Filner reported eight trips between 2000 and 2003, according to an analysis of congressional trips by Medill News Service in partnership with American Public Media's Marketplace program and PoliticalMoneyLine. The average number of trips taken by California House members between 2000 and May 2005 was 12.

Filner's trips were also below the average $3,000 spent on a House member's trip.

His eight trips cost about $7,000 in travel and lodging combined. He did not travel in 2004 and hasn't reported any trips this year.

"I don't think there should be any privately funded trips," Filner said. "I always try to keep in mind that we are private servants and that the travel is not on a personal junket."

His policy, Filner said, is to travel only when it relates to his work in Congress and the two committees on which he serves, Veterans Affairs and Transportation.

He criticized House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, whose privately sponsored travel - especially trips allegedly paid for by Washington lobbyists - has been under intense media scrutiny in recent months.

"I think he has crossed the line and taken trips with people" who are too close to legislation before the House, he said.

Privately sponsored trips, Filner said, suggest a private relationship that most citizens couldn't have with their elected representatives.

"The average person can't spend 10 days with DeLay," he said. "It gives them (trip sponsors) access, a close relationship and power over the legislative process."

Stephen Hess, a government expert at the Brookings Institution, agreed that congressional travel is "most helpful" when it relates to committee work.

But, he added: "He (Filner) votes on issues that don't relate to the committee he specializes on. I would be a little cautious in Congress living by that rule of thumb."

Private sponsors spent about $2 million on a total of 725 trips taken by California congressional members from 2000 through the first five months of this year.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who took the most trips among the California delegation, took a decidedly different view than Filner.

"I am proud of the speaking engagements I do and it makes good sense," Waters said. "And I think it's part of the job."

From 2000 through 2003, Waters reported 61 trips. The majority of her trips were sponsored by universities, nonprofit organizations, churches and private foundations.

She said she gets many invitations to speak because she has a national reputation and is known for her strong views on issues affecting minorities, women and the poor.

Waters was adamant that her speech-making trips "further the aims and goals of getting certain kinds of legislation passed that will benefit the public and the country."

Return to Power Trips: Congress hits the road