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Congressional Travel
Politicians Still Cashing in on Free Trips
The rules have changed, but Florida's congressional delegation is still getting a free rides, paid for by private interests.
Top Traveler
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 [Illustrations: Rob Zammarchi] |
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Delray Beach) has racked up the largest privately funded travel tab of any Florida member over the past decade. While his last reported trip was in 2005, the $174,004 worth of trips he’s taken included a $5,914 “fact-finding” mission to China in 2005 paid for by the CASI Foundation for Children and China Contact Friendly Association; a $7,250 trip to Warsaw, Poland, in 2005 that was sponsored by the Museum of History of the Polish Jews; and a $6,461 educational seminar in Amman, Jordan, and Tel Aviv paid for by the American Jewish Committee. Other fact-finding missions have taken him to Budapest, Hungary; Berlin and Cologne, Germany; Taiwan; Cairo, Egypt; Kazakhstan; Saudi Arabia; Ankara, Turkey; New Delhi, India; Bahrain and Morocco.
Island Hopping
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Passing the Bill |
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| Privately funded travel by members of the Florida delegation: | ||
| Member of Congress | Total Value | Trips |
| Rep. Robert Wexler (D) | $174,004 | 20 |
| Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R) | 117,307 | 12 |
| Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) | 86,796 | 25 |
| Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) | 79,748 | 12 |
| Rep. Corrine Brown (D) | 76,243 | 32 |
| Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R) | 41,265 | 8 |
| Rep. Cliff Stearns (R) | 38,292 | 12 |
| Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) | 34,587 | 21 |
| Rep. Allen Boyd (D) | 27,592 | 9 |
| Sen. Bill Nelson (D) | 24,958 | 22 |
| Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) | 21,329 | 1 |
| Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R) | 20,412 | 5 |
| Rep. Jeff Miller (R) | 15,931 | 10 |
| Rep. Tom Rooney (R) | 14,947 | 1 |
| Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D) | 10,075 | 1 |
| Rep. Adam Putnam (R) | 7,557 | 5 |
| Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R) | 7,521 | 2 |
| Rep. Alcee Hastings (D) | 2,602 | 2 |
| Rep. John Mica (R) | 2,587 | 2 |
| Rep. Kathy Castor (D) | 1,793 | 1 |
| Rep. Bill Posey (R) | 983 | 1 |
| Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young (R) | 286 | 1 |
| Figures for travel between 2000 and 2009. Not every member of the Florida delegation is listed — only those lawmakers who have accepted privately funded trips and filed disclosure forms are included. | ||
