WASHINGTON — When Rep. Diana DeGette traveled to Miami in the dead of winter for a health-care conference, she stayed at a $375-per-night hotel on a small island beside Biscayne Bay.
When Rep. Tom Tancredo jetted to Taiwan in March to see that country’s democracy, he and his wife flew business-class there and first-class back home. Rep. John Salazar and his wife rode business-class when they traveled to Germany last July.
And when an aide to Salazar went to Las Vegas for a January conference sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association, he stayed at a hotel chosen in part because it served “American lamb.”
Almost a year after Congress passed rules to rein in controversial congressional travel funded by outside groups, lawmakers and their aides are still accepting trips.
The new rules, however, have changed the world of congressional travel. There are fewer trips. And new disclosure requirements make details of the jaunts visible for the first time, with itineraries showing whether lawmakers attend meetings or cocktail parties.
“It’s way harder to sin than it used to be,” said Sarah Dufendach, vice president of legislative affairs for Common Cause, a watchdog group.
Before the rule change that came in 2007, private companies and other groups lavished lawmakers with trips. Between 2000 and 2006, Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska and his aides took 296 trips that cost a total of $558,801, the highest total of any House member, according to .
Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and his staff took 135 trips costing $346,572 during that period, earning the top spot for travel in the Senate.
The ethics overhaul bill was introduced Jan. 4, 2007, the day the current Congress came in, though voluntary disclosures had begun months earlier. The ethics changes became law last September.
A peak of 1,340 trips costing $3.6 million in 2005 dropped to 441 trips costing $2.1 million last year, according to Congressional Quarterly’s MoneyLine. Those numbers include only members of Congress and not their aides.
Under the new ethics rules, trips must be preapproved. Lawmakers detail where they will go and who will pay; where they will stay; costs for airfare, rooms and food; with whom they will met; whether they will receive gifts; and how much free time they will have.
Organizations that employ lobbyists cannot pay for trips unless they are one-day events.
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation shifted their travel and disclosure patterns early last year. Most still traveled, however, as did their aides.
All of the trips were approved by the designated House or Senate committee.
State lawmakers’ travel
In the last 18 months, Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and his staff had the highest cost for travel paid by outside groups. Six trips taken by Lamborn or aides totaled $32,441.
The biggest chunk of Lam born’s total cost was a $22,395 trip he and his wife, Jeanie, took to Israel last August, sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation. It’s one of the biggest bankrollers of congressional travel, each year taking dozens of lawmakers to Israel.
Alan Salazar, chief of staff to Democratic Rep. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs, took the trip last July.
The Lamborns flew business-class on their journey.
“The Middle East is such a critical part of so many things affecting our country. Energy, the military, the war in Iraq,” Lamborn said. “Going to Israel . . . is one way of getting one important perspective on all those issues.
The trip is a busy one, with events starting at 8 a.m. and lasting until after 8 p.m.
Lamborn also traveled to West Palm Beach in March 2007 and February 2008 for a conference funded by Club for Growth, a conservative group. He said “there are worse places to go,” than West Palm Beach but that “it could be in Cleveland” and he would still attend.
Tancredo, R-Littleton, wasn’t far behind Lamborn in total travel cost, and he reached it with fewer trips. Tancredo, his wife, Jackie, and his chief of staff, Mac Zimmerman, went to Taiwan at a cost of $32,020.
Sponsored by Fu Jen Catholic University, the Taiwan trip has been popular in Congress for years, said Common Cause’s Dufendach. Aides to Rep. Salazar, D-Manassa, and Sen. Wayne Allard, a Loveland Republican, took it in 2006.
“It’s infamous,” Dufendach said.
Trip funding watched
Congress-watchers consider the Taiwan trip controversial because of how it’s funded. Foreign countries are not allowed to pay for travel by U.S. lawmakers. Fu Jen receives grants from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. It is independent but funded by Taiwan’s government, said Edward Friedman, a Taiwan expert with the University of Wisconsin.
“It’s basically a government (-funded) trip,” Dufendach said. “People have sort of closed their eyes to it because Taiwan is an ally.”
While in Taiwan, Tancredo met with the country’s then- president, attended a dinner hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, observed voting and met with businesses. His itinerary does not show much free time.
Tancredo declined interview requests but issued a statement saying in part, “I have always worked to improve America’s friendship with Taiwan and tried to encourage and support their young democracy.”
Salazar’s trip to Germany was funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. It promotes collaboration between the U.S. and Europe and has received grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the European Union.
Salazar declined interview requests.
In addition to the Miami conference in January 2007, DeGette, D-Denver, took trips to Puerto Rico in February 2007 and to Charleston, S.C., this past February.
“These conferences are working conferences,” DeGette said.
She likes the events, DeGette added, because they are a bipartisan effort to discuss policy.
And as for that beachfront location in Miami, DeGette said, “I don’t think I ever left the hotel.”
Anne C. Mulkern: 202-662-8907 or amulkern@denverpost.com
