Black Plague
06-24-2008, 02:10 AM
http://www.pjstar.com/news_state/x1816436300/LaHoods-trips-cost-taxpayers
Davis led all 21 members of the delegation, with $23,118 in expenses, almost half of which was for a visit in April to China paid for by a longtime political supporter seeking help to become a partner with the Chinese in a factory to be built in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.
Davis, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who represents a largely black district, said he went to China to help a fellow African-American friend and supporter out of a desire to advance black entrepreneurship in the huge Chinese market where American blacks have had little involvement.
That friend, former sharecropper Willie Wilson, is head of Omar Medical Supplies Inc.
Wilson, either directly or through his company, has contributed about $20,000 to state and federal campaign funds maintained by Davis, a former Chicago alderman and Cook County officeholder. Wilson said he works with a Chinese-based manufacturer but wants to own a factory.
Davis said the China visit began on a Sunday night with a round of meetings and dinner in Beijing, followed by 10 hours of travel to Inner Mongolia for an agreement-signing ceremony. By Tuesday, he was in Washington, D.C.
Davis said "I guess I really wasn't needed," but Wilson insisted that if it were not for Davis's presence, he would not have been able to meet the Chinese foreign minister. He said that meeting helped complete a deal in which the Illinois businessman will get a quarter-interest in a 150,000-square-foot factory employing up to 300 workers making medical supplies.
Davis led all 21 members of the delegation, with $23,118 in expenses, almost half of which was for a visit in April to China paid for by a longtime political supporter seeking help to become a partner with the Chinese in a factory to be built in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.
Davis, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who represents a largely black district, said he went to China to help a fellow African-American friend and supporter out of a desire to advance black entrepreneurship in the huge Chinese market where American blacks have had little involvement.
That friend, former sharecropper Willie Wilson, is head of Omar Medical Supplies Inc.
Wilson, either directly or through his company, has contributed about $20,000 to state and federal campaign funds maintained by Davis, a former Chicago alderman and Cook County officeholder. Wilson said he works with a Chinese-based manufacturer but wants to own a factory.
Davis said the China visit began on a Sunday night with a round of meetings and dinner in Beijing, followed by 10 hours of travel to Inner Mongolia for an agreement-signing ceremony. By Tuesday, he was in Washington, D.C.
Davis said "I guess I really wasn't needed," but Wilson insisted that if it were not for Davis's presence, he would not have been able to meet the Chinese foreign minister. He said that meeting helped complete a deal in which the Illinois businessman will get a quarter-interest in a 150,000-square-foot factory employing up to 300 workers making medical supplies.