Premier Ewart Brown and US Consul General Gregory Slayton hailed their visit to Washington as a success yesterday, after wrapping up two-and-a-half intensive days of meetings with US legislators.

The Bermuda delegation had formal meetings with five Congressmen, one Senator and President George W. Bush, but there were less formal contacts with many more politicians on Capitol Hill.

And after the third annual bilateral visit, Dr. Brown said yesterday: "I feel even better about the way Bermuda is perceived and the sensitivity to our needs.

"I think this has been a very successful trip. Gregory Slayton has done a great job in making it that way, as have our two lobbyists, who have produced meetings with people who were not even on the schedule.

"We didn't even know that we were going to see Congressman Rangel and that was a big plus for us."

Rep. Charles Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which deals with taxation legislation, whose decisions could have a significant bearing on Bermuda's future as an international financial centre.

The New York Democrat showed up for breakfast with the delegation on Tuesday, along with four other members of Congress.

On Tuesday evening, the delegation attended a reception hosted by the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, at Charlie Palmer's Steak House. Four Congressmen and two Senators joined the diverse throng of business people at the event.

Mr. Slayton described the Washington mission as 'positive and productive".

"Building relationships and partnerships takes time," Mr. Slayton said. 'The Government's been willing to spend the time and make the commitment and I want to encourage the governments of Bermuda and the US to keep this up. After three years we've got momentum."

The Premier flew out of the American capital yesterday afternoon with a deal under his belt that is set to see US Customs pre-clearance privileges extended to private jet users leaving Bermuda, after he signed a Letter of Intention with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, with the agreement of the UK, which is responsible for Bermuda's foreign affairs.

If that was the only concrete deal to be struck in Washington, the first meeting in the White House in 12 years between a Bermuda Premier and the US President was certainly symbolically important and will have done the Island's international credibility no harm.

On the day of the Oval Office talks an opinion piece on the relationship between Bermuda and the US, written by Mr. Slayton, was published in The Washington Times.

Yesterday, the group met with Senator Tom Carper and Rep. Bennie Thompson, both of whom are pushing for hazard mitigation legislation, which is being actively supported by the ABIR.

"This legislation aims to give people tax incentives for storm-proofing their homes," ABIR president Bradley Kading said yesterday.

"If everybody does it and sticks to the building codes, then claims can be reduced by something like 50 percent. There is a common interest across the board. Everybody wins if claims are lower and insurance costs are lower."

After the meeting with Sen. Carper, the Premier said before hopping in a car to head to an interview with a Washington radio station: "I think it went very well. Senator Carper is quite familiar with Bermuda. He actually served there with the US armed forces and has fond memories of it.

"We met with him and his senior staff. He was aware of some of the legislation that might be injurious to Bermuda. I got the distinct impression that they will do their best to protect Bermuda's interests."

Mr. Slayton said Bermuda-US relations had come far since the first of the bilateral visits organised by him in 2006.

"When I sat down with Senators and Congressmen before the first visit and talked about Bermuda, they said, 'it's got great beaches' and 'haven't we got a naval base out there?' People's understanding was ten or 20 years old.

"Senators are expected to know everything, but nobody had updated them about Bermuda. Every single person you meet now is briefed on how Bermuda is a financial and reinsurance centre with a booming economy."