Posted on 05/30/2005 11:14:48 AM PDT by Pikamax
AP: Lawmakers Belatedly Disclose Trips By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
Scrutiny of Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travel has led to the belated disclosure of at least 198 previously unreported special interest trips by House members and their aides, including eight years of travel by the second-ranking Democrat, an Associated Press review has found.
At least 43 House members and dozens of aides had failed to meet the one-month deadline in ethics rules for disclosing trips financed by organizations outside the U.S. government.
The AP review of thousands of pages of records covered pre-2005 travel that was disclosed since early March. That's when news stories began scrutinizing DeLay's travel, prompting lawmakers to comb through their files to make sure they had disclosed their travel.
While most of the previously undisclosed trips occurred in 2004, some date back to the late 1990s. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer recently disclosed 12 trips, the oldest dating back to 1997.
Stacey Bernards, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Democrat, said the office searched the files after the travel issue was raised initially by "Republicans doing opposition research to deflect from their own ethical issues."
Hoyer's undisclosed trips were nearly doubled by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., with 21. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., reported 20 past trips and Rep. Elijah Cummings (news, bio, voting record), D-Md. reported 13.
Republican and Democratic House members were nearly equal rules violators in failing to disclose their personal trips within 30 days after the trip's completion. There were 23 GOP members, 19 Democrats and 1 independent, all of them months or years late in their reporting to the House public records office.
Staff members for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., disclosed 11 prior trips, while staff members for DeLay, R-Texas, had 4. Rep. John Linder (news, bio, voting record) of Georgia, a former chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, belatedly filed 9 trips, as did Rep. Maxine Waters (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.
The volume of unreported trips surprised the former chairman of the House ethics committee, Rep. Joel Hefley (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo.
"I didn't realize the extent of the problem," Hefley said. "There is no particular sanction (for tardiness) if you come back and file. They get lax. They don't think about it.
"People will be more aware now. The ethics committee will be more aware that it's a problem."
A spokesman for Gutierrez said the seven-term lawmaker did not know of his obligation to file the required travel disclosure reports.
"In late April, the congressman approached our staff to ask why in the news he was reading all this information about trips," spokesman Scott Frotman said.
Cummings spokeswoman Trudy Perkins said the original reports were sent to the House's public records office on time throughout 2004, using an internal mail system. They never made it to the public files.
"It was our understanding they were on file. It was odd, certainly," Perkins said.
Hayley Rumback, press secretary for Tauscher, said, "A recent review of our travel records showed that while all travel was properly disclosed on annual financial disclosure statements, some additional travel disclosure forms were not filed. We have corrected this oversight."
The travel in question is not for official government trips known as CODELS, shorthand for Congressional Delegations.
The special interest trips are usually financed by corporations, trade groups, think tanks, universities and others. They often pay for first-class commercial seats or provide corporate jets for lawmakers.
Many trips combine speeches, seminars and fact-finding tours with golf, sightseeing, shopping and accommodations at first-class hotels — often in foreign countries.
"This sudden rush to file reports on previously undisclosed trips is certainly filling many pages of congressional passports," said Kent Cooper, head of the PoliticalMoneyLine Internet site that tracks political donations and travel.
Some lawmakers and staff members wrote apologetic letters to the House ethics committee.
Rep. John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, said he discovered "my staff had failed to submit a travel disclosure" for a trip to Scotland in August 2004, an error made "during a staff transition."
Elizabeth Greer, an aide to Rep. F. Allen Boyd (news, bio, voting record) Jr., D-Fla., took responsibility for not filing her documents after a trip to Kenya in December 2004. She said she completed the form soon after the trip, but "found it still buried on my desk recently. It simply slipped off my radar screen and found its way to the bottom of a pile."
One late filer, Republican Rep. Melissa Hart (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, is a current member of the ethics committee who could make judgments on DeLay's travel.
DeLay has asked the committee to review his travel, following allegations that a lobbyist paid for some of his trips despite a ban on such payments.
"Someone had done a story and incorrectly listed my travel," Hart said in an interview, explaining what led her to check her records. She found an unreported trip she made to Hungary and Germany last November.
Popular destinations listed in the tardy disclosures included Amelia Island, Fla.; New York City; San Juan; San Francisco; San Diego; Miami and Las Vegas. Foreign sites included Cuba, Taiwan and Israel.
Among the most expensive trips:
_Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah and his wife, Amy, traveled to Australia last November, listing a combined airfare of $24,804 paid by the American Australian Association. The nonprofit group says it is devoted to strengthening relations between the United States and two allies, Australia and New Zealand. Matheson said meals and lodging were picked up by the Australian government, but no amounts were specified.
_Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., and his wife, Claudia, traveled to Israel and Spain last November and December, listing the cost at $21,226. The travel, for participation in a Jerusalem conference, was financed by the Michael Cherney Foundation. The organization has various charity projects in Israel, including help for victims of suicide bombings.
_Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., and his wife, Lynne, traveled to Israel and Jordan in January, 2004 at a cost of $19,650. Linder said the trip, sponsored by The Jerusalem Fund, was designed to promote international understanding.
Waters, the California Democrat, insisted her late reports were unrelated to DeLay's troubles, and blamed those who paid her way.
"Sometimes they run late because the people who are responsible for inviting you have to get you all the receipts and they are so slow," Waters said.
___
Associated Press Writer Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this story.
bump
How much did the Congressional Respresentatives get for their trip?
Marketplace, American RadioWorks ^ | 5/04/2005 | Steve Henn
Posted on 05/04/2005 1:31:08 PM CDT by Sen Jack S. Fogbound
Here is the Top 100 trip makers by our respresentatives since 2000.
Top 100 Trip Takers
John Breaux - Democratic Party - $158,311.92
Robert Wexler - Democratic Party - $155,137.21
Gene Green - Democratic Party - $153,873.02
Maurice Hinchey - Democratic Party - $152,169.25
Cal Dooley - Democratic Party - $148,562.50
Evan Bayh - Democratic Party - $142,884.94
Maxine Waters - Democratic Party - $132,219.23
James Clyburn - Democratic Party - $129,540.79
Philip English - Republican Party - $129,231.54
Jim McDermott - Democratic Party - $128,725.91
Harold Rogers - Republican Party - $126,882.93
Gregory Meeks - Democratic Party - $126,690.08
John Boehner - Republican Party - $126,537.08
F. James Sensenbrenner - Republican Party - $126,424.65
James Greenwood - Republican Party - $121,890.57
George Miller - Democratic Party - $119,368.70
Richard Lugar - Republican Party - $113,279.68
Ed Pastor - Democratic Party - $111,438.89
Philip Crane - Republican Party - $109,994.72
Donald Payne - Democratic Party - $105,503.23
David Price - Democratic Party - $105,047.18
Dana Rohrabacher - Republican Party - $102,982.41
Ander Crenshaw - Republican Party - $102,967.56
Howard Berman - Democratic Party - $97,203.35
Paul Sarbanes - Democratic Party - $93,045.01
Joseph Biden - Democratic Party - $90,906.28
Lloyd Doggett - Democratic Party - $86,084.67
Don Nickles - Republican Party - $84,171.90
Tom DeLay - Republican Party - $82,390.71
Shelley Berkley - Democratic Party - $82,359.05
Solomon Ortiz - Democratic Party - $80,835.45
Henry Waxman - Democratic Party - $80,306.69
Joseph Crowley - Democratic Party - $79,807.23
Don Young - Republican Party - $79,615.31
Tom Lantos - Democratic Party - $79,005.14
Jesse Jr. Jackson - Democratic Party - $77,858.53
John Duncan, Jr. - Republican Party - $77,042.33
Doug Bereuter - Republican Party - $77,005.14
Thomas Allen - Democratic Party - $75,722.97
Todd Tiahrt - Republican Party - $69,791.20
Michael Castle - Republican Party - $69,671.29
Rush Holt - Democratic Party - $67,950.43
Eliot Engel - Democratic Party - $67,471.23
Stephanie Jones - Democratic Party - $67,331.76
Sherrod Brown - Democratic Party - $66,203.33
David Obey - Democratic Party - $65,838.01
Barbara Lee - Democratic Party - $65,321.21
Tom Udall - Democratic Party - $63,597.18
Frank Murkowski - Republican Party - $63,519.79
Jim McCrery - Republican Party - $62,008.52
Howard Coble - Republican Party - $61,874.65
Bob Graham - Democratic Party - $61,696.90
Pete Sessions - Republican Party - $61,619.49
Constance Morella - Republican Party - $60,701.60
Barbara Boxer - Democratic Party - $60,233.91
Christopher Shays - Republican Party - $59,719.83
Barney Frank - Democratic Party - $59,676.55
W.J. Tauzin - Republican Party - $59,539.21
Michael Oxley - Republican Party - $59,393.68
Olympia Snowe - Republican Party - $58,526.22
Rick Boucher - Democratic Party - $58,098.38
Janice Schakowsky - Democratic Party - $57,822.06
Ed Whitfield - Republican Party - $57,529.98
Harold Ford, Jr. - Democratic Party - $57,430.59
Mike Thompson - Democratic Party - $57,121.06
Charles Stenholm - Democratic Party - $56,150.96
Melvin Watt - Democratic Party - $55,372.62
Wally Herger - Republican Party - $55,169.64
Jim Kolbe - Republican Party - $54,720.66
Pat Roberts - Republican Party - $54,681.41
Sander Levin - Democratic Party - $54,494.71
Corrine Brown - Democratic Party - $54,351.70
Jerry Weller - Republican Party - $54,059.60
Sam Farr - Democratic Party - $53,380.53
Bob Barr - Republican Party - $53,297.98
Dennis Moore - Democratic Party - $52,678.44
Tom Sawyer - Democratic Party - $52,286.35
Eni Faleomavaega - Democratic Party - $52,197.42
Danny Davis - Democratic Party - $52,074.72
Loretta Sanchez - Democratic Party - $51,651.58
David Hobson - Republican Party - $50,586.60
Earl Blumenauer - Democratic Party - $50,465.15
Ted Stevens - Republican Party - $50,393.02
Bob Etheridge - Democratic Party - $49,911.23
Scott McInnis - Republican Party - $49,852.59
Eva Clayton - Democratic Party - $49,852.19
Joe Barton - Republican Party - $49,534.95
Nancy Johnson - Republican Party - $49,515.85
Ernie Fletcher - Republican Party - $49,404.30
Nick Rahall, II - Democratic Party - $48,345.99
William Thomas - Republican Party - $47,594.15
Christopher Dodd - Democratic Party - $47,135.32
Kent Conrad - Democratic Party - $46,647.38
Robert Ney - Republican Party - $46,095.35
Richard Burr - Republican Party - $45,871.40
William Jefferson - Democratic Party - $45,372.86
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen - Republican Party - $44,971.00
Darrell Issa - Republican Party - $44,956.65
Amo Houghton - Republican Party - $44,539.43
James Moran - Democratic Party - $43,531.49
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