North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones thinks it's about time the government own up to how much it costs taxpayers to fly congressional lawmakers on international trips.
Jones filed a bill Tuesday requiring full disclosure on the trips, who they transport
— and most important, what they cost,
The Washington Post reports.
"It’s kind of ironic to me that members, not calling out any names, who take these frequent trips don’t want the taxpayer to know the cost of the trips," Jones told
the Post. "I think people just don’t feel like I do that the taxpayers have a right to know. No one has said that to me, but I just have to assume that."
He's not just being picky.
The Post reports a Congressional Research Service report from 2012 on congressional international travel found "no single source that identifies all international travel undertaken by the House or Senate, and no means to identify the number of trips taken, destinations visited, travelers, total costs, or costs paid for by funds appropriated to government entities other than Congress."
Even at that, the Post reports, the details aren't usually available for months.
"For me, personally, I go home every weekend to go be with the people I represent. I don’t take the trips," Jones told the Post, adding that he's not opposed to the overseas jaunts, but thinks they ought to be transparent.
Jones, a 20-year veteran lawmaker, said he’s been on just one government-funded trip — to Panama in 1997.
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