MEDILL NEWS SERVICE > Power Trips: Congress hits the road

Indiana, Illinois congressional delegations cut back on privately sponsored travel
By MEGHAN STREIT
MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON-In the aftermath of the lobbying and ethics scandal on Capitol Hill, senators and members of the House who used to globetrot at the expense of private sponsors are suddenly declining the offers.

Hundreds of organizations proffering public policy conferences, fact-finding missions and leadership retreats routinely have whisked lawmakers away to places like Las Vegas, Cancun, Paris, London, Honolulu and Aspen, to bend their ears.

In 2005, legislators, their spouses and their staff accepted more than $9.5 million in airfare, hotel rooms and meals from private sponsors. But, in the first eight months of 2006, the amount spent on congressional travel plummeted to $2.7 million.

"The answer to that is simple," said Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). "There's a public perception that travel by members of Congress is somehow tainted. . .because we've heard so much about Jack Abramoff taking members golfing in Scotland."

Abramoff is the lobbyist who pleaded guilty to fraud and public corruption on Jan.3, for attempting to curry favor with lawmakers. Known for treating lawmakers and their aides to lavish trips, meals and gifts, Abramoff is at the center of one the largest federal

The Indiana and Illinois delegations, several of whom were previously among Washington's top travelers, are among those that have cut back on privately sponsored trips this year.

Durbin's office racked up 15 trips in 2005, but through August 2006, the number dropped to two.

Shoemaker said Durbin views his foreign travel as part of his job. He said lawmakers need to visit countries in order to be able to make multi-million dollar decisions about whether to give them American money.

Durbin's educational and fact-finding trips have directly affecting his legislative work, including support for increased micro-lending to sub-Saharan Africa and pushing a bill to decrease cruise ship pollution, according to Shoemaker.

"The kind of trips Dick takes, we're pretty scrupulous in not going on what we would describe as lobbyist-sponsored trips," Shoemaker said. "But he does do a lot of the not-for-profit think tank types."

As privately sponsored trips, although legal, have dropped, some members have found other ways to travel by funneling the expenses through their leadership political action committees or campaign committees - neither of which require the same level of disclosure as privately-sponsored trips.

Jerry Clime, president of the Congressional Institute, which has funded about 1,000 trips worth about $875,000 since Jan. 1, 2000, said his organization has not really seen a drop in attendance on their trips. He said lawmakers continue to attend, but are reporting the costs as campaign expenses, to avoid the potential scrutiny that could accompany accepting free trips.

"There's a huge distinction between what's ethical and what's politically desirable," Climer said.

The office of Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) has ranked among the top 25 recipients of travel dollars from 200 to 2005, but took only a single trip in the first eight months of this year.

Bayh's trips began to drop off in when he resigned from his chairmanship of the Democratic Leadership Council, according to spokeswoman Meghan Keck.

Since 2000, 44 of Bayh's office's 136 trips have been sponsored by the council, accounting for 15 percent of total travel dollars accepted.

The Mansfield Foundation, an organization that promotes U.S. relations with Asia, also has been a significant sponsor of Bayh's travel. The foundation sent Bayh to China three times. An aide accompanied him on two of the trips, and his wife also came along on two of the three. The three fact-finding expeditions cost Mansfield more than $56,000.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), outgoing chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has been the recipient of more travel dollars over the last six years than all but one of his colleagues, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.

Much of Lugar's $188,000 of travel since 2000 has been sponsored by the Aspen Institute, a public policy think tank that spends more than $500,000 a year on congressional trips.

Like Durbin, Lugar also said the trips help his work back on Capitol Hill.

"I have counted on these programs to find co-sponsors for significant legislation and to hear hundreds of arguments delivered over a similar number of hours by persons in both houses and parties so that I was able to identify potential allies in forwarding legislation and programs either on the floor of the House, the Senate or in conference committees," Lugar said.

It was at Aspen Institute programs that Lugar laid the groundwork for the Nunn-Lugar Threat Reduction Act, which helped the former Soviet Union dismantle nuclear weapons.

Among other trips, Lugar and his wife have attended an annual Aspen Institute conference in Punta Mita, a luxurious retreat on the Mexican coast. Since 2000, three of these five retreats have focused on U.S.-Latin American relations, but the other two were not as relevant to a Mexican location - one was on U.S.-China relations and the other on Islam.

Lugar's travel decreased from 2005 to 2006, but still remains among the highest of all congressional offices. Andy Fisher, a Lugar spokesman, said he does not expect the office's privately sponsored travel to decrease even when Lugar cedes his committee chairmanship to the Democratic majority in 2007.

"Travel tends to be issue- and oversight-oriented, and will not substantially change," Fisher said.

Though he is the newest senator in the Illinois-Indiana delegation, Barack Obama (D-Ill.) also reduced his travel in 2006. His office took nine privately sponsored trips in 2005, but only two totaling less than $1,000 in 2006. Obama's office was not available for comment.

House members from Indiana and Illinois scaled back on private travel, like their counterparts in the Senate.

One representative who shunned private travel before the onset of the Abramoff scandal is Rep Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.). His office has taken only two trips since 2000, and both were taken by aides, not the congressman.

"Visclosky typically uses his time when Congress is not in session to be in Northwest Indiana or spend time with his sons," said spokesman Justin Kitsch.

The new Democratic majority in Washington is expected to win Visclosky the chairmanship of the Water and Energy Appropriations subcommittee. Kitsch said Visclosky's travel could increase in 2007 because of the responsibilities of his new post.

Jim Morris, project manager for the Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group, said private travel is in need of tougher disclosure requirements and better oversight.

"These trip forms are just laughable in many cases," Morris said of the forms legislators and staff are required to file after the take a privately-sponsored trip. "They're so vague. 'Why did you go to Hawaii? Fact-finding? Education?'"

Democrats have made ethics reform a top priority and are expected to review the rules for congressional travel when they take control of both houses in January.

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