Posted on: Friday, April 29, 2005
Abercrombie denies violating House ethics rules in 2001 trip
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said yesterday that a two-day trip to Boston in 2001 to speak before a social organization was paid for by the group and not a lobbying firm as originally reported on a House travel document.
House ethics rules prohibit members from allowing lobbyists to pick up their expenses.
To correct the mistake, Abercrombie said he filed an amended travel report last week listing the social organization — Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, a patriotic military fraternal organization chartered in 1638 — as the trip's sponsor.
Abercrombie said his policy has been to "obey the spirit and letter of the laws and rules" that apply to his public-service positions.
"My record in office, going back 30 years, reflects my commitment to that approach," he said. "I have acted in good faith at every step in the matter of my trip to Boston. I made no attempt to conceal the facts and voluntarily and on my own initiative brought the issue to the attention of the (House) Ethics Committee."
Abercrombie is among numerous congressional lawmakers who are reviewing and sometimes amending travel reports in light of the growing criticism surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican.
Travel underwritten by nonprofit organizations, trade associations, private companies and others is common among lawmakers and allowed under House and Senate ethics rules. Members of Congress have taken about $16 million in 5,410 privately financed trips since 2000, according to a recent study by Political Money Line, an online service that provides campaign-finance and lobbying data.
That total includes 19 trips by Abercrombie, valued at $26,185; five trips by Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, valued at $21,963; one by Sen. Dan K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, valued at $2,633; and one by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, valued at $3,275.
Abercrombie, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he filed a House travel disclosure as required by House rules. On the trip, he flew from Honolulu to Boston on June 3, 2001, for the artillery company's annual June Day dinner. Airfare was $1,782 and his hotel was $229, according to the travel documents.
"The information in the filing erroneously identified the sponsor of the trip," said Abercrombie in a statement. The report listed the sponsor as Rooney Group International, a firm that represents a variety of defense companies, because the firm had extended the invitation on behalf of the social organization, Abercrombie said.
"When questions about the trip were first raised on April 20, my staff reviewed the matter and learned that the Rooney Group had been reimbursed for my air fare by Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts," Abercrombie said.
