Globe-trotting pols take special interest in traveling

Noelle Straub

WASHINGTON - Cancun isn't exactly known for an all-business atmosphere, but one Bay State congressman says the conference he attended there - all expenses paid - was all work, no play.

U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney and his wife enjoyed a $6,896, six-day trip to the Mexico vacation destination last February for free, courtesy of a Washington, D.C.-area think tank hosting the conference.

Asked how he would answer those who might view the trip as a junket, Tierney said: ``It is wonderful if they want to spend five to eight hours a day on education policy.''

The Salem Democrat and his wife racked up $400 per night for lodging expenses and $1,620 in meals on the trip, all paid for by the Aspen Institute.

That trip was just one of 50 taken by Bay State congressmen and their staffers in 2004 for which an array of special interests paid nearly $96,000, according to a Herald review of congressional travel records.

Although the trips are legal, government watchdog groups criticize them as a back-door way for outside groups to gain access to members of Congress.

Tierney said the funding for his Cancun trip did not involve special interest money, but was hosted by a bipartisan policy group.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and his staff took five of the top 10 most expensive delegation trips in 2004.

The World Economic Forum paid $8,983 for Frank to attend its annual conference in the Swiss Alps resort town of Davos in January. Frank attended the gathering of world leaders, corporate executives, politicians and celebrities again this year, but the government paid for it because Frank was acting in his official position as ranking Democrat of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

One of Frank's aides on the panel, Scott Morris, took a 16-day journey through China in April for which the US-Asia Institute picked up the $7,589 tab.

Another Frank aide on the panel, Sandra Kay Gibbs, took a $5,870, weeklong trip to Switzerland courtesy of the Switzerland Visitor Agency to tour financial and pharmaceutical companies.

A third Frank aide on the committee, Daniel McGlinchey, took a $4,200 trip to Taiwan courtesy of the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association, which promotes business ties with the United States.

Frank noted that his committee has many international responsibilities. ``I don't know how you would do your job if you never go to a foreign country,'' Frank said.

He said Morris' trip was part of an effort to free a jailed Chinese dissident from Brookline, and Gibbs' trip involved international banking negotiations that State Street Bank had asked him to pursue.

Frank added that he thinks it's better taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for such trips. ``I don't think any of the (sponsoring) institutions are ones people have to worry about influencing'' lawmakers, he said.

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) and his wife, Barbara, traveled to Ireland for a week last summer, with the $5,461 tab paid for by the Irish American Partnership, a nonprofit supporting education projects and promoting trade.

Capuano said he visited Dublin and Belfast, where he toured schools and universities and met with members of parliament, officials and Protestant and Catholic leaders.

``I try not to take the kinds of trips that have a lot down time,'' Capuano said. ``I'm there to learn and try to figure it out, which means meeting with people. Of course it was fun, but more importantly it was educational.''

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Source: "the Boston Herald".