IN AN AGE WHEN many American congressmen struggle for attention, Jesse Helms has no such problems; notoriety is never far away from the formidable Republican senator from North Carolina.
A quick surf of the Internet is all that is required to gauge the vehemence of the opposition to the figure who has headed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly three decades. Mr Helms, now 78, may like to covey an air of the Southern gentleman as he stalks Washington's corridors of power, but various sites prefer phrases such as bigot, racist or misogynist.
'Hurricane Fran is God's punishment for Jesse Helms,' one Web page reads, referring to the fatal storm that devastated his home state late last year. But, just like Rhett Butler, his fictional fellow southerner in Gone With The Wind, frankly, he does not seem to give a damn.
But to some Washington veterans, there are signs Mr Helms may be mellowing. He has, after all, been dogged by ill-health in recent years, now zipping through the hallways of the Capitol building on a specially developed indoor motor-scooter. But the man himself seems keen to dispel such reports of any new calm.
In classic fashion, Mr Helms has already vowed to torpedo any historic arms agreement President Bill Clinton may forge in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his forthcoming visit to Moscow. The arrogance of the act even before any talks have taken place - much less before any final document has been produced - has privately outraged many in the White House, National Security Council and State Department who fear yet again that Mr Helms is going beyond his Capitol Hill powers.
'So President Bill Clinton wants a legacy,' Mr Helms said in one arms speech recently, his slow Southern delivery to the fore. 'Well lah-di-dah. He already has a legacy.' Those waiting for a smooth passage of the China trade vote through the Senate are now turning their attention to Mr Helms and his committee, fearing possibly criticial delays by a politician who still refers to the 'Butchers of Beijing' or his old favourite, 'Red China'. So far he has sounded only marginally less sure of himself than with the arms pact.
'I feel obliged to make clear that I do not intend to allow the Senate to simply rubber-stamp the president's plan to reward the Chinese communists,' he said minutes after the vote passed in the House of Representatives last week.
