The
costs of overseas trips taken by Senators and their staffers jumped by about 20
percent last year, reaching an all-time high of more than $5 million in publicly
reported costs, which is still likely less than half the actual
total.
According to travel disclosures published in the Congressional
Record, the federal government spent $5.2 million on trips overseas for Senators
and their staffs in 2010. The year before, the total figure was about $4.4
million after reaching its previous high of $4.9 million in 2008, according to
the Congressional Research Service.
As Roll
Call has previously reported, the trip expenses that show up in the
Congressional Record represent only a fraction of their true cost, as millions
of dollars spent by the Pentagon to provide government aircraft and most of the
logistical arrangements handled by the State Department are not included in the
Congressional reports.
Congressional foreign travel is paid out of a bottomless account at
the Treasury Department that refills itself and does not require appropriations
from Congress. Since there is no limit on or budget for travel overseas, there
is little incentive for travelers to pare back trip costs or examine the costs
of such travel on an annual basis. Roll Call
Though
Senate reports have disclosed about $27.7 million in travel costs in the
Congressional Record from 2001 to 2009, according to the CRS, annual Treasury
Department reports indicate that its Senate travel account actually paid out
about $36.8 million during that period. When
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and a staffer visited The
office of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reported sending two staffers to
Senators
and staffers with the Foreign Relations Committee spent more on travel overseas
than those with any other committee. Over the past year, the committee spent
nearly $1 million on trips abroad. The
Senate Intelligence Committee also reported high travel costs, spending about
$815,000 during the year [2010], though the destinations or details about the
committee's trips are not disclosed. The
Appropriations Committee reported expenses of about $600,000 in 2010. As the
year drew to a close, the committee spent more than $125,000 to send staffers to
locations that included
ARA/SM/MMN
- Latest News
- Top Hits