In a ground-breaking month, Bermuda’s leading MPs were given the chance to rub shoulders and discuss key issues with some of the top decision-makers in America.

By the end of the historic two-day delegation he led to Washington, DC, Premier Alex Scott was claiming new bonds had been formed with the US which could serve the Island for many years to come.

Mr. Scott and his team — including Finance Minister Paula Cox and Labour and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton — held a host of talks with key figures including Senate Leader Bill Frist, the fourth most powerful politician in the States.

Other important people they met included Senator John McCain and Senator George Allen, both tipped as potential successors to George W. Bush, and Dr. David Sampson, the Deputy Secretary of the US Commerce Department.

Bermuda should now reap the benefits of the strengthened links between the two countries, claimed Mr. Scott.

“This is real business, real progress,” he stated as the curtain came down on the whistle-stop tour.

According to US Consul General Gregory Slayton, the man who used his Capitol Hill contact book to open doors in DC, the delegation got incredible access to Washington powerbrokers for such a small island.

Recurring topics of the tour included the stop-list banning minor offenders from the US, the insurance and reinsurance boom and a possible expansion of US Coast Guard activity in Bermuda.

Following talks, Mr. Scott also said he was “guardedly optimistic” that the US might be ready to class people with rehabilitation certificates as not having criminal records which, he said, could help hundreds of Bermudians.

He added that Senator McCain had been “most receptive” to the idea of basing a US Coast Guard station in Bermuda, which the Premier said would also deter drug traffickers.

The Americans seemed equally pleased about the trip, with Senator Frist described his meeting with the delegation as “very productive”.

He said: “The United States and Bermuda have a strong, co-operative, and multi-faceted relationship that has endured for more than 200 years.

“Today’s meeting underscores the strength of the bonds linking Bermuda and the United States. I look forward to working with Premier Scott and Consul General Slayton to continue to strengthen our partnership.”

Senator McCain, who told The Royal Gazette>he “loved Bermuda”, said the need for a Coast Guard presence in Bermuda would be looked at.

Within days of the group’s return to the Island, plans were being aired about making the trip an annual event.

Mr. Slayton said he was already in talks with the US State Department and Mr. Scott about a similar move next Spring.

“The partnership between the countries is so important to both countries,” he said. “It’s one of those things you can too easily take for granted unless you make it a priority, like an old friend or a marriage.”