By Billy House
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON -- GOP Rep. Adam Putnam approved more privately funded trips for his staffers last year than all but nine other members of 435-seat U.S. House or 100-seat Senate.
While Putnam has taken just one privately funded trip himself since new congressional travel limits were signed into law in September 2007, he has given his go-ahead to 19 other such trips by aides – 12 in 2008 alone -- a review of U.S. House records shows.
Those trips include travel to conferences or other events in Germany, Israel and New Orleans, and a Civil War battlefield in Virginia.
Prior to the new travel limits being signed into law by former President George W. Bush on Sept. 14, 2007, Putnam had approved just two trips for either himself or his staff dating from Jan. 1, 2006.
According to the government-watch group Public Citizen, the numbers of privately sponsored trips taken or approved by Congress, overall, appear to be dropping following the new rules that came out of scandals involving former DC super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Congress-wide numbers for 2008 are not yet available. But there were about 411 such trips by lawmakers or their staffers in all of 2007, according to Craig Holman, legislative representative at Public Citizen. That compares to 2,110 trips in 2005 and 2006, and 2,306 trips in 2003 and 2004.
Putnam spokesman Keith Rupp attributes to seemingly counter-intuitive sharp increase in his own boss' approval of such trips by his staff to Putnam's ascension at the end of 2006 to the No. 3 Republican post in the House.
Like other party leadership posts, explained Rupp, the job of GOP Conference chairman gave Putman additional staff, on top of his personal office staff. Putnam and those added conference leader staffers were expected to play a key role in organizing Republican congressional retreats, and other events, some paid for by outside groups, he said.
“It’s apples and oranges,” said Rupp of what he termed a comparison with other lawmakers who had only personal staffs, and weren’t required to help organize party retreats and conferences. “It’s not even apples and oranges. It’s apples and corn.”
Despite the argument, the 20 trips Putnam’s approved for himself and for both his personal staff or his conference chairman staff since Sept. 14, 2007 exceeded the 17 trips approved by the No. 2 House Republican, Roy Blunt of Missouri. The top House Republican Leader, John Boehner of Ohio, approved 24 such trips. Putnam stepped down prior to the start of this year as conference chairman.
Mixed Bag For Most
The numbers of privately funded trips approved over the years for Tampa Bay's other four House members and Florida's two senators are a mixed bag.
Democrat U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, has approved nine trips since the new rules took effect in Sept. 14, 2007, including one for himself to a Democratic Leadership Conference in Virginia and two trips for aides to separate conferences in Germany.
Nelson had approved five trips for his aides prior to that, dating from Jan. 1, 2006, though none for himself.
Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and Tampa Bay area GOP Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville and Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor have each approved just two privately funded trips since the new rules took effect. Of those lawmakers, only Brown-Waite took a trip herself, to a National Foundation for Women Legislators annual conference in Sarasota in November.
From Jan. 1, 2006, and Sept. 14, 2007 – before the new rules -- Brown-Waite had approved five trips for her office, three of them for herself. Martinez had approved just one trip for a staffer.
Bilirakis, who did not take office until January 2007, had approved one trip, for himself. The $10,391 tab for that trip to Israel from Aug. 5-12 was paid for by the American Israel Education Fund.
Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa has not approved any trips for herself or her staffers since she took office in January 2007, records show.
Privately funded excursions certainly aren't the only trips taken by members of Congress or their aides.
Members of both the House and Senate also take delegation trips, known as CODELS (short for Congressional Delegation), paid for by taxpayers. The trips typically include members of both parties and rely on military planes.
For example, Young – the ranking Republican on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee – took a trip with other lawmakers in October 2007 to Italy, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $4,091.
Jack Abramoff Effect
But in recent days, there have been several reminders of why the new Democratic-controlled Congress in 2007 moved to tighten the rules on lobbyist-funded travel on the heels of the scandals involving former DC super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
In late January, Todd Boulanger, a lobbyist who once worked for the now disgraced Abramoff pleaded guilty to paying for trips, sports tickets and meals for Senate aides in exchange for favorable legislation.
There have since been additional reports that a former staffer to Secretary of Commerce nominee, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, is reported to be identified as "staffer F' in court documents relating to a lobbyist providing the staffer gifts in exchange for preferential treatment. That staffer has not been officially charged with wrongdoing.
A former aide to GOP Rep. Don Young of Alaska is reportedly implicated in court papers, as well, allegedly tied to having accepted an expense paid trip to a 2003 World Series game from associates of Abramoff.
Signed into law by then-President George Bush on Sept. 14, 2007, the new rules barred lobbyists from traveling with lawmakers, a favorite way to get the attention of a congressman or senator.
The new rules also specified that travel funded by companies employing lobbyists was limited to one-day stays, and that every trip be pre-approved by House and Senate ethics panels. The rules were relaxed for nonprofit groups, which are allowed to pay for trips that are several days long.
Putnam Defends Trips
The 12 trips that Putnam approved for his staff during 2008 was the 10th-highest that year for all 535 federal House and Senate lawmakers, according to LegisStorm, an on-line congressional watchdog that has electronically sorted the congressional travel reports.
Putnam spokesman Rupp responds that there is a good reason for the high number.
As GOP Conference chairman in 2007 and 2008, Rupp said, Putnam and his staff were "responsible for setting up and organizing congressional retreats."
For instance, six Putnam staffers were sent to White Sulphur Springs, W.V., in early January 2008 in connection with a bicameral retreat for Republicans. That event was sponsored by the Congressional Institute Inc., a non-profit organization funded by corporate contributions and run by Republican lobbyists who regularly host seminars on such topics as taxes, energy and the environment.
Also, two staffers were each sent to both Cincinnati and New Orleans in April and July 2008 to help set up bipartisan debates on heath care and energy policy sponsored by the Congressional Institute, Inc., and the Democratic Leadership Council.
The lone such trip taken by Putnam himself was in November 2007, to Miami, where he participated as a panelist at a event on the topic of global leadership. The sponsor, Time Warner Corporation, paid for Putnam's total $705 tab for travel to Miami on Nov. 29, lodging, and return to Tampa on Nov 30.
Public Citizen's Holman said he Rupp may make "a legitimate argument" in defense of his boss in some of the instance, such as the congressional bipartisan debates.
He said that trips paid for by outside groups seeking to persuade or entice lawmakers to take some legislative action are what concerns watchdogs like him.
Putnam also has given the green light to an array of privately sponsored trips for some of his top aides to destinations both inside and outside of the United States, the House records show.
One Putnam legislative assistant took a trip Tel Aviv in December, with the $6,682 tab picked up by the non-profit American Israel Education Foundation.
Another staffer traveled to Berlin in October 2007 for meetings on U.S.-German relations, with the $3,165 tab paid for by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.
Not all the trips carried such a big price tag.
One Putnam staffer took part in a one-day bus trip In November with other lawmaker aides to Fredericksburg, Va., where they toured the Fredericksburg battlefield with a historian and got a pitch about the importance of preserving such historical sites.
The $30 per person bus ride and $7 lunch was paid for by the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Eds: Here are links for House and Senate privately funded travel databases:
http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/giftTravel-search.html
http://soprweb.senate.gov/giftrule/
and this is a Web site that has put together the material in various ways (for instance, the 10 lawmakers who approved the most trips in 2008)
http://www.legistorm.com/trip.html
Reporter Billy House can be reached at 1 (202) 662-7673
While Putnam has taken just one privately funded trip himself since new congressional travel limits were signed into law in September 2007, he has given his go-ahead to 19 other such trips by aides – 12 in 2008 alone -- a review of U.S. House records shows.
Those trips include travel to conferences or other events in Germany, Israel and New Orleans, and a Civil War battlefield in Virginia.
Prior to the new travel limits being signed into law by former President George W. Bush on Sept. 14, 2007, Putnam had approved just two trips for either himself or his staff dating from Jan. 1, 2006.
According to the government-watch group Public Citizen, the numbers of privately sponsored trips taken or approved by Congress, overall, appear to be dropping following the new rules that came out of scandals involving former DC super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Congress-wide numbers for 2008 are not yet available. But there were about 411 such trips by lawmakers or their staffers in all of 2007, according to Craig Holman, legislative representative at Public Citizen. That compares to 2,110 trips in 2005 and 2006, and 2,306 trips in 2003 and 2004.
Putnam spokesman Keith Rupp attributes to seemingly counter-intuitive sharp increase in his own boss' approval of such trips by his staff to Putnam's ascension at the end of 2006 to the No. 3 Republican post in the House.
Like other party leadership posts, explained Rupp, the job of GOP Conference chairman gave Putman additional staff, on top of his personal office staff. Putnam and those added conference leader staffers were expected to play a key role in organizing Republican congressional retreats, and other events, some paid for by outside groups, he said.
“It’s apples and oranges,” said Rupp of what he termed a comparison with other lawmakers who had only personal staffs, and weren’t required to help organize party retreats and conferences. “It’s not even apples and oranges. It’s apples and corn.”
Despite the argument, the 20 trips Putnam’s approved for himself and for both his personal staff or his conference chairman staff since Sept. 14, 2007 exceeded the 17 trips approved by the No. 2 House Republican, Roy Blunt of Missouri. The top House Republican Leader, John Boehner of Ohio, approved 24 such trips. Putnam stepped down prior to the start of this year as conference chairman.
Mixed Bag For Most
The numbers of privately funded trips approved over the years for Tampa Bay's other four House members and Florida's two senators are a mixed bag.
Democrat U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, has approved nine trips since the new rules took effect in Sept. 14, 2007, including one for himself to a Democratic Leadership Conference in Virginia and two trips for aides to separate conferences in Germany.
Nelson had approved five trips for his aides prior to that, dating from Jan. 1, 2006, though none for himself.
Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and Tampa Bay area GOP Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville and Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor have each approved just two privately funded trips since the new rules took effect. Of those lawmakers, only Brown-Waite took a trip herself, to a National Foundation for Women Legislators annual conference in Sarasota in November.
From Jan. 1, 2006, and Sept. 14, 2007 – before the new rules -- Brown-Waite had approved five trips for her office, three of them for herself. Martinez had approved just one trip for a staffer.
Bilirakis, who did not take office until January 2007, had approved one trip, for himself. The $10,391 tab for that trip to Israel from Aug. 5-12 was paid for by the American Israel Education Fund.
Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa has not approved any trips for herself or her staffers since she took office in January 2007, records show.
Privately funded excursions certainly aren't the only trips taken by members of Congress or their aides.
Members of both the House and Senate also take delegation trips, known as CODELS (short for Congressional Delegation), paid for by taxpayers. The trips typically include members of both parties and rely on military planes.
For example, Young – the ranking Republican on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee – took a trip with other lawmakers in October 2007 to Italy, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $4,091.
Jack Abramoff Effect
But in recent days, there have been several reminders of why the new Democratic-controlled Congress in 2007 moved to tighten the rules on lobbyist-funded travel on the heels of the scandals involving former DC super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
In late January, Todd Boulanger, a lobbyist who once worked for the now disgraced Abramoff pleaded guilty to paying for trips, sports tickets and meals for Senate aides in exchange for favorable legislation.
There have since been additional reports that a former staffer to Secretary of Commerce nominee, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, is reported to be identified as "staffer F' in court documents relating to a lobbyist providing the staffer gifts in exchange for preferential treatment. That staffer has not been officially charged with wrongdoing.
A former aide to GOP Rep. Don Young of Alaska is reportedly implicated in court papers, as well, allegedly tied to having accepted an expense paid trip to a 2003 World Series game from associates of Abramoff.
Signed into law by then-President George Bush on Sept. 14, 2007, the new rules barred lobbyists from traveling with lawmakers, a favorite way to get the attention of a congressman or senator.
The new rules also specified that travel funded by companies employing lobbyists was limited to one-day stays, and that every trip be pre-approved by House and Senate ethics panels. The rules were relaxed for nonprofit groups, which are allowed to pay for trips that are several days long.
Putnam Defends Trips
The 12 trips that Putnam approved for his staff during 2008 was the 10th-highest that year for all 535 federal House and Senate lawmakers, according to LegisStorm, an on-line congressional watchdog that has electronically sorted the congressional travel reports.
Putnam spokesman Rupp responds that there is a good reason for the high number.
As GOP Conference chairman in 2007 and 2008, Rupp said, Putnam and his staff were "responsible for setting up and organizing congressional retreats."
For instance, six Putnam staffers were sent to White Sulphur Springs, W.V., in early January 2008 in connection with a bicameral retreat for Republicans. That event was sponsored by the Congressional Institute Inc., a non-profit organization funded by corporate contributions and run by Republican lobbyists who regularly host seminars on such topics as taxes, energy and the environment.
Also, two staffers were each sent to both Cincinnati and New Orleans in April and July 2008 to help set up bipartisan debates on heath care and energy policy sponsored by the Congressional Institute, Inc., and the Democratic Leadership Council.
The lone such trip taken by Putnam himself was in November 2007, to Miami, where he participated as a panelist at a event on the topic of global leadership. The sponsor, Time Warner Corporation, paid for Putnam's total $705 tab for travel to Miami on Nov. 29, lodging, and return to Tampa on Nov 30.
Public Citizen's Holman said he Rupp may make "a legitimate argument" in defense of his boss in some of the instance, such as the congressional bipartisan debates.
He said that trips paid for by outside groups seeking to persuade or entice lawmakers to take some legislative action are what concerns watchdogs like him.
Putnam also has given the green light to an array of privately sponsored trips for some of his top aides to destinations both inside and outside of the United States, the House records show.
One Putnam legislative assistant took a trip Tel Aviv in December, with the $6,682 tab picked up by the non-profit American Israel Education Foundation.
Another staffer traveled to Berlin in October 2007 for meetings on U.S.-German relations, with the $3,165 tab paid for by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.
Not all the trips carried such a big price tag.
One Putnam staffer took part in a one-day bus trip In November with other lawmaker aides to Fredericksburg, Va., where they toured the Fredericksburg battlefield with a historian and got a pitch about the importance of preserving such historical sites.
The $30 per person bus ride and $7 lunch was paid for by the Civil War Preservation Trust.
Eds: Here are links for House and Senate privately funded travel databases:
http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/giftTravel-search.html
http://soprweb.senate.gov/giftrule/
and this is a Web site that has put together the material in various ways (for instance, the 10 lawmakers who approved the most trips in 2008)
http://www.legistorm.com/trip.html
Reporter Billy House can be reached at 1 (202) 662-7673