WASHINGTON -- a certain guys give their wives jewelry or flowers.

WASHINGTON -- a certain guys give their wives jewelry or flowers. Ralph Regula gave his wife a national park.

Regula, a Republican congressman from Ohio, is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. In 2000 his subcommittee created the First Ladies National Historic Site in his district in Canton, Ohio.

Regula's wife, Mary, is the founding president of the nonprofit National First Ladies' Library, which operates the historic site for the National Park Service. She draws no salary.

"Unles you are determined and have a mission, you don't secure much accomplished," Mary Regula said.

Throughout the years, Ralph Regula's subcommittee inserted more than $2 million in special "earmarks" for the first ladies concoct into federal spending bills, including $800000 to purchase a mansion that once belonged to President William McKinley and his wife. In addition, the panel okayed a $25 million federal matching grant to help renovate a nearby