LegiStorm

Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) has expanded the depth of his office with an ocean specialist and former lobbyist.

Katie Allen joined Kilmer's office this month as a legislative assistant after a short lobbying stint with Pike Associates LLC. She had been with the firm since February, lobbying on marine and fishery issues.

Kilmer's office is Allen's second job with Congress. Prior to her position with Pike Associates she served as a John A, Knauss Sea Grant Fellow under Rep. Kilili Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands) on the House Natural Resources Committee, Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Subcommittee.

Allen studied marine science at the University of Auckland and is completing a PhD at the University of South Carolina in integrative biology.

Kilmer represents Washington's 6th district, which includes a large stretch of coastline along the Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound. His congressional website highlights the environment as a key issue and emphasizes the protection of the Puget Sound region.

In the post-Edward Snowden era, one congressman's campaign website is not up to code, Internet code that is.

Rep. Kilili Sablan's (D-Northern Mariana Islands) campaign website has fallen victim to a hacker calling himself D3c0ded D3m0n, a member of the underground hacking group Cyb3r Command0s. The website currently features background music and depicts a picture of a man wearing dark, hooded clothing in front of flashing lightning bolts. Below the image, there is a warning message to the website's administrator: "Hello Admin. I Just Tested Your Security, And The Result Is A Low Security Detected. Plz patch up again. Sorry :p"

D3c0ded D3m0n's own website, which traces back to a domain name from the New Zealand island territory of Tokelau, includes articles on hacking tutorials and ethical hacking. Cyb3r Command0s gained notoriety in May for hacking the website of the Philadelphia (Pa.) City Council and Perham, Minn.-based Arvig Enterprises. In both of those incidents, the hackers left a pro-Islam message and security warnings about future hacks.

The official website of the four-term congressman, who is a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus, has not suffered a similar fate.

Defense contractor Raytheon has homed in on a House Armed Services Committee staffer as its latest target for its government relations department.

Longtime staffer Ryan Crumpler is joining the defense giant as senior manager for government affairs. Crumpler began his Hill journey as an intern for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in 2003 before moving into the office of Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) the following year as a staff assistant. In 2006 he joined Rep. Mac Thornberry's (R-Texas) office as a legislative correspondent and systems administrator.

Crumpler started focusing heavily on defense issues after joining former Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) in 2008 as a military legislative assistant. While Crumpler does not have military experience, he has held several defense and security-oriented fellowships from the Foreign Policy Initiative in 2010-2011, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in 2013-2014 and the Center for a New American Security in 2014. In addition, he received a master's degree in strategic security studies from National Defense University in 2011.

In 2009, Crumpler became a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee, a position he held until joining Raytheon. McKeon became chair of the committee in 2011 and Thornberry took over the position in 2015.

Former Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) is now officially a lobbyist, having filed to lobby on behalf of a group founded by the Church of Scientology.

Burton, through his firm Dan Burton International LLC, registered as a lobbyist for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an organization established by the Church of Scientology in 1969 that advocates against psychiatry and psychiatric medicine. Burton's filing indicates he is representing CCHR's position on issues related to "psychiatric treatments including drugs and brain devices" in the 21st Century Cures Act, which has passed the House and as of yet has no counterpart in the Senate.

This lobbying role is not Burton's first encounter with Scientology. While not a member of the Church, Burton attended the opening of the Church's national office in 2012 and commended the CCHR for its work and the opening of their National Public Affairs Office in Washington, D.C. a few months prior.

Burton and Church officials are also allied in their skepticism of the Food and Drug Administration. Scientology has been in an ongoing battle with the agency for decades. Meanwhile, Burton has criticized the agency on a number of fronts, such as his belief that an FDA-approved vaccine caused autism in his grandson. The FDA and other government agencies reject the theory. 

A former committee staffer of Burton's, Beth Clay, who has fought with the FDA on alternative medicines and other matters, has served as a board member on the CCHR.

Burton began service in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. He was perhaps best known for his investigations into President Clinton's fundraising practices and the death of White House counsel Vince Foster. He retired in 2013 citing family health issues. 

A visit to Israel by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and his wife last month was the third most expensive privately financed trip a member has taken in the last 15 years.

The $36,000 weeklong trip preceding Labor Day highlights the extraordinary sums private groups must pay for international travel by members, especially in regions of conflict.

The travel was sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, the charity arm of pro-Israel lobbying giant AIPAC. About $14,000 was spent on transportation, $4,000 on lodging and meals and $18,000 on other expenses, which includes a $7,000 bill for security in a region characterized by volatility.

During the visit he met with several top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and attended several discussions on the Iranian nuclear threat to the Jewish state. Cotton, AIPAC and the Israeli government have come out as harsh critics of the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.

Cotton's trip is only surpassed in cost by trips by former Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) who traveled to Australia and South Sudan, respectively.

In 2014, AIEF was the largest sponsor of trips by members of Congress. The organization spent more than $1 million on 89 trips throughout the year. The next largest sponsor was the Aspen Institute which spent a little more than $600,000 on 92 trips. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are also the top two destinations by cost for members and staff with nearly 1,800 recorded trips since 2000, the earliest year for which LegiStorm has filings.