Despite rules, Congress' travel takes big jump

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON - Four years after Congress imposed restrictions on travel funded by outside groups, federal lawmakers are frequent fliers again, taking 415 privately funded trips between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 - a nearly 75% jump in the number of trips they took during the same period in 2010, records show.

The value of the trips exceeds $3.1 million, making it the most expensive year of travel since Congress enacted ethics rules in 2007 aimed at clamping down on lobbyist-funded trips, according to a USA TODAY review of congressional travel records compiled by the non-partisan CQ MoneyLine.

Big-ticket items include travel by more than 80 lawmakers to Israel, much of it courtesy of the American Israel Education Foundation, a charity affiliated with the influential pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The average cost: $18,120.

In August, four lawmakers took a 10-day excursion to South Africa and Botswana, funded by the International Conservation Caucus Foundation, a charitable group with ties to several environmental groups.

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