Rep. McCaul tops Roll Call's wealthy list

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The five richest members of Congress in 2012 are the same as last year, with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, at the top, Roll Call said.

Roll Call's annual survey, released Thursday, indicated McCaul, whose wealth comes in part from his father-in-law, who founded Clear Channel Communications, topped the list with a minimum net worth of about $306 million. The next four were Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., $199 million; Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., $141 million; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., $86 million, and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., $83 million.

Kerry and Issa flipped the second and third positions from 2011 to 2012 while Warner and Rockefeller traded the fourth and fifth slots, Roll Call said.

The Washington publication said the dollar amounts were based on calculations done with available public information.

Roll Call has calculated the 50 wealthiest congressional members since 1990, determining net worth by subtracting the total minimum value of all liabilities from the total minimum value of all assets. Because values of assets and liabilities are given within broad ranges, Roll Call said it uses the lower end of each value range.