05-11-2005
HOUSE LEADERSHIP - Hastert Endorses Advance Approval For Lawmakers'
Trips© National Journal Group, Inc.
Speaker Hastert today proposed that the House Ethics Committee give a written "thumbs-up or thumbs-down" in advance to lawmakers who want to take a trip financed by companies or special interests. He said advanced approval would clear up confusion over travel rules at a time that Majority Leader DeLay's trips are under scrutiny, the Associated Press reported. Other lawmakers have been rushing to belatedly disclose past travel or amend previous reports to clear up any discrepancies in the trip's financing. Hastert, speaking on the Tony Snow show on Fox News radio, said lawmakers "need to get a clearance up or down." He said the Ethics Committee should devise a "simple way to get a thumbs-up or thumbs-down." DeLay also has called for clearer guidance on travel rules and said he was unaware that any trips were paid for by lobbyist Jack Abramoff or his clients. During the radio program, Hastert said members should not travel for frivolous reasons. "There has to be a reasonable requirement that work is being done, that they're not being wined and dined," the speaker said. The speaker also defended DeLay, saying: "Everybody's piling on Tom DeLay ... It's a lightning rod. He thought he was cleared on these trips. He thought they were funded by a legitimate organization." DeLay has asked to appear before the ethics committee to explain his travel, and the speaker said this was the right thing to do. "Tom needs to lay out his information ... and get cleared," he said.
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