From: clarinews@clarinet.com (STEVEN HEILBRONNER)
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Subject: Skinner says plane trips properly reimbursed
Keywords: usa federal, government, politics
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 16:53:03 PDT
ACategory: washington
Slugword: skinner
Priority: major
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 should -- Bush unveils reform measure)

	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- White House chief of staff Samuel Skinner said
Thursday the government was properly reimbursed for several trips he and
Vice President Dan Quayle had taken over the past two years.
	Skinner, in an interview with United Press International, expressed
frustration with news reports that suggest wrongdoing but offer no
evidence of malfeasance.
	``Everybody was reimbursed and no one had any problem with it,''
Skinner said. ``There's no story because the GAO said everybody was
fine.''
	The Government Accounting Office report, requested by members of
Congress, said that Quayle and Skinner, while he was transportation
secretary, took five trips together, mostly to play golf. One of the
trips was disclosed last year at the time Skinner's predecessor, John
Sununu, was accused of improperly billing government accounts for
personal trips.
	Skinner shook his head at the disclosure and said he was 
``disappointed'' with the New York Times and other papers that featured
the story Thursday, because, he said, ``the facts have long been known.''
	Later in the day, while holding a news conference to set new drug
approval rules, Quayle said, ``We've complied with all the laws and all
the regulations. The real problem is Democratic leadership in Congress.
The real scandal is the house banking system and the post office.''
	He added, ``The American people won't be fooled. This is simply a
diversionary tactic.''
	Skinner and Quayle said the government was partly reimbursed when
their trips involved political fund-raisers or appearances. However,
Skinner has refused to specify the repayment rate, citing security
issues.
	Quayle's office told the Times Thursday that he repaid the government
$2,742 for an outing with Skinner to Williamsburg, Va., in June 1990
that was listed as a political trip costing taxpayers $10,989.
	The reimbursement rate amounts to the price of a commercial airline
ticket plus $1, the customary formula used for government
reimbursements.
	President Bush, asked if Quayle had abused his traveling privileges,
told reporters Thursday, ``No, he has not.'' The president, who made the
remarks during a meeting with Quayle and other officials in the Oval
Office, added, ``He's following all the rules.''
	Quayle responded, ``The president is right.''
	A White House spokesman, Gary Foster, told reporters earlier that
Quayle has no plans of scaling back his personal travel, which is fully
paid for with tax dollars.
	The political tug of war between Congress and the administration over
the perquisites of their respective offices has become a dynamic
political issue this election year, with lawmakers vying with the
president for the least tarnished image.
	Bush has clearly relished the battle, and appears to be winning, as
House members try to disassociate themselves from the banking and post
office scandals that have resulted in some surprising primary defeats of
incumbents.
	The president also hopes to cast himself this year as the emissary of
change, a title his prospective presidential challenger, Gov. Bill
Clinton of Arkansas, has sought.
	Late Thursday, Bush, following up on an announcement last week,
unveiled a legislative proposal that is sure to inflame tempers. The
bill would make changes in five areas of the law, forcing Congress, and
in some cases the White House, to abide by the same laws they impose on
other Americans.
	Under the proposal, Congress, which is exempt from fair labor
practices and civil rights rules, would be required to meet federal wage
rates for workers, extend civil rights protections to congressional
employees and tighten ethics rules governing lawmakers. The measure
would bar employees from participating in political activities, though
it exempts lawmakers' personal staffs. It would also extend the Freedom
of Information Act and the Privacy Act to Congress, though again, exempt
lawmakers' personal offices.
	In his message to Congress, Bush said the changes would also affect
the White House staff and other federal workers, who are not extended
the same legal protections in labor and civil rights laws enjoyed by
private sector workers. The executive branch is governed by ethics rules
and the ban on political participation.
	``Congress should govern itself by the laws it imposes on everyone
else,'' Bush said last Saturday in a radio address. ``No more special
treatment.''
	The GAO report on White House travel was requested by Rep. John
Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the Government Operations Committee, who
held it up as evidence that the executive branch, and not just Congress,
takes advantage of government perquisites.
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