WORTH DETAILS ALL IN FILING MCKEON REVEALS HOLDINGS, LOAN.

Byline: EUGENE TONG  Staff Writer

Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon earned about $162,100 in 2005 and has some stock holdings, but is still repaying a business loan from a relative, according to annual financial disclosure statement.

Besides his congressional salary, McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, owns common share stock in 29 major firms, including Microsoft, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Rite-Aid, Intel, Merck and Pfizer -- valued at up to $15,000.

McKeon's sole liability is a loan between $50,001 and $100,000 from Peter Dorsch of Whittier. Dorsch, who is married to one of McKeon's cousins, became a creditor when the family business, Howard & Phil's Western Wear, filed for bankruptcy.

Founded by McKeon's parents in 1963, the clothing chain entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996, confronted by waning interest in western wear and storefront damage from to the Northridge Earthquake.

``He made a loan years ago to our western wear business,'' McKeon said in an interview with the Daily News on Thursday. ``When the business went bankrupt ... he was left holding the bank on this loan.''

The loan is being repaid over 10 years, McKeon said. Dorsch first appeared on McKeon's financial disclosure in 1999, the year the chain closed.

McKeon also reported income from his wife, Patricia, who works for his campaign committee, McKeon for Congress, but did not disclose the amount on the 2005 statement.

Campaign finance filings from 2003-06 showed she was paid $167,657 by the campaign committee -- including for travel reimbursements and payroll.

``I disclosed everything that they required,'' McKeon said. ``She runs the office and conducts fundraising. The first several years, she worked for free, and we finally started paying her because we were demanding so much of her time.''

House rules prevent lawmakers from hiring spouses for congressional jobs, but not for political work.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, McKeon, the city of Santa Clarita's first mayor, chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. His sprawling district stretches from the northern San Fernando Valley through the Antelope Valley and north to Mono County.

Also Thursday, McKeon took to the House floor to declare his support for the war in Iraq as Republicans pushed for a resolution endorsing the Bush administration policy to keep troops there while they're needed.

``We face the paradox of a perilous time,'' McKeon told the House. ``We face in Iraq an enemy that will show us absolutely no quarter.

``I have dared to say today something that very few of us seem willing to say. We could lose this war. There is nothing in the stars that says we must prevail. In history, freedom is the exception, not the rule.

``So I say to my colleagues, we must press on in Iraq. We must fight wisely, but we must not falter.''

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

[phone]