Travel Deals And Articles

Congress Cuts Down On Interest-Group-Funded Travel

Washington, DC (PRWEB) February 21, 2008 - Members of Congress and their staff accepted barely one-quarter as many trips from private interest groups last year as they did only two years before, according to LegiStorm (http://www.legistorm.com/trip.html), a web company that provides information about Congress.

Congressional travelers filed reports of 1,320 trips costing $3.73 million that they took courtesy of private interest groups in 2007, down dramatically from the peaks in trip number and cost. In 2004 4,684 trips costing $10.21 million were taken, and in 2005 4,797 privately funded trips cost $9.77 million. The number of trips reported continued its decline even from the 2006 total of 1,848 trips, although the total spent increased from $3.56 million thanks to more-expensive foreign journeys.

The decline in privately financed travel comes as scrutiny has increased and ethics rules have tightened since the scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff blossomed in 2005.

"Not only have congressional trips decreased but the character of those trips has changed dramatically as well over the past two years," said Jock Friedly, a former congressional investigative reporter who is president and founder of LegiStorm. "Increasingly, this travel is sponsored not by well-heeled interest groups with narrow public policy interests but by universities, foundations and think tanks which have broader educational missions. While travel paid by private companies and interests has by no means disappeared, it is far less conspicuous now."

Privately financed congressional travel has been a topic of concern for government watchdogs in recent years because of the extraordinary opportunity that trips offer for private interests to sway public policy.

"It is fascinating to see how greater public scrutiny of these trips appears to have virtually shut down some of the more patently absurd trips," Friedly said. "In the past, we saw such things as cruise ship inspections paid by cruise companies and visits to European capitals to investigate airport baggage security systems. But you can't really find much of that in 2007. It is proof that transparency can modify behavior."

Some of the biggest corporate trip sponsors of the past few years appeared to suspend sponsorship of congressional trips altogether in 2007. Since 2000, Microsoft Corp. (http://www.legistorm.com/trip/sponsor/4840/Microsoft_Corp_.html) has sponsored more than 250 trips to educate members and staffers about relevant issues like piracy and antitrust laws, or even to celebrate the launch of the Xbox video game system. Yet the Seattle-based company sponsored not a single trip last year.

Likewise, the Nuclear Energy Institute (http://www.legistorm.com/trip/sponsor/5665/Nuclear_Energy_Institute.html) has ferried hundreds of congressional aides in recent years to Las Vegas, Nev. where they could take in shows and gamble while learning about the importance of the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository to the nuclear industry. None of those trips occurred in 2007.

Lavishly financed excursions to Taiwan sponsored by an industry group, with major government involvement, had been among the most popular trips taken by congressional staff, with scores of staffers making the trip each year. Last year, there were no trips reported by this industry group and only two total to Taiwan.

The pro-Israel lobby proved its enduring clout as Israel remained a favored travel destination. More than 1 in 5 dollars spent on congressional travel in 2007, or 22%, was to that country, with most of the money coming from the American Israel Education Foundation (http://www.legistorm.com/trip/sponsor/4922/American_Israel_Education_Foundation.html). In all, $831,331 was spent on 75 separate Israel trips. Germany and China were also top foreign destinations, although the funding was from more diverse sources.

In 2007, the bulk of the congressional trip funding was for more-expensive visits to foreign countries. While foreign countries were the destination in only 423 of 1320 trips, or 32%, these trips cost $2.78 million of the $3.73 million total, or 75%

The busiest month by far was August, when Congress recesses and members and staffers have time for extended foreign trips. Some $1.26 million, or more than one-third of the total for the year, was spent on travel that month.

LegiStorm maintains a comprehensive database of more than 27,000 privately financed congressional trips based on the disclosures required of members of Congress and their staff by the House and Senate ethics committees. LegiStorm.com makes all trips, including images of the actual documents filed, freely available to all users.

Members and staffers have 30 days to file their trip reports so all 2007 records are now supposed to be complete, although in the past a few straggling filers have sometimes taken months or years to submit their paperwork, if they file it at all.

LegiStorm, founded in September 2006, maintains the only database of congressional staff salaries (http://www.legistorm.com/salaries.html). The site features numerous other resources, such as personal financial disclosures of members of Congress, political headlines and cartoons, House and Senate floor and committee schedules, and reports from the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the White House.

LegiStorm is a sister company to Storming Media, a provider of Pentagon documents (http://www.stormingmedia.us), and PatentStorm, a provider of U.S. patent information (http://www.patentstorm.us).

###

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Poland Culinary Vacations Takes Food, Vodka and Culture Enthusiasts on Cooking Trips to Poland
Foodies, especially kielbasa enthusiasts, and vodka lovers now have a brand new, palate-tailored travel option: Poland Culinary Vacations. Poland native Malgorzata (Sarna) Rose has just launched her company to offer food fans a way to explore a traditional cuisine, culture and land through trips she personally designs.

Belize Adventure Travel Package - New 5 Night Extreme Jungle Adventure Based at the Belize Jungle Dome
Belize Travel Agent and Tour Operator Green Dragon Adventure Travel is pleased to announce the latest in its impressive selection of unique Inclusive Packages to Belize. The 5 Night Extreme Jungle Adventure is now offered in response to the ever growing popularity of Jungle adventures to the interior of Belize, Central America.

Estancia del Zorro is Now Listed with AmericanFlyFishingTravel.com -- a Major Fly Fishing Travel Website
Chilean Patagonia's Estancia del Zorro fly fishing lodge is in the Coyhaique Alto mountain range on the Chilean-Argentine border, 23 miles from Coyhaique, Chile. The 15,000 acre Estancia rests in the habitat of the red fox (zorro), the namesake of the Estancia. Estancia del Zorro is now listed with AmericanFlyFishingTravel.com.

Coastal Vacation Scams Equal Bad Vacations For You
Coastal vacation scam artists take people?s money with promises of phony vacations. Many of these offers use words like ?cheap Hawaiian vacation? to lure travelers.

Singles Travel International Announces Luxury Cruises for 2008
Singles Travel International (http://www.singlestravelintl.com) proudly announces their 2008 luxury cruise calendar, offering an incredible variety of travel adventures for single adults who love to travel and explore. This year's schedule (http://singlestravelintl.com/16182.1.54618/Trip_Calendar.html) includes a transatlantic cruise on the prestigious Queen Mary 2, and trips to the Caribbean, Alaska, Norwegian Fjords on Cunard's elegant new Queen Victoria, Greece, Mexico, Egypt, Turkey and more. Singles Travel Internat...

M&S Travel Money Hits the Beach in New Advertising Campaign
M&S Travel Money launch a major new summer advertising campaign, starring Myleene Klass.

Take Your Nursing Skills To The Next Level With Travel Nursing
Are you a nurse interested in finding travel nursing information? Most of the time nurses looking for travel nursing information go stratight to the Internet, kind of like what you are doing right now, to find as much information as they can about travel nursing. This may be a good place to start, but you should use the Internet to find good sources for nursing recruiters. Nursing recruiters will have the information you need to get started in travel nursing. Most of the information you find online will not give you the detailed information you need for travel nursing.

Coastal Vacations Director Dean Marino Welcomes First Official Coastal Vacations Event To Los Angeles
California based Coastal Vacations Director Dean Marino welcomes the first official Coastal Vacations event in Los Angeles. The one day conference is sanctioned by the Coastal Vacations Board of Directors. It is the first such event outside the state of Florida for the 12-year-old top rated home based business.

Costa Rica ? Your Next Trip Destination
From rainforest jungle retreats to five star resorts, there is something for everyone to enjoy in Costa Rica. Vacationing in Costa Rica will be an experience that you will never forget.

THAT Agency Re-Invents MEMadrid.travel
THAT Agency, a Florida-based Web design and marketing firm, launches the newly re-designed MEMadrid.travel for ME Madrid, an experience hotel located in the heart of Spain.

The Best Types of Family Vacations
Family is an important center of community on every part of the world. It is where one's values and integrity are honed, and where one's best memories of childhood (or life in all) are made from.

Benefits From Using Travel Reviews For Vacation Planning
Most travelers have invested enough time in making travel arrangements to be able to review the services that they receive while on vacation with a viewpoint that is neutral. Other travelers benefit from using travel reviews in this format because the comments made can help them have a good time on the next vacation they plan. People are able to look at reviews written about vacation sites and see clear images of why people should avoid certain hotels.

All Family Travel Fun and No Fuss at Marriott and JW Hotels and Resorts
Kids eat free with the Escape!® Family Time package - Family travel has never been so easy. From January 24 to April 27, 2008, Marriott® Hotels & Resorts and JW® Marriott Hotels & Resorts, full-service brands of Marriott International, Inc., offers the Escape!® Family Time package for family travel.

FASTAFF Makes it Easier to See What Travel Nursing is all About
FASTAFF, a leading travel nursing agency, is traveling the United States to provide information to nurses and healthcare facilities in one-on-one sessions