CAPITAL LIVING: IN THE KNOW

By Besty Rothstein

Envisioning senators sitting around a weekly Bible study singing songs is nothing short of a dream.

Who's an alto? Who's a soprano? Whose voice can break glass?

As part of the lead-up to National Bible Week, which happens in late November, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) took to the Senate floor last week to hail the Bible as "one of the most significant books in human history."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who attends weekly Bible study with Akaka, praised National Bible Week and Akaka on his fine singing voice.

One thing Chambliss isn't so inspired by is bad singing. "He's our song leader," Chambliss said of Akaka, who along with the House chaplain is apparently the only decent singer in the group.

"And while we do ... some of the worst singing that can be done, he [Akaka] is a great inspiration to all of us."

Akaka spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke called his boss "a strong baritone."

He said the senator "used to be a music teacher and choir director and when I have heard him sing songs he knows he's a show-stopper. His favorite song is a Hawaiian classic, ‘Where I Live, There Are Rainbows.' He can also come up with harmony on the fly.

"But I can imagine that when the senators are singing hymns, some of which they have never heard, with no musical accompaniment, it could get ugly."

http://thehill.com/in-the-know/zzzz--company-readies-hundreds-of-beds-for-capitol-2008-09-29.html