WASHINGTON – Two New York congressmen carried tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt last year, according to their financial disclosure forms released yesterday.

Rep. Timothy Bishop, a former college administrator who represents the eastern end of Long Island, reported debt on three credit cards.

At different points in 2004, each one of Mr. Bishop’s cards had a balance between $15,001 and $50,000, which could mean a total debt somewhere between $45,003 to $150,000, according to the reports that must be filed annually.

“What he actually has is on the low end of that range,” said a Bishop staffer, Jon Schneider. “His credit card debt derives primarily from the fact that when he ran in 2002 he went without a paycheck for 9 or 10 months. The congressman fully expects to have this completely paid of in the next month or so.”

Another Long Island Democrat, Rep. Steve Israel, reported that his wife at one point in 2004 owed more than $50,000 on her American Express account. Mr. Israel’s spokesman, Ryan Rudominer, said the Israels bought a house and made improvements that they charged to their credit cards, but the debt is “almost all gone.”

As members of Congress, Messrs. Bishop and Israel receive salaries of $158,100 a year. Lawmakers are required to report any financial liabilities greater than $10,000, and report those debts at the highest amount owed during the year. The overall worth of New York’s 29 members of Congress took a big plunge this year, with the absence of the retired representative, Amo Houghton, a Republican, whose personal fortune is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. His departure means the most wealthy House members from New York are women: Nita Lowey and Carolyn Maloney.

Ms. Lowey, a Democrat, reported numerous investments held jointly with her husband, ranging from Anheuser-Busch stock valued between $15,001 and $50,000 to a fund called M.D. Sass Multistrategy, where their holding is valued between $1 million and $5 million. A separate Bear Stearns account held solely by the congresswoman was valued at slightly more than $1 million at the end of 2004.

The Loweys’ total wealth was valued last year at $18 million, though a precise figure is hard to pin down because congressional rules only require members to give general ranges of their individual assets.

Ms. Maloney, a Democrat, reported millions of dollars worth of real-estate holdings and stocks. The major assets in her portfolio include a rental property on the Upper East Side valued between $1 million and $5 million, and another rental property in Connecticut valued in the same range. She also owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in a number of companies, including Pepsico, Colgate-Palmolive, Exxon Mobil, and H.J. Heinz Company.

While their Senate counterparts enjoy the luxury of six years in office, members of the House operate on just two-year terms, and several have fallback jobs or assured outside income in case voters turn them out.

The disclosure forms described the deep-pocketed, the politicians existing on salary alone, and the well-traveled.

The forms also capture House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s financial fight against various ethical allegations.

Mr. DeLay, a Republican of Texas, accepted $439,300 in contributions to his legal expense fund in 2004, a year in which the House Ethics panel investigated Mr. DeLay and rebuked him for his conduct. Separately, he faces questions about his ties to Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist under federal criminal investigation.

Mr. DeLay still owes three law firms between $125,003 and $315,000 combined for his legal expenses. The top Republican in the House, Speaker Dennis Hastert, supplemented his salary of $203,000 with rent from a Washington townhouse and a $31,002 pension from the state of Illinois, based on his years as a high school teacher. Mr. Hastert also purchased a one-quarter share in 69 acres of property in Plano, Ill.

The cowboy boot-wearing Richard Pombo remains active in his family farm, located in California’s Central Valley, producing dairy and beef cattle. The Republican, now in his seventh term, valued his ranch partnerships at $100,000-$250,000 and his ranch estates at $250,000-$500,000. Last year, in addition to his base House salary of $158,100, he had unearned income of $6,000-$17,500 from the ranch partnerships.