Well, you can say one thing for Dan Burton. He's got chutzpah. I wonder if he blew up any watermelons while he was there.
Burton's German Trip Protested
Official Visit to Frankfurt Coincides With Wife's Treatment There
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By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 11, 2001; Page A04
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, arranged for an unusual government-paid trip to Frankfurt and Bonn this week to investigate the German postal system. He is also visiting his wife, who is receiving medical care in Frankfurt, according to the congressman's aides.
While lawmakers frequently travel abroad during congressional recesses, it is rare for a single member to conduct an official fact-finding tour abroad, as Burton is doing. Usually members travel in larger groups and bring aides along in tours that examine a specific issue or focus on forging ties with foreign leaders.
In Burton's case, congressional sources said, the State Department information sessions for the congressman were put together late last week, and his initial briefing in Frankfurt on Tuesday included no written agenda or formal briefing papers. One source said preparations for these briefings were made with the understanding that they were "only a decoy and that the actual purpose of the trip was for the congressman to visit his wife."
Burton aides disputed that assertion. Kevin Binger, staff director for the Government Reform Committee, said the committee is considering legislation authored by Rep. John M. McHugh (R-N.Y.) that would give the U.S. Postal Service greater flexibility in setting its rates.
"Postal reform legislation is one of our top priorities during this Congress," Binger said, adding that the German postal system, known as Deutsche Post, went through "a similar transition" as the service was privatized over the past few years. "They learned a lot of lessons along the way. We should try to benefit from their knowledge and experience."
But details of the trip drew protests from public watchdog groups. "It sounds like Dan Burton is a deficit hawk that doesn't walk the talk," said Gary Ruskin, director of the Congressional Accountability Project. "The federal government is not a junket service."
A spokesman for the American consulate in Frankfurt, Gerhard Wiesinger, said he could not release details concerning the congressman's visit beyond confirming "he is here in the Frankfurt area on an official trip."
On Monday, Burton flew to Belgium on an Air Force plane with a House Intelligence Committee delegation led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Burton then flew alone to Frankfurt, according to his office, which did not disclose whether it was a commercial or military flight. Barbara Burton is undergoing experimental cancer treatment at an undisclosed facility there.
Binger said that Burton was briefed at the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt by U.S. Embassy staff as well as officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, and that he spent Thursday and Friday with officials from Deutsche Post. The congressman also met with a group of German businessmen Wednesday and will meet with U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials for lunch Monday.
Burton's office did not release cost estimates for his trip, and lawmakers do not have to report them publicly until 30 days after the end of the quarter in which they occurred. Operating an Air Force flight accounts for most of the cost, since this amounts to several thousand dollars per hour of flight time.
Lawmakers also receive per diem allowances, which are set by the State Department, while they are traveling for work overseas. Burton is receiving a per diem for meals during the trip, according to an aide, and this amounts to $62 per day in Frankfurt and $67 a day in Bonn.
Binger, who said the trip had been in the planning process "for several weeks," added that the chairman would return to the United States "sometime next week" after he returned to Frankfurt to visit his wife.
Burton, who did not bring any aides along for the trip, did not inform the top Democrat on his committee, Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), about the journey. Under committee rules, the minority must give advance notice to the chairman of any official trips, but the majority is not under the same obligation.
Ruskin noted that while the State Department is obligated to accommodate any lawmaker traveling overseas, Burton's own panel is responsible for rooting out government waste.
"This seems a suitable subject for a cursory review, for a committee that worries about government reform," he said.
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