The most expensive free trips Congress doesn't want you to know about
One congressman's trip to Australia last year came with a $50,0000 price tag.
Former Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-North Carolina, globe-trotted his way to breaking a Congressional record when it comes to privately-funded travel costs, according to calculations done by congressional tracking website LegiStorm.
The Defence Teaming Centre Inc., an Australian defense industry association, financed a one-week trip to Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, for the legislator and his wife. It included first- and business-class flights, a chauffeured tour of Sydney, and visits to the submarine and shipyard facilities.
"This trip was not at taxpayer expense. The House Ethics Committee specifically approved the purpose of this trip which was to address America's alliances in the Pacific," McIntyre's office said in a statement. The bulk of the funds paid for the congressman's transportation and lodging expenses.
The costs trend higher when members travel out of the country, especially because other guests tend to accompany the legislators, according to LegiStorm founder Jock Friedly. "[McIntyre] brought his spouse with him, which tends to happen on foreign trips," said Friedly. "Especially the ones with better sightseeing."
That Australia trip also put McIntyre at the top of the list of the travelers who incurred the highest expenses in 2014, spending over $67,000 in private funds to travel.
McIntyre isn't the only Congressman to rack up pricey overseas tabs.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, followed McIntyre's lead with a $40,000 expenditure abroad in early 2013. He toured South Sudan and Tanzania for four days with his wife, examining various agricultural development projects.
Garamendi spokesman Matthew Kravitz echoed the now-familiar refrain to Roll Call in 2012: "The Congressman's privately funded visit to South Sudan and Tanzania did not cost the U.S. taxpayer a single dime... But it did provide him with valuable information in his role as a member of Congress and a member of the House Agriculture, Transportation, and Armed Services committees."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, paid for the congressman's trip to Africa. Garamendi serves on the House Agriculture Committee.
Third on the list is Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-New Jersey. The Congressman's $31,000 trip with his wife dates back to 2008, when the American Israel Education Foundation funded Ferguson's trip to Tel Aviv.
Rep. McIntyre left Congress after declining to run in the 2014 midterm elections. Prior to his retirement from the legislature, McIntyre served on the House Armed Services Committee. He took the trip to Australia five weeks after announcing he wouldn't seek another term in the 114th Congress.
LegiStorm ranks these privately-funded trips by individual and personal guest expenditure. Legislative staffers are not included in these ratings.