Rostenkowski to Lose License After Arrest

CHICAGO — Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) will lose his driver’s license for one year for drunken driving and refusing to take a breath test, Illinois Secretary of State Jim Edgar said Tuesday.

Rostenkowski, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, admitted Monday that he “overdid” his 40th high school reunion celebration at St. John’s Military Academy and was intoxicated when he was pulled over by police in Burlington, Wis., Sunday morning for going 70 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone.

The congressman, who apologized for his actions, said he would plead guilty to drunken driving. He is scheduled to appear in court June 16 in Racine, Wis.

The maximum penalty for a first-offense, drunken driving charge in Wisconsin is a fine of between $150 and $300. Illinois law calls for the immediate suspension of a driver’s license for refusal to take a breath test and a one-year suspension for a drunken driving conviction.