Mr. Owens, a Democrat, was leading a Congressional fact-finding mission when he died, said Representative Lois Capps, Democrat of California.

"As the founder of the Center for Middle East Peace, Wayne was a rare Middle East expert with credibility in the American Jewish and Arab-American communities," Ms. Capps said in a statement.

Mr. Owens was elected to Congress in 1972 and was a member of the Judiciary Committee that voted to recommend the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. He ran for the Senate in 1974, losing to Jake Garn, and for governor of Utah in 1984, a race that Norman H. Bangerter won.

Mr. Owens returned to the House in 1987, remaining until 1992, when he ran for the Senate again but lost to Robert F. Bennett.

In his last term in Congress, Mr. Owens was one of 45 Democrats to sue President George Bush to prevent him from taking offensive action in the Persian Gulf without obtaining a Congressional declaration of war "or other explicit authority from the Congress."

Mr. Owens introduced a bill to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park and arranged a hearing about the effects of nuclear testing on nearby residents.

In 1998, he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, arguing against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

With two other former committee members, Elizabeth Holtzman of New York and Robert J. Drinan of Massachusetts, he appeared as one of "the three ghosts of impeachment past," he said.

Since 1989, Mr. Owens had worked with the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, which he helped found with S. Daniel Abraham, founder of Slim-Fast Foods.

Douglas Wayne Owens was born in Garfield County, Utah. He attended the University of Utah and graduated from its law school in 1964. He was a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France before practicing law in Salt Lake City in 1965.

He worked in the presidential campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, and he was a delegate to Democratic State and National Conventions in 1964, 1968 and 1980. He practiced law in Washington and Salt Lake City.

Surviving are his wife, Marlene Wessel Owens; their 5 children, Elizabeth Owens Tew, Henry Douglas Owens, Sara Ruth Owens, Stephen Wessel Owens and Edward Wessel Owens; 2 sisters, Georgie Cuff and Betty Brown; a brother, Ted Owens; and 14 grandchildren.

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This is amazing. The Congressman's demise, let alone the very suspicious

circumstances surrounding it, totally kept from any US media??? This is

not censor, this is the total and criminal black out of very important

news. The magic doings about the conniving and ultra corrupt mini State of

Israel is thicker than ever. Make no mistake about it, underneath it all,

the desperation level in Israel is high and thus the potential for mass

destruction. The magicians and all stripes of criminals there are running

out of tricks.

ac - angie1@planetsos.com

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Dead Congressman on Israeli Beach

by Hank • Saturday December 21, 2002 at 02:11 AM

Why no media reporting? Was this murder?

A dead congressman on an Israeli beach - why no media reporting?

Former congressman Wayne Owens found dead on Tel Aviv beach

The US Embassy said Thursday that Wayne Owens, a former Democratic congressman from Utah, who was found dead on a Tel Aviv beach.

Owens, 65, a longtime opponent of Israel, served four terms in Congress and in 1989 helped launch the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

His body was found on the beach at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Stuart Patt, spokesman for the State Department's Consular Affairs Bureau.

Owens was accompanying a delegation visiting the occupied territories.

The US Embassy issued a statement saying Owens "spent many years working hard in pursuing a peaceful solution in the Middle East, and in that capacity traveled often to the region and maintained contact with our diplomatic missions."

"What Wayne Owens did was change people's lives. He did it in so many ways. He was dedicated to public service," said University of Utah political science professor Tim Chambless, who interned for Owens in the spring of 1973 and later worked on his campaign. "He changed my life. It's a great loss."

He is survived by his wife Marlene and five children. Funeral plans had not yet been announced at press time.

In Congress, Owens, a native of Panguitch, Utah, fought to protect more than 5 million acres of Utah wilderness, sponsored legislation to compensate those harmed by radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons tests in Nevada, and used his seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to advocate for peace in the Middle East.

He was first elected in 1972 and served as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he voted to impeach President Nixon, and was part of a group of freshman Democrats who forced a vote to end the Vietnam War.

He lost a bid for Senate in 1974 to Republican Jake Garn and made an unsuccessful bid for governor in 1984. In 1986, he regained Utah's 2nd District seat, which he held until 1992, when he again ran for Senate, losing to Republican Bob Bennett.

Owens helped launch the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation in 1989 and served as its president, spending much of the last decade meeting with leaders in the region in an attempt to foster peace through economic development.

Utah Rep. Jim Matheson said he was "very shocked" to hear of Owens's death. Matheson, who ran Owens's campaign for governor in 1984, said Owens served as a political mentor to his whole family.

"I think that's true for a lot of people in public service," Matheson said. "The first memory I have of a campaign in Utah was when he walked the state in 1972. He brought a certain energy and enthusiasm to politics."

Starting in 1965, Owens worked as a staffer for Utah Sen. Frank Moss and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. He was the Rocky Mountain coordinator for Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential bid. He spent six years as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Censored

by FRanK • Saturday December 21, 2002 at 04:05 AM

This story was up on Yahoo about an hour ago - but when I just looked it had been removed. Something ugly is going on here.

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Ex-Utah Rep. Wayne Owens found dead on Tel Aviv

Ha'aretz, Israel - 18 Dec 2002

Wayne Owens, a former Utah congressman and longtime advocate for Middle East peace,

was found dead Wednesday in Israel, according to the State Department

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