From the New York Times:

Move to Curb Gifts of Travel Creates Rift in House G.O.P.

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Published: March 16, 2006

WASHINGTON, March 15—A proposal to bar lawmakers temporarily from privately financed trips is generating resistance among House Republicans, even as their leaders insist it is necessary to restore public faith in the integrity of Congress before voters cast ballots in November.
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Representative John A. Boehner, left, with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.

House Leaders Plan to Support Measure Restricting Lobbying (March 15, 2006)
Forum: The 109th Congress

The proposed travel restrictions are part of a broad package of lobbying law changes that the leaders unveiled Wednesday morning at a closed session of the Republican caucus. Their plan, two months in the making, would also require lobbyists to disclose the gifts and meals they provide to lawmakers, and would for the first time require lawmakers to reveal when they designate money for pet projects, known as earmarks, that are often requested by lobbyists.

"We feel very strongly about the need to bring about bold, strong reforms," said Representative David Dreier, Republican of California and chairman of the House Rules Committee and the chief architect of the legislation.

Details of the plan were not yet available in writing, and Mr. Dreier said he hoped to have a draft of a bill by Thursday. But the travel provisions generated an immediate backlash.

Two House Republicans, Representatives Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dan Lungren of California, said they would introduce competing legislation that would avoid a ban by creating a preapproval process for private travel and require lawmakers to post records of such trips on the Internet.

"People are afraid to stand up and say, I want private travel," Mr. Flake said. "It's become a political issue."

The House majority leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, who has not been keen on the travel restrictions, was noticeably absent from the morning news conference where Mr. Dreier and other House leaders, including Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, announced their plan. Later, asked about the travel provisions, Mr. Boehner said, "There's some discontent over that."

Yet another member of the leadership, Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is charged with helping to elect Republicans to Congress, called the plan "a work in progress."

Despite the apparent rift, the House proposal signals the leadership's determination to move ahead with some kind of lobbying legislation. In the Senate, a lobbying bill was derailed last week by a dispute over port security, and it is unclear when the measure will return to the floor. House leaders said Wednesday that they intended to route their plan through the regular committee process, which would give lawmakers a chance to amend it.

Until then, the depth of the Republicans' resistance could be difficult to assess. Despite some loud complaints, Mr. Dreier said some lawmakers, particularly those who felt vulnerable in their districts, had been quietly supportive.

"There are a lot of people who have called me, written me," he said.

As Mr. Flake suggested, the term "private travel" has indeed acquired a bad reputation in Washington since January, when Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist, pleaded guilty to corruption charges and promised to cooperate with federal investigators. The Abramoff case featured reports of lawmakers' accepting lavish meals and fancy golf outings to Scotland, prompting leaders of both parties to demand tough new restrictions on lobbyists' activities.

At that time, Speaker Hastert and Mr. Dreier called for a ban on meals and gifts from lobbyists, and a ban on private travel. But the proposal they shared with their colleagues fell short of that goal. It does not address gifts or meals, and bars private travel until the end of this Congress.

In the interim, the leadership would direct the House Ethics Committee, which has been stymied by partisan disputes, to come up with new rules governing gifts, meals and travel. Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican whip, said the panel would have until Dec. 15 to come up with suggestions that might allow private travel to begin again.

In addition, Mr. Blunt said, lobbyists would be required to file quarterly reports detailing any expense on lawmakers above $10. The proposal doubles the penalty for failing to comply with the reporting requirements, to a maximum fine of $100,000 from $50,000.

Backers of the plan, including Mr. Dreier, say it would force the ethics panel he only evenly split committee in the House, with five Democrats and five Republicans o work in a bipartisan way.

"I think they struck the right balance," said Representative Adam Putnam, Republican of Florida, and a member of the rules panel.

Mr. Putnam said members welcomed the plan to send the legislation to committee.

But critics like Mr. Flake and Mr. Lungren say the moratorium went overboard, prohibiting, for example, a university from paying travel expenses for a lawmaker to speak at commencement. Mr. Lungren said he served on the board of a charitable foundation in his home state and would be required under the moratorium to pay his own way to board meetings.

Mr. Flake also said the proposal put too much power in the hands of House committee chairmen and the leadership, who are responsible for approving the taxpayer-financed fact-finding trips known as "codels," short for Congressional delegation. In effect, such trips would be the only travel permissible while the moratorium remained in effect.

Asked if Mr. Flake had a good point, Mr. Hastert replied, "I'm thinking a lot about that."