A study of congressional trips by Medill News Service in partnership with American Public Media's Marketplace program and American RadioWorks found that, overall, private interests spent about $14.4 million since Jan. 1, 2000, to send House and Senate members on more than 4,800 trips.

The more than 100 trips taken by Connecticut's two senators and five representatives averaged about $1,800 each. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Fifth District, had the highest average cost -- nearly $6,200 for eight trips. Sen. Joseph Lieberman had the lowest average cost for trips whose cost he reported but the most travel among the delegation -- less than $500 for 37 trips; he took another 10 trips for which he did not report costs because that information is not required on annual financial disclosure forms. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Third District, was the least traveled -- just two trips.

The average trip in the House was $3,159, and the Senate average was $2,285.

Each trip is a matter of public record because an outside party - like a think tank, association or university - paid for it, but the trips varied widely in length, scope, destination and cost.

For example, while Rep. John Larson's three trips took him to Las Vegas for a speech, New Orleans for a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, and the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia for a meeting of the Public Governance Institute, three of Johnson's eight trips took her abroad to Scotland, Russia and Italy. The Ripon Educational Fund, an advocacy group with ties to the conservative Ripon Society, sponsored her Scotland and Italy trips. In Moscow, Johnson attended a conference with the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan global policy think tank and by far the largest sponsor of congressional trips.

The seven trips on which Larson, D-First District, traveled averaged nearly $1,850, while Johnson's eight averaged nearly $6,200, including the $15,200 trip to Scotland.

"Representative. Johnson always has a busy schedule in Connecticut," Johnson spokesman Brian Schubert said. "But on occasion she meets with colleagues and travels with foreign officials to discuss how to make the economy stronger, how to create jobs in Connecticut, and how to improve health and health care in Connecticut. All of this falls under her position on the House Ways and Means Committee" which, he noted, oversees programs like Medicare, Social Security and welfare.

The Ripon-sponsored trips to Rome, Scotland and San Francisco permitted Johnson to discuss U.S. economic competitiveness, as well as international security concerns, Schubert said.

Lieberman's 47 trips include 19 appearances on television shows, and his lower average trip price reflects that. According to spokeswoman Casey Aden-Wansbury, talk shows like NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "Late Edition" often provide and pay for transportation to and from the studio.

However, that practice stopped for Lieberman in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, when Capitol Police determined that Lieberman and many other well-known lawmakers needed police escorts, Aden-Wansbury said.

Speeches dominate

More than 50 of the delegation's trips - slightly more than half - were for speeches to groups ranging from the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (DeLauro) to the American Shipbuilding Association (Rep. Robert Simmons, R-Second District).

While fact-finding trips, meetings and conferences make up the other 46 trips, Shays said speeches are much easier to work into schedules because you can be "in and out" in one or two days.

"You can't be away too often," said Shays, R-Fourth District, whose travel schedule included 15 speeches out of 24 total trips. "You have responsibilities in your district and you have other things to do."

Shays said many of his speeches are related to issues on which he works in Congress as a member of the House Government Reform and Homeland Security committees.

Sen. Chris Dodd, who took 22 trips, gave 18 speeches to audiences ranging from representatives of the Chicago Board of Trade in Boca Raton, Fla., to constituents attending Operation Sail 2000 in New London and Stamford. Spokeswoman Holly Barnes said Dodd's expertise in health care, education, labor, trade and foreign relations determine his trips and his speeches.

And, as always in Congress, politics is never too far from the radar.

"The senator also travels at the request of his colleagues," Barnes said. "For example, when Sen. (Fritz) Hollings (D-S.C.) asked him to address the Hibernian Society in South Carolina, or Sen. (Byron) Dorgan (D-N.D.) asked that he give the commencement speech at the University of North Dakota."

Sixteen of Lieberman's trips were for speeches. Aden-Wansbury said he "makes decisions about travel and speaking engagements on a case-by-case basis, usually based on some combination of his committee assignments, interest or involvement in the issue involved in the travel and speaking engagements, and his scheduling ability."

DeLauro's trip-taking philosophy is more cut-and-dried, said spokesman Herb Giobbi. In the time frame of the study, DeLauro took only two trips - one to Juneau, Alaska, sponsored by the Alaska Rainforest Campaign, and one to speak at a pharmaceutical conference in Florida.

"Those are two issues she's very engaged in, both the environment and drug reimportation and generic drugs," Giobbi said. "It shows you she's here [in Washington] working a lot."

But while Schubert said Johnson recognizes the importance of working for constituents in Washington - and in the home district - she also believes it is important to get a change of perspective when it comes to lawmaking.

"The trips allow her to better represent the people of the 5th district of Connecticut and fight for better jobs and healthcare in Connecticut," he said.

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