They do acknowledge that as a freshman lawmaker she has yet to put her stamp on any major legislation.

Such an invitation is highly unusual for a freshman lawmaker.

Edwards was the only freshman lawmaker to chair a committee in the legislature.

"Spending half an hour playing basketball is a great way to meet senior members," the freshman lawmaker said with pleasant candor.

A freshman lawmaker, who said he was leaning toward supporting the measure, said he could see good points "on both sides."

A committee meeting, maybe about 30 minutes," the freshman lawmaker says dryly.

Many of the freshman lawmakers did not have telephones or furniture, and survival instincts were sharp.

Displaced aides continued their frantic job hunt, and many of the freshman lawmakers did not have phones or furniture.

As a freshman lawmaker in 1973, Helms tried to reverse the 1968 congressional vote which had permitted workers on strike to qualify for food stamps.

That would have been a bold move by a freshman lawmaker under any circumstances, people here say.