Since Jan. 1, 2000, Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh received nearly $143,000 in sponsored travel expenses, and GOP Sen. Richard Lugar more than $113,000, according to a study of congressional travel records over the last 4 1/2 years by Medill News Service in partnership with American Public Media's Marketplace and American RadioWorks. Radio.

The totals for Bayh and Lugar were the second and third-highest amounts, respectively, in the Senate.

Between January 2000 and June of this year, private sponsors have spent $14.4 million to send lawmakers on more than 4,800 trips. Congressmen may take such trips, but must follow certain rules when accepting compensation for transportation, lodging and meal expenses.

Visclosky was one of 47 members of Congress, including eight senators, who had no recorded sponsored trips.

"He chooses to spend time with his children or working with his constituents in Washington or northwest Indiana and there isn't very much time left over for trips," said spokeswoman Katherine Bensen-Piscopo.

Bayh took 41 trips at an average cost of $3,485, the 20th highest average in the Senate. Nearly half were sponsored by the Democratic Leadership Council, which Bayh chairs.

The average Senate trip cost just under $2,500, though many were less expensive speaking engagements sponsored by news companies and universities - usually to appear on television news shows or give commencement addresses. Bayh's speaking engagement at his alma mater, the University of Virginia Law School, cost the school $1,109.50.

But congressional oversight groups are more concerned about trips sponsored by corporations, which the groups say could be trying to influence legislation. Though the rules for subsidizing trips stipulate no lobbying groups may sponsor legislators, company executives can gain access by inviting members of Congress to speak at their annual conferences.

"I think the biggest problem arises when the trip is sponsored by someone who has a financial interest in the votes of Congress," said Danielle Brian, director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog organization.

"At some level, Congress doesn't have all the resources to go on all the trips it could. So I don't say they're blanket wrong," she added. "But if the company sponsoring the trip has a financial interest, that's where I draw the line."

That wouldn't include groups like the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan organization that promotes congressional understanding of policy issues. Aspen sponsored the largest number of congressional trips, including 16 for Lugar valued at $111,500, and five for Bayh totaling $33,247.

But corporations also have sponsored trips, including freight railroad CSX Corp., which has hosted several congressional retreats and panels at its luxury resort, the Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Bayh participated in five panel discussions at the Greenbrier, receiving $7,781.26 worth of travel, lodging and meal expenses from CSX. According to the company website, CSX wants to block or reduce government railroad regulation.

"These events are not strictly CSX, it's the members of the company," said Bayh's spokeswoman, Meg Keck. "When the senator goes, he goes to speak about national security and current issues before the Senate. … The (company's) members want to learn more about national security."

Keck said Bayh's trips usually are one of four types: DLC-sponsored trips, educational conferences, speaking engagements and fact-finding trips to other countries.

Bayh took two of the 10 most expensive trips in the Senate. Both were to China, which Keck said helped Bayh open up Chinese markets to Indiana products, such as soybeans.

Lugar took 19 trips, the 14th highest of all senators, at an average cost of $6,293 - fourth highest in the Senate.

Nearly all Lugar's sponsored trips were to informational conferences held in tropical locations such as Honolulu, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Despite the inviting locales, a spokesman for Lugar said the trips were entirely for business purposes. Many of them were conferences on U.S. relations with China or Mexico and were related to his role as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

But he also attends conferences that spark his interest, Webber said. After attending an educational conference in the Caribbean, he wrote a letter to congressional appropriators urging certain funding for disadvantaged schools.

"He's able to take information from conferences, then talk to Hoosiers about validating certain theoretical issues that were discussed, and then put forth proposals or initiatives that could help people in Indiana," Webber said.

Lugar attends the events regardless of location, Webber said, adding that the senator "would be no less interested in education reform in Washington, D.C., than wherever the Aspen Institute holds these conferences."

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