Thread: Congress Often Travels on Tab of Industries, Study Reveals

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Congress often travels on tab of industries, study reveals

By JULIA MALONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 06/06/06

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and their aides took 23,000 trips financed by corporations, trade associations and other private groups over 5 1/2 years, an extensive new computerized study concludes.

Congressional travelers often accepted trips to popular destinations, including 200 to Paris, 150 to Hawaii and 140 to Italy, said Wendell "Sonny" Rawls Jr., acting executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a private watchdog group that led the study.

The price tag totaled at least $50 million from January 2000 through June 2005, with much of the travel financed by businesses and trade associations that have agendas on Capitol Hill, said Rawls, who was assistant managing editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1986-89.

"This is just another way for special interests to gain access and the private ear of someone who is an influential member of Congress, whether it's the Senate or the House," he said.

U.S. Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) — who was 43rd among the top 100 traveling lawmakers in a ranking by American Public Media, a partner in the survey — said he thinks members of Congress are justified in accepting privately paid trips to get firsthand perspective on the issues.

"I don't think they travel enough, to be honest," said the Duluth Republican.

For the study, which was also conducted by Northwestern University's Medill News Service, researchers gathered information from 25,000 disclosure forms, which are required for lawmakers and their staff when taking trips.

The priciest was a trip to London in 2000 for then-Rep. Thomas Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) and his wife shortly before Bliley retired. The $31,171 trip was sponsored by Brown & Williamson Tobacco.

The Blileys' four nights at the Savoy Hotel cost more than $1,000 a night, reported American Public Media.

The second-most-expensive trip cited was taken by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), whose five-day visit to Kazakhstan in 2002 cost $29,951. The sponsor was the Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan.

"We're going to win the war on terrorism in moderate Muslim countries — it's not just in Saudi Arabia, it's in places like Kazakhstan and Turkey and Indonesia," Wexler said. "I think more members of Congress should devote themselves to travel and establishing bilateral relationships" with those parts of the world.

Paul A. Miller, chief lobbyist for the American League of Lobbyists, discounted the revelations of congressional trips.

"Nobody's advocating for all these fancy trips to Scotland," he said of the now infamous golf junkets arranged by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. "But those are very few, and I think everyone agrees we can do away with those."

He added that bills passed by the House and Senate would tighten rules for private trips and require more disclosure.

Georgia's congressional delegation lagged behind the most-traveled members of the House and Senate. Linder racked up the biggest travel bill in the delegation: $91,198 on 17 trips, according to America Public Media.

He has accepted a number of trips to promote his Fair Tax proposal, including several paid for by state Farm Bureau organizations, which he said are "keen" on his proposal for a federal sales tax to replace most other forms of taxation.

"If people are willing to pay for it then I'll go and talk about Fair Tax anywhere," said Linder, who co-authored a best-selling book on the subject.

Linder said he also has made trips to participate as a moderator and panelist at seminars in Europe sponsored by the Ripon Society, a nonprofit group that describes itself as promoting "moderate Republican principles."

Linder recalled voting against Puerto Rican statehood after returning from a fact-finding trip to Puerto Rico, paid for by interests promoting statehood for the territory.

"I don't need this job. I've got a lot of money," he said. "[Taking a trip] doesn't influence me one way or another."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican from Moultrie and chairman of the Senate agriculture committee, is the only other Georgian to make American Public Media's top 100. He ranked 69th with 31 trips costing $77,853.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from DeKalb County, ranked 620th out of 638 current and former lawmakers covered by the study. McKinney had a single listing: a 2001 trip to Los Angeles to deliver the keynote address for the Council on America Islamic Relations.

In 14 years in Congress, Rep. Nathan Deal, a Hall County Republican, has accepted only one trip funded by a private group: a seven-day trip to Turkey and Cyprus last year, sponsored by the U.S. Association for Former Members of Congress. The tab, for Deal and his wife, was $11,458.04.

Chris Riley, Deal's chief of staff, said the purpose of the trip was to discuss the issue of Cyprus joining the European Union. Deal made an exception because he felt the issue was important and the invitation came from "a recognized and respectable organization," Riley said.

Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat, was listed as taking 18 trips in 2004 and 2005, but the costs of the trip weren't listed.

Brenda Jones, communications director for Lewis, said she didn't know what data source the survey used and could not explain why no costs were listed. While she didn't have cost totals for all the trips, Jones provided sample expenses for two of them: $207 for a New York trip paid for by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and $575 for a two-day trip to Little Rock sponsored by the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas.

Most of the trips were related to activities by civil rights groups or speaking appearances at colleges.

"We're not talking about golf trips," Jones said. "These are not luxury trips."

Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, took a $14,500 trip to Taiwan in 2003 that was paid for by the Chinese International Economic and Cooperation Association. Gingrey was a member of the House Armed Services committee at the time and went to meet with top Taiwanese officials about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, said Becky Rudy, his spokeswoman.

Many of the Georgia lawmakers' trips were underwritten by Georgia groups and corporations. Amelia Island, Fla., a resort just across the Georgia line, was among the most popular meeting spots for Georgia's textile and consumer products manufacturing association, the Georgia Bankers Association and others.

Chambliss in 2001 spoke to the Georgia Bankers Association — not in Atlanta, but in the heart of California wine country. Chambliss has also taken four trips paid for by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which does business before the agriculture committee and employs his son, Bo, as a lobbyist.

Chambliss has previously denied any conflict of interest in taking privately funded trips.

Staff writers Bob Kemper and Larry Lipman in Washington and Tom Baxter in Atlanta contributed to this article.

butterbean,

denied any conflict of interest in taking privately funded trips.

yeh, right!