile family. Bacardi's Miami-based U.S. division has donated generously to both political parties — and particularly to DeLay — for the past several years.

The rum company won a major Capitol Hill victory in 1998, when then Sen. Connie Mack, a Florida Republican, inserted an obscure amendment, known as Section 211, into a catch-all spending bill that was 4,000 pages long.

Hardly anyone noticed the measure until months later when it became apparent that the language cleared the way for Bacardi to win its lengthy court battle for the U.S. rights to one of the world's oldest rum labels, Havana Club. The label is also claimed by Pernod- Ricard, a French company that now sells rum by that name in partnership with the Cuban government.

The legislation, which denies U.S. protection to foreign trademarks when government confiscation is involved, has stirred controversy here and abroad. France complained to the World Trade Organization, which ruled that the United States has violated treaty obligations to protect copyrights. The WTO has given the United States until the end of the year to revise its law.

DeLay is seeking to insert new language to bring the statute into technical compliance with the WTO ruling, while continuing to protect Bacardi. Critics charge that the "fix" would still violate U.S. treaty obligations going back to the 1930s.

Several major corporations have joined in asking Congress to repeal Section 211 altogether to avoid possible retaliation by Cuba's President Fidel Castro against their own trademarks.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a conservative watchdog group, also opposes special treatment for Bacardi."We think it has an adverse influence on the taxpayers, on consumers and on the economy," said the group's president, Thomas Schatz.

Also objecting is a liberal group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, whose director Melanie Sloan links Bacardi's success in Congress to its donations. The company has spread more than $650,000 to political party committees since 1997, with a little more than half going to Republicans. Bacardi has also been one of DeLay's top benefactors, giving a total of $40,000 to political action committees that he founded.

Grella, DeLay's spokesman, said "it's wrong and unethical to link legislative activity to campaign contributions." Grella added of the efforts to help Bacardi: "This is about protecting American companies from predatory French companies that are conspiring with a murderous communist dictator."

A spokeswoman for Bacardi was unavailable for comment.