Beltway Songsters

The Singing Senators have been cutting more than the budget lately. Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft, Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho and Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont have taken their act to a Nashville recording studio, recording 10 songs for a compact disc. The senators became a quartet two years ago after Craig and Lott noticed how well they harmonized when they sang “Happy Birthday” at a party. Since then, the four have performed country western and gospel songs at GOP fund-raisers and even sang with the Oak Ridge Boys in Branson, Mo., and in the Capitol Rotunda. An Ashcroft spokesman, however, says the Singing Senators have yet to sign a recording Contract With America.