University Daily Kansan, February 10, 1984 Page 10
NATION AND WORLD
Congressmen feast on U.S. tax funds while overseas
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth in a series of reports investigating overseas travel made by members of Congress.
By GREGORY GORDON United Press International
WASHINGTON — Dozens of congressmen on overseas trips last year were wined and dined by foreign governments. U.S. embassies and banking家 paying $800,000 in "black bag money" he returned to any daily expense money.
THE DOUBLE dipping, which often appears to conflict with Senate rules, allowed congressmen and senators to live the life while overseas on 357 ships in fiscal 1983. Sometimes they apparently pocketed leftover expense money
Congress sets aside no personnel to audit its expenditures on foreign trips, United Press International and the Better Government Association learned in a four-month review of foreign travel. Members receiving per diem allowance are not required to submit detailed expense accounts, and many concede they simply put escort officers in control of all the funds.
On a six-country tour of the Mediterranean in August, a Navy officer used Pentagon funds to buy $947 in meals for Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wis, and three aides, according to Navy files.
NONE OF THE FOUR, who each also received $1,103 in per diem money to
cover all meals and lodging on the trip,
and keep money the treasury on returning home.
Through a spokesman, Kasten said that sometimes his lodging and other expenses exceeded his per diem allowance which, depending on the country, ranges between $75 and $162 a day.
On the trip, the escort took with him $5,000 in contingency funds for the delegation. One Senate aide called such money "for the benefit" used to curtain favor with Congress.
Asked whether he thought it was proper for the Pentagon to be paying some of his expenses, Kasten spokesman Bent Ben Waite the senator "doesn't care who picks it up as long as it's picked up by the U.S. government and it's for official functions and it's accounted for."
SENATE RULES state that per diem allowances 'shall be used solely for lodging, food and related expenses' but the state will not earn money not used for those purposes.
However, the rules and less stringent House language make no mention of requirements to return money if funds or entertainment from other sources allow a congressman to dine more elegantly or stay in a luxury hotel.
UPI and the BGA, in a review of thousands of Army, Navy and Air Force travel tourists, found Pentagon escorts paid $903,970 for meals, lodging, refreshments, tips and other expenses of congressional foreign travelers.
Congress' Ten Costliest Overseas Trips
| Delegation led by | | Destination | Date (Fiscal year 1983) | Total cost of trip |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| House Speaker Thomas O'Neill | D-Mass. | Far East | March 28-April 8 | $360,268 |
| House Majority Leader Jim Wright | D-Texas | Far East | August 6-15 | $330,870 |
| Representative Melvin Price | R-Ill. | Far East | August 15-26 | $322,794 |
| Representative G.V. Montgomery | D-Miss. | Far East | January 8-22 | $301,679 |
| Representative Tom Lantos | D-Calif. | U.S.S.R. and Eastern bloc | January 6-20 | $291,594 |
| Representatives Gus Hawkins William Ford | D-Calif. D-Mich. | Far East | January 10-22 | $289,947 |
| Representative Joseph Addabo | D-N.Y. | Far East Middle East | Aug.19-Sept. 1 | $286,707 |
| Senator Jake Garn | R-Unah | Far East | August 6-19 | $286,573 |
| Representative Tom Foley | D-Wash. | U.S.S.R. England, Italy | June 30-July 11 | $286,420 |
| Representative Kika de la Garza | D-Texas | Far East | August 6-22 | $255,609 |
Some figures are estimated
Source: UFU/Better Government Association
ON A JOURNEY to the Soviet Union last summer, a 24-member contingent led by Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I. spent three days in Tbilisi sightseeing, eating and drinking, all as guests of local government officials.
The senators, the last Americans to meet with ailing Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, were entertained at an
Tracing more than $21.6 million in congressional overseas travel costs in fiscal 1983, UPI and the BGA found roughly $1 million in per diem money was dold out to members of Congress and other congressional groups in disarray until UPI and the BGA organized them — showed only $17,429.98 was returned to the treasury.
SUNFLOWER
On other stops in Finland, Italy and
in Ireland a group was greeted with
more hospitality.
outdoor picnic with fresh bread, cheese and wine, then with a dinner in a medieval wine cellar and later with a huge banquet at a mountain retreat; where the delegation was charmed by native Georgian dancers and singers. Finally, the Soviets laid out yet another banquet at a cottage in the woods.
Pell, questioned about the group's per diem money, defended congressional overseas travel and asserted a reporter was "quibbling" and "looking
PELL LATER returned to the U.S. Treasury $316 of the $1,546 he was allotted for meals and lodging on the 15-day trip. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, returned $291. Vouchers on file with that Department provide no indication that other members of the delegation, among them seven senators, were aides, returned any per diem money given to the secretary for the trip sent the State Department one lump sum check for $775, including Pell's refund.
for a story." He stressed he always returned his own unused per diem.
Following a two-week trip to Africa and Europe led by Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore, in late 1982, a secretary for the delegation returned $393 of her $1,336 in per diem money. "I worked a lot at night," explained the secretary, Carol Alice Waterman, a caseworker in Hatfield's Salem, Ore. office. "I did not eat out when we had a free evening when there wasn't a dinner (spon-
— when there wasn't a dinner (sponsored by the host government)."
NONE OF THE OTHER travelers
returned any money. Hatfield's office
phone is (617) 248-5300.
On a week-long trip to Italy last July,
Rep. James Florio, D-N.J., stayed at
Villa Taverna, the ambassador's residence.
Although he was a guest of U.S.
ambassador Maxwell Rabb, Florio drew
three days per diem allowance of $80.
"We don't really have an answer for it," Floris's spokesman, Ben Everidge, said this week. "He didn't eat at the residence ... He did collect it and used it — not for profit reasons. He did keep it, he thinks legitimately."
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JOB OPPORTUNITY 1984-85 ACADEMIC YEAR
Deadline for submitting applications is 5 p.m. Fri., Feb. 24, 1984
RESIDENT ASSISTANT
NAISMITH HALL
Naismith Hall announces that applications for RA positions including job description and requirements are now available at the Naismith desk between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Contact Naismith Hall at 843-8559 with any questions concerning the position.
TO THE CLASS OF 1984
It's time to order your graduation announcements and name cards at:
KANSAS UNION, LEVEL 2
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
THE BURGE UNION
8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
Prepaid orders MUST be placed on Feb. 13th & 14th & 15th. Visa and Mastercard welcome.