GERMANS WITNESS LIFE IN MIDWEST; LEADERS AT SEMINAR IN CAPE

Hoping to learn more about life and government in the American Midwest, German political leaders met in Cape Girardeau Wednesday for the start of an annual seminar with their counterparts in U.S. government.

The group wanted to see where Americans live and how they react. So they decided to visit a small town, said Volkmar Schultz, a member the German delegation.

Cape Girardeau was chosen to host the 13th annual Congress-Budenstag seminar on political and trade issues. The seminar began Wednesday with an afternoon trip down the Mississippi River aboard the "Mississippi," a Corps of Engineers vessel. The seminar concludes Friday.

Purpose of the three-day meeting is to give the two countries a chance to talk about trade opportunities and build working relationships, said Lloyd Smith, who manages the Cape Girardeau office of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau.

The trip along the Mississippi River gave the German delegation a chance to see the river infrastructure and Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, Smith said.

For some of the 25 German politicians and staff, it is their first visit to the United States. The group includes Dr. Werner Hoyer, deputy foreign minister; Klaus-Juergen Hedrich, state secretary for economic cooperation and development; and Juergen Chrobog, German ambassador to the United States.

Emerson, a former committee chairman for the congressional study group on Germany, couldn't attend the conference in person because daily radiation treatments for lung cancer prevent him from traveling. Instead, he talked to the group by phone Wednesday morning from Washington, D.C.

It was the first time Emerson has missed the meeting.

At Emerson's request, Cape Girardeau was chosen the site for the seminar. Last year it was held in Dresden, Germany. On alternate years it is held in the United States but typically on the East or West coasts. The committee chairman chooses the sight for the following year's conference.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wise, D-W.Va., heads the United States committee. "Germany is fast becoming a modified version of the United States in Europe," Wise said. "This helps improve relationships and to share thoughts and ideas."

During closed-door meetings Wednesday, the group discussed changing government and political climates in the United States and Germany.

Since the group includes both Republicans and Democrats as well as representatives from every political party in Germany, Wise said there was a "lively" discussion on federalism, NATO treaties and the war in Bosnia.

Today the delegation will tour the East Perry County communities of Altenburg and Frohna and meet with Lutheran ministers there. Other highlights include a lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston.