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Source: Chicago TribuneOct.迷你倉 09--WASHINGTON -- A Tribune analysis of foreign travel by members of Congress from Illinois since 2011 shows that Rep. Jan Schakowsky is by far the most frequent flier and that Rep. Peter Roskam took the costliest privately paid trip -- one that has led to a House ethics review.Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, traveled abroad 10 times, bankrolled chiefly by private groups spending $130,000 on expenses for her and her husband.Roskam, a Wheaton Republican, ran up nearly $26,000 in bills on a trip he made with his wife to Taiwan in 2011. He said the trip was proper, but ethics officials are asking whether the listed sponsor indeed picked up the tab.Since 2011, members of Congress from Illinois have made 75 foreign trips: 41 paid for by private sponsors, 32 by taxpayers and two by foreign governments. Private groups spent more than $569,000 on the Illinoisans' trips abroad.Government watchdogs say foreign travel can be a valuable way for lawmakers to understand other cultures and build ties in a world full of opportunities yet fraught with war, upheaval and economic competition.But some advocates find fault in trips financed by private groups that might seek to advance special interests. And others see expenses-paid foreign trips as another perk that separates members of Congress from their constituents, especially in cases when spouses tag along for free.Schakowsky and her husband, political consultant Robert Creamer, went to six privately funded educational conferences for members of Congress, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Barcelona, Spain; Brussels; Istanbul; Sao Paulo; and Vienna, public reports show.On her own she took in another conference in Istanbul and twice visited Israel. She also made a solo trip with public money to strife-torn Rwanda and Congo, where the focus was violence against women.Globe-trotting was common for Illinoisans in Congress during the August recess. Rep. Bobby Rush joined Schakowsky in Addis Ababa; Rep. Randy Hultgren visited Guatemala; Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Thailand; Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Ireland; Rep. Danny Davis, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar; and Reps. Brad Schneider and Cheri Bustos, Israel.Craig Holman, with the Washington-based watchdog group Public Citizen, helped write a 2007 law that tightened rules on who may pay for lawmakers' travel. He is among those who believe that if an overseas trip is valuable, taxpayers should foot the bill."I do believe members should be traveling, especially to problematic areas around the world so they can see what their policies are doing in the rest of the world," he said. "If a member is traveling to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, that's perfectly fine and educational. It is the travel junkets that I object to, that are sponsored by private groups that want something from Congress."Holman, who has a doctorate, sees value in educational conferences but is skeptical about Schakowsky going to seven since 2011."That sounds like too much. How much is she trying to learn?" he said. "I am an academic and I only get to one or two conferences a year."Since 2011, Illinoisans in Congress have hit every continent but Antarctica. Top countries were Israel (12 trips), Turkey (seven) and Afghanistan and Germany (six each). For most lawmakers, destinations such as London, Rome and Hong Kong outnumbered treks to unstable hot spots.After Schakowsky, the top foreign travelers were Rush and Gutierrez, both Chicago Democrats, and Rep. Aaron Schock, a Peoria Republican, each of whom took six trips.Rush's six trips were underwritten by private sponsors, which in four cases picked up the tab for his wife, Carolyn. Five of Gutierrez's six trips were financed by private groups, which paid for his wife, Soraida, to accompany him in four cases. Four of Schock's six trips were privately financed, and in one case the group paid for his mother, Janice Knapp, to accompany him, according to records.Bill Allison, an official at the Sunlight Foundation, a pro-transparency group based in Washington, worries when outsiders open their wallets for trips."Especially when private interests are paying for the travel, there is a real possibility that whatever the lawmaker is seeing is just what the sponsor wants them to see, instead of getting a full picture," Allison said.Public Citizen's Holman is troubled by spouses going along for the ride at the expense of private groups. "Whenever a member of Congress brings a spouse along, it immediately raises a red flag that we're talking about travel junkets and not work-related trips," he said.Still, Schakowsky and other lawmakers vigorously defended their trips."I choose trips that inform my knowledge and decision-making as a member of Congress," said Schakowsky, who is on the House Intelligence Committee. "And I choose trips that match the interests of my district, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse in the country."Debra Johnson, a Rush spokeswoman, said the lawmaker selects trips that benefit constituents and are important to his work on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Spokesman Doug Rivlin said Gutierrez picks trips relating to work on the Judiciary Committee or to his constituents and interests, such as immigration, trade, the economy, Puerto Rico and Latin America.Schock would not comment for this report. Nor would Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. The other 18 Illinoisans in Congress made their offices available for Tribune inquiries on foreign travel.Roskam probeThe $25,653 Taiwan trip by Roskam that is being examined by the House Ethics Committee took place Oct. 15-22, 2011, when Roskam and his wife, Elizabeth, met Taiwanese officials, went on sightseeing visits and spent time with their daughter Gracey, who was an English teacher in Taiwan at the time.Months before the Roskams' trip, an arm of the Taiwanese government had invited the congressman to visit under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, which allows foreign countries to pay for lawmakers' trips but not for family members' travel. Roskam did not accept that invitation but instead took up a later offer by a private group that was allowed to pay for Roskam and his wife.The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent agency, said Roskam had "no interaction" before the trip with the listed private sponsor, Chinese Culture University, and "knew, or should have known, that the Taiwanese government was organizing and conducting his trip to Taiwan."The matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee, which extended its review last month. Roskam has denied any wrongdoing and noted that the House Ethics Committee preapproved the trip, with the university as sponsor.Roskam, who is chief deputy whip in the House, No. 4 in the Republican leadership, has made four overseas trips since 2011, three of them funded by sponsors that also paid for his wife.Spokesman Meagan Holder said Roskam co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Korea, the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, and the House Republican Israel Caucus and is a "key liaison between the U.S. and these countries."Roskam also sits on a trade subcommittee, Holder said, and relationships with other nations "have a direct impact on our ability to compete in a global marketplace."Davis and Moon groupOne trip made by Davis was financed by a group founded by the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who led the Unification Church until his death last year. Davis went with his wife, Vera, on the $14,963 trip to Japan paid for by the Universal Peace Federation.The Chicago lawmaker played a part in a 2004 coronation ceremony for Moon and his wife held in a Senate office building. The lawmaker, wearing white gloves, carried to a dais a pillow bearing one of two gold 儲存rowns placed upon the couple's heads; he later said it went to Moon's wife.Davis, in an interview, said he is a Baptist who has had a relationship with the Unification Church for at least 25 years. He said the Japan trip was made to urge officials to let people join the church without harassment and that while there, he also examined tsunami relief efforts."I didn't go over to enjoy myself," he said. "The pace was about equivalent or more than the normal pace of work that I do every day. ... We certainly did not go hula dancing."Lipinski at Catholic confabRep. Dan Lipinski, a Western Springs Democrat, went on a $7,399, taxpayer-paid trip to Rome and Frascati, Italy, in 2012 to attend the International Catholic Legislators Network conference. He took his wife, Judith, and paid for her expenses, said Guy Tridgell, his spokesman.The agenda included legislation in favor of life, marriage and the family; the case against euthanasia; and Africa and Western aid, Tridgell said.Asked how Lipinski justified using tax dollars for a Catholic legislators' conference, Tridgell said the worldwide gathering included discussions of critical foreign policy matters and issues important to many constituents.When Pope Francis was inaugurated in March, Lipinski returned to Rome at taxpayer expense with a House delegation. His costs were $4,188 and he paid his wife's way, Tridgell said.Schock's travelsSchock went on a taxpayer-paid congressional delegation trip in 2011 timed to the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. He was on the Reagan Centennial Commission.The delegation visited Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and England -- nations where Reagan is held in high regard. Schock's costs were $3,591, not including flights on military aircraft. Total delegation costs were $52,440, not including air travel, reports show.The cost of military aircraft -- not spelled out in public reports -- makes dollar-for-dollar comparisons of taxpayer-paid and privately sponsored trips difficult. Because of sequestration, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has put on hold the use of military flights for congressionally approved travel.Another Schock trip, financed by the National Indian American Public Policy Institute, attracted attention in the spring. Schock and other Republicans went to India, and while there Schock invited the chief minister of India's Gujarat state, Narendra Modi, to the U.S., even though the State Department revoked his visa in 2005.Modi, who is seeking to become India's prime minister, has been accused of not doing enough to stop riots in 2002 that killed at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. The State Department, in explaining Modi's visa revocation, cited "particularly severe violations of religious freedom."The institute, based in west suburban Carol Stream, now touts the congressional invitation to Modi on its website. Its chairman, Shalli Kumar, denied the allegations against Modi and said the Schock trip was meant to foster closer economic ties between the U.S. and India.Schock's agenda of official meetings in India was interspersed with visits to temples and palaces and an evening Bollywood program, reports show. "When you're going to go that far away, it would be silly to just go in there and back and not see the culture of the country," Kumar said, noting that the lawmaker also visited a Ford plant in India.Chicago-area sponsorsAlong with the National Indian American Public Policy Institute, three other Chicago-area organizations paid for lawmakers' travel abroad.The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago sent three lawmakers -- Schakowsky, Schneider and former Rep. Bob Dold, R-Ill. -- on separate trips to Israel, and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., to Israel and Jordan.David Prystowsky, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish United Fund, said the trips were intended to advance the U.S.-Israel alliance and let lawmakers meet representatives of Illinois companies in Israel."We expect to gain nothing directly ourselves," Prystowsky said. "We hope the elected officials gain better understanding of the breadth and benefits of the special U.S.-Israel relationship and for those who are Christians, to visit the land where their faith was formed."The Turkish American Federation of Midwest in Mount Prospect underwrote separate trips to Turkey for Lipinski and Schock and to Azerbaijan for Davis.Its president, Suleyman Turhanogullari, said his group sends lawmakers abroad to improve U.S. relations with Turkey and Turkic countries such as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. He said the trips were excellent opportunities to let lawmakers explore regional economic, political and social issues.The Multicultural Educational Foundation, 55 W. Wacker Dr., submitted a private-sponsor travel form to the House Ethics Committee asking in advance to pay for Gutierrez to go to Mexico in 2012 as part of a delegation facilitating partnerships between Chicago and Guadalajara on health, education and the environment. Gutierrez's trip cost $1,524.Tax returns obtained by GuideStar, a Washington-based group that tracks nonprofits, show the Multicultural Educational Foundation had no revenue or expenses for three tax years ending in 2010. But it self-reported to GuideStar that it in 2012, it had $80,000 in revenue and $10,000 in expenses, according to a GuideStar spokeswoman.Chicago attorney Fred Tannenbaum, the Illinois agent for the foundation, said Tuesday that those figures need "to be reviewed, because this does not appear to be accurate." He said the foundation has never solicited contributions in Illinois and is not active. But the foundation submitted paperwork to the Illinois secretary of state as recently as March.The Illinois secretary of state lists the group's president as David Andalcio, a former chairman of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and former member of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board, who was appointed in 2003 by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.According to Andalcio's LinkedIn profile, he is CEO of Wynndalco Enterprises, which describes itself as working in renewable energy and other areas, with facilities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Andalcio was unavailable for comment. Xavier Montemayor, director of marketing and sales for the firm, said Tuesday that Andalcio was in Mexico being treated for cancer.The two trips paid for by foreign governments involved Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Channahon, who went to Turkey last spring, and Duckworth, who in August went to Thailand, where she was born. Duckworth, from Hoffman Estates, took her mother along and paid for her expenses, said Anton Becker, a spokesman.Walsh at Beck rallyFormer Rep. Joe Walsh, now a talk radio host, took a $6,300 trip to Jerusalem in August 2011 and attended a controversial rally there by broadcaster Glenn Beck. The trip was paid for by the International Israel Allies Caucus Foundation.Walsh, a Republican, said that during his one term in office he refused offers to go to India, Taiwan, Lithuania, the Middle East and the U.S.-Mexico border, concerned that in some cases taxpayers would get the bill and that in others there was a lot of personal time on the agenda."Even me as a freshman, not on the biggest committees in the world, every time there was a recess for a couple of weeks, there were always potential trips put in front of you," he said.He said the offers were "very tempting.""You learn a lot, you see another part of the world," he said. "It's like a perk of the job."Alexei Koseff of the Tribune Washington Bureau contributed.kskiba@tribune.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Chicago Tribune Visit the Chicago Tribune at .chicagotribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage