http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=81713Catholic News agencies are reporting that President Bush has named an Oklahoma businessman as the new ambassador to the Vatican.
Francis Rooney III owns Tulsa's Manhattan Construction and Hope Lumber.
Rooney will replace Jim Nicholson, who was named head of the Office of Veterans Affairs by the President.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6819145/site/newsweek/Who is Francis Rooney and why is his company spending the maximum $250,000 on next week’s inaugural festivities?
Rooney Holdings is a private investment firm based in Tulsa, Okla., that has emerged from nowhere to become
one of the GOP’s biggest donors during the last election—upping its campaign contributions from just $11,000 during the 2002 cycle to more than $500,000 in 2004. Thanks to his fund-raising efforts, Rooney himself was among the few individuals
named as both a Bush Ranger, having raised at least $200,000 for the president’s re-election, and a Super Ranger (among the elite donors who raised another $300,000 for the Republican National Committee).
Among Rooney’s holdings is Manhattan Construction, which has been contracted to build a portion of the new visitors’ center at the U.S. Capitol.
The company’s interest in federal contracts has risen steeply, winning an estimated $100 million in Pentagon contracts in 2003 (up from $26 million in 2002), according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity This is far more than a business relationship with the federal government. On Sept. 1, 2004, Rooney was among a five-person U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the inauguration of Panamanian President Martin Torres. Two days later, on Sept. 3, Rooney Holdings contributed $100,000 to Progress for America,
a Republican 527 group that is now promoting the president’s Social Security proposals.
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