Congresswoman describes struggles with alcohol

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two weeks after returning to Washington following treatment for alcoholism, U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy said she will seek re-election, although she acknowledges she had neglected her personal life.

"What had been dominant was my career, which took over 24-7," McCarthy, D-Mo., told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday in her first interview since returning to Washington from a monthlong stay at an alcohol rehabilitation center in Arizona. "What I'm working on now is to bring some balance into my life so that my work doesn't completely control it."

Still, McCarthy said she was committed to running for her sixth term next year. As to murmurs in her district about the possibility of a potential primary challenge, McCarthy sounded undaunted: "I stand on my record."

McCarthy's comments came on the same day that the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill published a front-page story describing plummeting staff morale in her office since her return to Washington on May 6.

Phil Scaglia, McCarthy's chief of staff, would not comment on the article, which alleged that she blamed her staff for her problems.

McCarthy, 56, denied allegations about tensions with her staff.

"We're laughing, which is a very refreshing thing," she said of herself and her staff. "We didn't do enough of that."

The five-term congresswoman, who had spent 18 years as a lawmaker representing Kansas City's Westport district, said she blamed herself, not her staff, for her problems.

"I felt that I was at fault, that I was a failure," McCarthy said. "I was very hard on myself. I took it all on as my fault -- whatever it was that didn't go right was my fault."

'I bear full responsibility'

As to her personal problems, McCarthy said: "I bear full responsibility. It's my name on the door."

McCarthy's office typically has 16 workers between Washington and Kansas City. Two staff members have left since March 21, and a third is scheduled to depart Friday, an office worker said. Two other vacancies existed before March.

McCarthy said her staff has grown tighter in the wake of her troubles.

"If anything, we've grown closer over these past two weeks since I've returned," she said.

McCarthy said that both her parents were alcoholics and that her mother "drank herself to death" when McCarthy was 22.

"I am obviously one genetically disposed to the disease itself."

She declined to say how long she had struggled with alcoholism. Asked how long it had affected her work, McCarthy said the influence of her battle was apparent only on March 21 when she fell down an escalator in a House office building, cutting her head.

On Friday, she said, she celebrated her first two months of sobriety with friends in Kansas City. Part of her recovery is regular attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, she said.

"I tried so hard to be this perfect legislator. I don't have to be perfect anymore."

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On the Net

Rep. Karen McCarthy: mccarthy.house.gov/

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two weeks after returning to Washington following treatment for alcoholism, U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy said she will seek re-election, although she acknowledges she had neglected her personal life.

"What had been dominant was my career, which took over 24-7," McCarthy, D-Mo., told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday in her first interview since returning to Washington from a monthlong stay at an alcohol rehabilitation center in Arizona. "What I'm working on now is to bring some balance into my life so that my work doesn't completely control it."

Still, McCarthy said she was committed to running for her sixth term next year. As to murmurs in her district about the possibility of a potential primary challenge, McCarthy sounded undaunted: "I stand on my record."

McCarthy's comments came on the same day that the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill published a front-page story describing plummeting staff morale in her office since her return to Washington on May 6.

Phil Scaglia, McCarthy's chief of staff, would not comment on the article, which alleged that she blamed her staff for her problems.

McCarthy, 56, denied allegations about tensions with her staff.

"We're laughing, which is a very refreshing thing," she said of herself and her staff. "We didn't do enough of that."

The five-term congresswoman, who had spent 18 years as a lawmaker representing Kansas City's Westport district, said she blamed herself, not her staff, for her problems.

"I felt that I was at fault, that I was a failure," McCarthy said. "I was very hard on myself. I took it all on as my fault -- whatever it was that didn't go right was my fault."

'I bear full responsibility'

As to her personal problems, McCarthy said: "I bear full responsibility. It's my name on the door."

McCarthy's office typically has 16 workers between Washington and Kansas City. Two staff members have left since March 21, and a third is scheduled to depart Friday, an office worker said. Two other vacancies existed before March.

McCarthy said her staff has grown tighter in the wake of her troubles.

"If anything, we've grown closer over these past two weeks since I've returned," she said.

McCarthy said that both her parents were alcoholics and that her mother "drank herself to death" when McCarthy was 22.

"I am obviously one genetically disposed to the disease itself."

She declined to say how long she had struggled with alcoholism. Asked how long it had affected her work, McCarthy said the influence of her battle was apparent only on March 21 when she fell down an escalator in a House office building, cutting her head.

On Friday, she said, she celebrated her first two months of sobriety with friends in Kansas City. Part of her recovery is regular attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, she said.

"I tried so hard to be this perfect legislator. I don't have to be perfect anymore."

------

On the Net

Rep. Karen McCarthy: mccarthy.house.gov/