SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. 2; ZONE: C; SUNDAY WATCH.
LENGTH: 1251 words
HEADLINE: COLD AND HUNGRY, LAWMAKER'S WIFE PROVES HER CONVICTIONS
BYLINE: James Warren.
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:

   On a soggy, chill autumn morning, the Polish tourists stood at the
base of the Capitol steps and confusingly eyed a duo lying bundled in
heavy comforters.

   Amid the handmade placards at the duo's feet, the tourists' interest
seemed as limited as their English. But a few minutes later, a Virginia
schoolgirl and chums did inquire, prompting one of the bundled heads to
move from a 45-degree angle to a 90-degree one.

   "We're protesting the treatment of that woman there," said a female
voice, alluding to a picture on a poster at her own feet.

   "This was the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish Parliament
but she's been in jail since 1994 for speaking out."
 
   "You mean, it's something unconstitutional?" asked the freshman.

   "Yes," said Kathryn Cameron Porter, the protester who is also the
wife of Rep. John Porter, a Republican from Chicago's North Shore.

   What the freshman did not realize was that Porter and her distinctly
prone companion, Kani Xulam, were not just cold but rather weak. They
were on the 25th day of a hunger strike of sorts.

   This is a town where symbolic demonstrations are both art and
occasional annoyance. Richard Gere here for Tibet one day, Bianca
Jagger on Guatemalan atrocities the next, and Rev. Jesse Jackson for,
well, you name it.

   At the same time, commitment and passion can be reflexively derided
as mere theatrics. As reporters strive to get their mugs on TV,
lobbyists to cut legislative deals and politicians to be given credit
for anything, the notion of putting heart and soul on the line can seem
quaint, even wayward.

   Case Study No. 1: Kathryn Porter.

   "Oh, you mean the Illinois guy's wife on the steps? Man, she must be
nuts," said a top assistant to a Texas Democrat when I asked for an
opinion.

   Well, the reason is that Porter, 49, is from a species that can make
many here uncomfortable: human rights activists. She's president of the
Human Rights Alliance. She has an especially keen interest in Turkey,
has visited prisons there and is convinced the Kurdish minority is in
need of our help.

   She has visited prisons here, too, which helps explain her hunger
strike. She and her husband are longtime friends of Kani Xulam, a
fairly well-known Kurdish activist who the Turkish government claims is
a terrorist.

   The Porters, and many others, think that's bunk. But Xulam has had
lots of legal problems in this country, including being arrested and
accused of lying on passport applications. He was stuck in a District
of Columbia jail without bond last year but, partly with the Porters'
help, was released and avoided deportation.

   Together, Kathryn Porter and Xulam are on a somewhat atypical hunger
strike.

   Porter protests just a stone's throw from her four-wheel drive Mazda
with "KCP" plates, parked in the members-only area at the Capitol and
thus guarded by Capitol Hill police. There have been many congressional
honchos, such as Newt Gingrich, who have passed by and said hello as
she gets slightly more weary.

   She is also the rare protester who can amble up the steps with a
very ill fellow protester and into the House members' dining room. She
did that one recent evening, arriving for needed nourishment and a chat
about the Turkish situation with UN Ambassador Bill Richardson.

   And if you want real disjoint, try this: As we spoke last Thursday
morning, her cell phone rang. Donna Barr, her daughter from a first
marriage, took the call, which included word from John Porter that he
just had been invited to play golf on this bleak day by Bill Clinton.

   (In case you wondered what Clinton does when Hillary is out of the
country, Chelsea is in college and Saddam Hussein is expelling
Americans, we now know. Porter was asked at 11:15 a.m. about joining
Clinton a mere 45 minutes later. He declined, but Clinton found
somebody else and hit the links).

   "John just better bring this up with Clinton," Kathryn was saying a
few minutes later, alluding to the imprisonment of the prominent Kurd.

   She has lost 8 pounds along the way, not more only because she has
diabetes and is taking one meal a day, usually in the evening with her
husband.

   "I would be doing this whether or not I was married to a member,"
she said. "I am atoning for my country's contributions to the deaths of
innocent women and children in southeast Turkey."

   She thus ridicules U.S. policy toward Kurds and the government of
Turkey. She takes the basic premises of our policy toward Turkey--that
it's a strategic ally and a bulwark versus Islamic fundamentalism--and
insists they are wanting.

   She monitors her blood sugar closely, finds it's somehow becoming
more stable and jokingly asserts, "I'm going to recommend this as a way
of treating diabetes."

   She does not feel odd as people stare at her posters, then her, then
walk away.

   "Knowing all the machinations inside the

   Capitol, I feel more a part of the larger world being out here on
the cold steps."

   She concedes that the juxtaposition of her work and the Washington
social scene can make her queasy. She rarely attends political
fundraisers these days, though she won't necessarily keep her distance
from power.

   Instead, she uses all her connections, as she did with Xulam, in
helping Leyla Zana, the Kurdish female elected to Turkey's Parliament.
Awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Peace Prize, Zana is serving
time for alleged "separatist speech."

   Porter mentions several supportive officials in the Clinton
administration, "though I haven't heard anything from Madeleine's
office," referring to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

   Her husband "couldn't be more proud of what she is doing to stand up
for human rights all around the world and for the rights of the Kurdish
people. I am very concerned about her health because she is diabetic
and we are watching her as closely as we can."

   Kathryn, who has been married to John Porter for 24 years, says he
has been supportive but, ah, well, is not especially happy with her
fast.

   "He's threatened to have my mother come down from Rockford," she
said.

   Yikes. If the mom reads the Tribune, this could be her first
knowledge of the hunger strike. If family disarray ensues, we
apologize.

   Cozy is as cozy does

   The New York Times' front page Friday went on at length about the
return of "sharp partisanship" to Capitol Hill.

   Don't buy it. It's still a cozy club.

   Just before the Senate adjourned for another cushy, long break
(these guys earn $133,600 a year but won't be back until nearly
February), sharply partisan Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) late
Friday evening introduced "Senate Resolution 159."

   Its purpose was "to commend the exemplary leadership of the
Democratic leader."

   Lott proceeded to suck up to sharply partisan Sen. Tom Daschle
(D-S.D.), underscoring, "I do enjoy and appreciate the relationship
that I have with the Democratic leader. We have developed a
relationship that's based on trust."

   Well, Daschle then introduced "Senate Resolution 160."

   Its purpose was "to commend the exemplary leadership of the majority
leader."

   "I am very grateful for the generous remarks of the distinguished
majority leader," Daschle said. "I, too, have enjoyed this relationship
and I believe over the long run this has been a very productive one. .
. . I look forward to working with him in the second session of the
105th Congress and appreciate very much his friendship and the
relationship we've had."

   Sharp partisanship? Blah, blah, blah.

GRAPHIC: PHOTOPHOTO: 'I would be doing this whether or not I was
married to a member (of Congress). I am atoning for my country's
contributions to the deaths of innocent women and children in southeast
Turkey.' -- Kathryn Cameron Porter, who is staging a hunger protest on
the steps of the Capitol, holds a file with a photo of Kurdish
leader Leyla Zana, who has been jailed in Turkey for "separatist
speech." Tribune photo by Ernie Cox Jr.
 

                   Copyright 1997 Chicago Tribune Company
                                Chicago Tribune
             November 13, 1997 Thursday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2; ZONE: N; Hevrdejs & Conklin INC.
LENGTH: 585 words
HEADLINE: UNABOMBER SUSPECT AND LAWYER SHARE CHICAGO-AREA ROOTS
BYLINE: By Judy Hevrdejs and Mike Conklin.
BODY:

   All in the family: Kathryn Porter, wife of U.S. Rep. John Porter
(R-Ill.), is participating in a three-week hunger strike in Washington
to protest alleged Turkish oppression of Kurds. Kathryn, a diabetic, is
taking minimal nourishment at her husband's insistence. John was an
organizer in the 1980s for congressional fasts to protest oppression in
the Soviet Union.