Despite last year's bitter partisan spats, it seems there was at least one area where Republicans and Democrats saw eye-to-eye -- free trips to Israel.
Members of both parties approved upwards of 50 privately funded jaunts to the Holy Land in 2009. The cost of those trips beat out all domestic trips combined to claim the year's biggest price tag for the first time in LegiStorm's records.
The Israel trips were part of our review of all 2009 privately financed trips taken by members of Congress and their staff. Overall, the number of trips taken in 2009 increased about 15 percent from 2008, while the cost increased 27 percent. However, that increase brings the number and cost of trips back in line with travel totals from 2006 and 2007. But it still far from the travel totals before the Jack Abramoff scandal caused a drastic re-evaluation of congressional travel rules.
While Israel is a frequent congressional travel destination, the number of privately funded trips ballooned to 118 at a total cost of $1.2 million in 2009, up from 49 trips costing $435,000 the year before. The majority of those Israel trips were bankrolled by the American Israel Education Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the influential pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
Big-name travelers to Israel last year included House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Staffers and representatives were typically backed in the $6,000 to $10,000 range, but a few trips, taken by Republicans and Democrats, cost upwards of $19,000 for a single trip.
One particular trip, taken by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), broke the bank at $22,211 for an excursion the representative took with her daughter to Tel Aviv the last August. The 8-day trip to explore policy and security issues facing both countries also included tours of historic sites, a common practice on these Israel trips.
Members of Congress also hopped planes to other locales like Turkey, Germany and a host of other countries last year. In fact, two Republican congressmen received trips totaling more than $40,000 in 2009, all but one of which was paid for by the Aspen Institute, a policy and leadership think tank.
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), took trips to Turkey, Croatia and Jordan in 2009 and his colleague in the Senate, Indiana's Dick Lugar (R), traveled to Canada, Croatia and Spain.
The Aspen Institute ranked second, after the American Israel Education Foundation, in throwing money behind jet-setting members and staffers in 2009.
As for actual days on the road, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), clinched the title of most-traveled member in 2009 after a second place finish in 2008. Many of his 15 trips were described in filings as town-hall meetings in support of health care reform. He swapped places with 2008's most-traveled member, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who was on the road 14 different times last year.
