Sen. Joseph Lieberman listens to pop crooner Frank Sinatra's music and

was a casual "Seinfeld" watcher.

Rep. Dick Armey, the House majority leader, enjoys John Wayne's westerns

and listens to the country music of Johnny Cash -- the same Johnny Cash

who counts among his most famous lyrics, "I shot a man in Reno just to

watch him die."

Sen. John McCain considers the 1952 Marlon Brando/Anthony Quinn war

movie "Viva Zapata!" his favorite film of all time. Rep. Henry Hyde

listens to Beethoven and Mozart in his office and loves the World War II

movie "Saving Private Ryan."

Those are among the key politicians who have been debating the role that

violence in music, movies and other media plays in child development and

behavior since the April 20 killings at Columbine High School in

Littleton, Colo., by two students. But even those who would amend the

laws governing distribution of entertainment need their diversions as

the day's arguments end and they return home for a night of relaxation.

Judging from the responses of their press secretaries, the legislators'

tastes in music and movies tend to be mild and to ring of patriotism

(see list). And their choices occasionally contain

the very violence they have condemned.

Lieberman, 57, enjoys such Sinatra tunes as "I Got You Under My Skin"

(RealAudio

excerpt) and generally confines his television viewing to sports

and news programs on cable, according to his press secretary, Dan

Gerstein. But Gerstein pointed out that Lieberman tries to view and

listen to as much of what is being produced by the entertainment industry

as he can.

"He is not pop cultural illiterate," Gerstein said. "If he's going to

criticize something, he at least watches it."

Sinatra, coincidentally, called rock 'n' roll artists "cretinous goons"

during a 1958 congressional hearing and was rumored to have links to

organized crime through much of his career.

Lieberman, D-Conn., and McCain, R-Ariz., last week introduced legislation

in the U.S. Senate that would force the entertainment industries to,

within six months, create a uniform parental-warning label for all movies,

videos, video games and music.

McCain, 62, listens to '50s and '60s rock, according to a member of his

staff who wouldn't name particular artists. One of his idols is actor

Jimmy Stewart, who often portrayed war heroes in his films. McCain was

taken prisoner while fighting in the Vietnam War.

In the House of Representatives, Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Zack

Wamp, R-Tenn., proposed an amendment to a juvenile-crime bill that would

match the McCain-Lieberman proposal which failed last week. Dick Kopper,

the 41-year-old Wamp's press secretary, said the two will reintroduce

their labeling bill as a freestanding piece of legislation by next week.

Wamp is a fan of contemporary Christian music and regularly watches the

drama series "Touched by an Angel," Kopper said.

"It points the American people in a positive, life-affirming direction,"

Kopper said of Wamp's choices.

Stupak's favorite movies, according to Bob Meisner, his press secretary,

are Kevin Costner's Civil War-era film epic "Dances With Wolves" and the

Roman battle film "Ben-Hur." Stupak, 47, listens to Bruce Springsteen

-- whose songs include "Nebraska," about a serial killer, and "Murder Inc."

Armey, 58, grew up watching and admiring film icon Wayne, who appeared

in the westerns "The Searchers," "Stagecoach" and "Big Jake," but also

in the Irish morality tale "The Quiet Man," said Jim Wilkinson, Armey's

spokesperson. Wilkinson said Armey concedes the violent content of Wayne's

most well-known work.

"People got shot in those movies," Wilkinson said. "But you never saw

the bullet holes. And the bad guys came back for the next movie.

"We just think this is a cultural argument," the spokesperson continued.

"Violence and the Marilyn Mansons have no place in the lives of children."

Cash, whom Wilkinson named along with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings

as artists Armey enjoys listening to, scored a major hit in 1956 with

"Folsom Prison Blues," in which a murderer confesses, "I shot a man in

Reno just to watch him die."

Hyde is a "huge" movie buff who sees at least two movies every weekend

and reports on his film-going experiences to his staff nearly every

Monday, said Michael Connolly, a spokesperson for the House Judiciary

Committee, which Hyde chairs. The 75-year-old congressman usually plays

classical music as he works in his office.

The primary opponents of Hyde's recently failed proposals, Reps. Mark

Foley, R-Fla., and James Rogan, R-Calif., diverge wildly in their

musical tastes.

The 44-year-old Rogan counts 1920s singer Al Jolson among his biggest

heroes, Jeffrey Solsby, Rogan's press secretary, said. While Jolson

didn't hint at violence in his music, he did wear blackface in the 1927

film "The Jazz Singer."

Meanwhile, Foley, 44, who feels the policing of media violence is better

left to the industries themselves, considered the Allman Brothers --

especially his friend, drummer Butch Trucks -- to be among his favorite

bands. Members of the band have struggled with drug addiction. "Midnight

Rider" and "Ramblin' Man" were among the hit songs they wrote and

recorded in their 1970s heyday.

Foley said the Allmans now present good role models for fans.

"With kids now, there's 2 percent bad apples, but 98 percent of them are

doing the right things," Foley said. "It's the same in the rock industry.

There's only a few people who act badly."