WASHINGTON - Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., was the House's undisputed leader in taxpayer-funded travel to foreign shores in the decade of the 1990s.

He conducted 52 official trips over 296 days to 117 countries between 1990-1999, traveling on most occasions as a member of the International Relations Committee or as a House delegate to the North Atlantic Alliance, the parliamentary arm of NATO.

Ranking a distant second was Republican Floyd Spence of South Carolina, with 34 official trips over 260 days to 107 countries, many taken during his chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee. Democrat Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the International Relations Committee, ranked third with 32 trips over 222 days to 96 countries.

Others among the House's top ten travelers in the decade were Democrat Solomon Ortiz of Texas (29 trips, 264 days, 104 countries), Republicans Benjamin Gilman of New York (28-177-97) and Thomas Bliley of Virginia (27-170-49), and Democrats Steny Hoyer of Maryland (27-119-51), Alcee Hastings of Florida (24-186-169), John Murtha of Pennsylvania (24-73-46) and Owen Pickett of Virginia (23-189-68)

This story is based on travel data published by House committees in the Congressional Record. It does not cover publicly financed travel by senators, also a busy endeavor, or the numerous jaunts that members of Congress take to foreign countries on the tab of special interests or embassies and other foreign patrons.

Official travel is a major House activity in terms its claim on members' time and cost to taxpayers. For each year of the decade, on average, 198 members took a total of 352 trips over 2,209 days to 828 countries.

Yet, by members' design, taxpayer-funded travel occurs largely outside of public awareness. It is subjected to almost no direct fiscal oversight and is rarely the topic of public discussion among members. Historically, lawmakers have been quick to lambaste trips by presidents and top administration officials as wasteful but have rarely criticized their own travel.

Congressional travel has no line item in the federal budget. The General Accounting Office, Congress' fiscal watchdog, has not examined it since the early 1990s.

The official House audit, begun when Republicans took control of the chamber in 1995, has never examined per diem expenses or any other area of members' travel, even while repeatedly declaring House books to be "clean."

Outsiders can estimate the tab at more than $50 million annually, the largest component being the $7,000-to-$14,000-per-hour cost of the military jets that members use on the majority of their trips.

"You're talking about costs that are often ten times to a hundred times more expensive than if (members) just bought a commercial round trip airfare," Stephen Moore of the libertarian Cato Institute said in 1999.

Former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., a past chairman of the International Relations Committee, argues that reforming certain areas of House travel would build much-needed public support for one of Congress's most important activities. "Congressional travel, done the right way, can greatly enhance a member's knowledge of the issues," he said before leaving Congress in 1997.

In a later interview, Hamilton recommended that the annual House audit take a look at members' travel. "You're probably not talking about any huge amounts of money overall, but my impression is that it's been quite unaudited and unaccounted for."

(March 2004 Editor's Note: Floyd Spence died in office in 2001. Thomas Bliley and Owen Pickett retired from the House in 2000 and Benjamin Gilman left Congress in 2002. The other seven members among the House's top ten travelers in the 1990s remain in office.)

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    Doug Bereuter, R-Neb.
    52 trips, 296 days, 117 countries

    Floyd Spence, R-S.C.
    34-260-107

    Donald Payne, D-N.J.
    32-222-96

    Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas
    29-264-104

    Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y.
    28-177-97

    Thomas Bliley, R-Va.
    27-170-49

    Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
    27-119-51

    Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.
    24-186-169

    John Murtha, D-Pa.
    24-73-46

    Owen Pickett, R-Va
    23-189-68