Capitol Hill Under Fire for Questionable Trips

April 26, 2005 -- -- From the boulevards of Paris to the beaches of Puerto Rico, members of Congress -- Democrat and Republican -- have taken more than $16 million in trips paid by private sources in the last five years, according to a report released by PoliticalMoneyLine, an independent research group.

At the top of the list, at least monetarily, sits Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who has taken $167,000 worth of trips.

"Some of them serve a legitimate purpose," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a government watchdog organization. "Too many of them are simply excuses for people to take vacation-type trips paid by groups that lobby Congress."

Among those whose trips are now being scrutinized is House Ethics Committee member Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Democrat from Ohio.

According to House disclosure forms Jones filed after a free trip she took with her husband to Puerto Rico four years ago, a Washington lobbying firm, Smith Dawson & Andrews, paid the $3,366 bill, a violation of House ethics rules.

Late last week, Jones quietly changed her disclosure report, removing the name of the lobbying firm and replacing it with a non-profit group in Puerto Rico, which can pay for such travel under House rules.

Jones attributed it to human error but refused to be interviewed.

James Smith, managing director for Smith Dawson & Andrews told ABC News, "Smith Dawson & Andrews was not a sponsor of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones' trip to Vieques, Puerto Rico, nor did the firm pay for any costs associated with any of the congressional visits."

At least seven members of Congress or their staff have recently amended their disclosure forms, including the office of Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

A spokesman for DeLay said that they were in the process of carefully examining trips taken by DeLay and staff members.

The ethics issue is a Republican one, according to the Democratic leader of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California.

"Let me just make one statement about the Republicans," she said at a press conference last October. "Their greed will be their downfall. Anyone who has a critical eye about what is appropriate behavior will know that there is abuse of power here. There is behavior that borders on corruption."