$50 million in trips for Congress

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Private groups, corporations or trade associations — many with legislation that could affect them pending before Congress — paid nearly $50 million since 2000 to send members of Congress and their staffers on at least 23,000 trips overseas and within the United States, according to a study released Monday.

The trips included at least 200 journeys to Paris and 150 to Hawaii, room rates of up to $500 a night and trips on corporate jets that cost up to $25,000 a trip, according to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, American Public Media and Northwestern University's Medill News Service.

"Some trips seem to have been little more than pricey vacations — often taken in the company of spouses or other relatives — wrapped around speeches or seminars," the report said. "In many instances, trip sponsors appeared to be buying access to elected officials or their advisers."

Congressional aides took more than 70 percent of the trips, the study found. While the travel isn't illegal, the report shines a light on how business is often done in Washington. It comes in a congressional election year when one of the biggest issues is corruption.

Of the 25 individual lawmakers who accepted more than $120,000 worth of travel during the period, 17 were Democrats. Of the two dozen congressional offices on which private trip sponsors spent the most money, 15 were Republican, the study said.

Ethics violations

The analysis also found many apparent violations of ethics rules. For instance, the study found that at least 90 trips were sponsored or co-sponsored by firms registered to lobby the federal government. Ethics rules do not allow lobbyists to pay for congressional travel, but House and Senate ethics committees virtually never enforce such rules, according to the analysis.

Congress remains deadlocked on legislation that would restrict contacts with lobbyists and impose new ethics standards on members. As scandals have emerged the past two years, lawmakers moved to ban privately financed travel and do away with meals and gifts from lobbyists. Eventually, both the House of Representatives and Senate passed versions of ethics legislation, though neither banned privately financed travel. Negotiations to reconcile bill differences haven't begun.

Under current law, lobbyists are prohibited from paying for congressional travel. But a federal investigation into former lobbyist Jack Abramoff uncovered a scheme in which Abramoff used nonprofit groups to pay for extravagant Scottish golf outings for members and staffers.

A separate study by Political Money Line, a nonpartisan Washington watchdog group, has found that the number of privately financed trips by members of Congress fell this year. Between 2000 and 2005, members logged an average 1,100 trips a year. As of April of this year, members had reported 291 trips.

Advocates of tighter ethics rules said the decline reflects public attention to the Abramoff scandal and others.

"As soon as the attention starts to fade, the travel will start to increase," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a watchdog group.

The study released Monday found that Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his aides accepted about $500,000 in trips since 2000. DeLay is resigning from Congress on Friday under a cloud cast by the investigation into Abramoff, who arranged trips for him.

The top 10 travelers identified in the study are all members of the House and include Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Spokesman Kevin Madden said Boehner met all congressional requirements for his travel, including prompt and public disclosure.

"Relieves taxpayers"

"Travel funded by private interests relieves taxpayers of having to cover the costs of educational travel," Madden said.

In addition to Boehner's office, those that accepted more than $350,000 each in travel, include the offices of lawmakers in party leadership positions or who serve as chairmen in key committees, such as Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

According to the study, among the top corporate sponsors of travel was General Atomic, a San Diego-based high-tech firm that has developed surveillance aircraft as well as wireless and laser technologies.

The company spent $660,000 on 86 trips for lawmakers, staff and spouses from 2000 to mid-2005, the study said.

General Atomic, which developed the Predator spy plane, said in a statement Monday that the trips help expose lawmakers to its products and facilities. It added that congressional ethics committees review the travel agendas before each trip.

The Aspen Institute, a self-described nonpartisan organization, spent about $3.5 million — more than any other group — to send lawmakers to places like the Bahamas to study Brazil and Finland to study Islam.

The group, which is largely funded by private foundations, spent twice as much on Democrats as on Republicans, according to the study.

But James Spiegelman, an institute spokesman, said the organization is not trying to influence members of Congress. "The purpose of the Aspen Institute is to be a nonpartisan forum for dialogue," he said.

Other organizations that spent top dollar to pay for congressional travel included the Nuclear Energy Institute, which spent $1.1 million; American Israel Education Foundation, about $950,000; and the Confederation of Indian Industry, $540,000.