Rep. Jim Nussle, R-1st, took no third-party-sponsored trips between 2000 and mid-2004, according to an analysis of congressional travel records by Medill News Service and American Public Media's Marketplace and American RadioWorks.

"He's just going around being with Iowans," said Nussle spokeswoman Kim Deti. "He spends so much time in the state, and that's a big factor."

Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin and Republican Sen. Charles Grassley each took three trips in the last four years sponsored by outside interests.

Harkin traveled to Havana, for three days in 2003 to promote human rights, discuss trade and meet with Cuban president Fidel Castro, said spokeswoman Maureen Knightly. The Center for International Policy, a Washington think tank promoting international cooperation, sponsored Harkin's $2,386 fact-finding mission.

Harkin also traveled to San Antonio, Texas, with the American Corn Growers' Association and to Orlando, Fla., with the International Longshoremen's Association.

His three trips totaled $5,532 - far below the $22,000 of third-party money spent on the average senator over the last four years. Knightly said Harkin's calendar is too full for much travel.

"The senator was busy doing his work as a senator, both in Washington and in Iowa," she said. "Basically, his schedule in the Senate has been pretty busy."

Grassley also took only three trips since 2000, at a total cost of $3,652.

"Whenever the Senate is not in session, he goes back to Iowa 99 percent of the time," said spokesman Dustin Vande Hoef.

Grassley took two three-day trips to Orlando, sponsored by the National Rifle Association, and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, respectively.

The Cooperstown Conference Foundation, which dealt with railroad issues, sent Grassley and his wife to Cooperstown, N.Y., in 2002 to appear on a panel, Vande Hoef said. Grassley's wife, Barbara Ann, helped organize the event.

Return to Power Trips: Congress hits the road