GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to Congressional Requesters

September 1999 PRESIDENTIAL 

TRAVEL

Costs and Accounting 

For the President’s 

1998 Trips to Africa, 

Chile, and China

GAO/NSIAD-99-164

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Contents

Letter 3

Appendixes Appendix I Support Provided for the President’s Trip to Africa 20

Appendix II Support Provided for the President’s Trip to Chile 23

Appendix III Support Provided for the President’s Trip to China 25

Appendix IV Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 27

Appendix V Comments From the White House 30

Appendix VI Comments From the Department of State 31

Appendix VII Comments From the Department of Defense 32

Appendix VIII GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments 33

Tables Table 1: Estimated Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to Africa 9

Table 2: Estimated Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to Chile 13

Table 3: Estimate of the Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to China 16

Table 4: Travelers on the Africa Trip 20

Table 5: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to

Africa 21

Table 6: DOD-Provided Rotary-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to 

Africa 22

Table 7: Travelers on the Chile Trip 23

Table 8: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to

Chile 24

Table 9: DOD-Provided Rotary-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to

Chile 24

Table 10: Travelers on the China Trip 25

Table 11: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to 

China 26

Figures Figure 1: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Africa 8

Figure 2: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Chile 12

Figure 3: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in China 15

Abbreviations

DOD Department of Defense
Contents

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United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

National Security and

International Affairs Division

B-282773 Letr

September 21, 1999

The Honorable Larry E. Craig

The Honorable Jeff Sessions

The Honorable Craig Thomas

United States Senate

At your request, we are providing information related to the (1) estimated 

costs and the nature of the costs of President Clinton’s 1998 trips to Africa, 

Chile, and China and (2) executive branch accounting procedures for such 

expenses. This information is based on available agency records.

Results in Brief Presidential travel to foreign destinations requires planning, coordination, 

and logistical and personnel support. The estimated incremental costs of 

President Clinton’s trips to Africa, Chile, and China were at least 

$42.8 million, $10.5 million, and $18.8 million, respectively. The largest of 

these costs consisted of (1) operating expenses of the President’s aircraft 

and other military passenger and cargo aircraft; (2) travel expenses, 

including lodging for the travelers; and (3) telecommunications, vehicle, 

and other equipment rentals and procurement in the countries visited. 

These estimates exclude (1) Secret Service expenses, which are classified; 

(2) regular salaries and benefits of U.S. government civil and military 

travelers; and (3) agency planning expenses that may have been incurred in 

preparing to travel.

The executive branch does not have a single system to account for the cost 

of presidential travel overseas, and the agencies involved use a variety of 

means to account for expenses. The Department of State routinely 

accounts for travel, equipment rental, and other costs to support 

presidential travel. Other agencies that incurred costs in support of the 

Africa, Chile, and China trips had records available on their costs as well. 

Background A series of planning activities precedes overseas presidential travel. Once a 

decision is made to visit a foreign country, White House, Department of 

State, Secret Service, and, depending on the trip agenda or purpose, other 

federal agency staff begin planning the trip. Staff from these agencies 
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generally make at least three trips to the country or countries to be visited 

before the President arrives. 

The first trip, known as a site survey, permits officials to visit sites at which 

presidential events may be held. During the second trip, known as a 

preadvance visit, officials narrow down the choice of sites, plan for the 

events, and make final site selections. During the third trip, an advance trip 

taken about 7 days before the President arrives, officials set up needed 

equipment at event locations and make final preparations for the 

President’s arrival. Hereafter, we refer to these trips collectively as advance 

trips, and the teams as advance teams.

Certain Agencies Support 

All of the President’s 

Foreign Trips

The Department of Defense (DOD) and some of the military services 

support presidential overseas trips. For example, the Air Force’s 89th Airlift 

Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, flies the President’s plane, 

known as Air Force One, and certain support aircraft. DOD also transports 

vehicles and other equipment to the countries to be visited on its cargo 

aircraft and provides aerial refueling when needed. DOD may also deploy 

servicemembers to provide other support such as maintenance, logistics, 

explosive ordnance disposal, and medical and other support.

In addition, the White House Military Office sends officials from the White 

House Communications Agency to establish and maintain 

communications; the White House Mess to prepare some meals for the 

President and members of the first family; the White House Transportation 

Agency primarily to support security of cargo and materials on the 

President’s plane and the support planes; the White House Medical Unit to 

provide health services, if needed; and the Marine Corps’ Helicopter 

Squadron One to provide in-country movement of the President and 

members of the official delegation when needed. Staff from these White 

House support offices are generally active duty servicemembers, and DOD 

pays their travel expenses.
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The Department of State provides a variety of support for presidential 

travel to foreign destinations. First, State’s Presidential Travel Support 

Services Office provides administrative support to White House and State 

members of an advance team. This support includes making travel 

arrangements, communicating with the embassy in the country to be 

visited, and processing travel orders and vouchers required for White 

House and some State travelers. In addition, State pays the travel expenses 

of most White House and State officials on the advance trips or on the trip 

with the President. The U.S. embassy in the country to be visited 

(1) procures in-country support such as lodging, telecommunications, 

transportation, and other equipment and (2) assists White House and State 

employees in coordinating the agenda with the host government. The State 

Department’s regional financial service centers1

 disburse other agencies’ 

funds to pay the agencies’ hotel, telecommunications, and other in-country 

expenses. 

The Secret Service, the U.S. Information Agency, the Immigration and 

Naturalization Service, and the Customs Service also generally support all 

presidential trips. The Secret Service provides personal security for the 

President and protectees. The U.S. Information Agency supports U.S. news 

media organizations whose representatives accompany the President. This 

support usually consists of organizing press briefings and arranging for 

lodging, transportation, telecommunications, and interpreters. Under 

agency guidelines, some of the cost of logistical support for the news media 

is to be reimbursed to the government by media organizations. The 

Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Customs Service generally 

send inspectors to accompany the presidential party and facilitate reentry 

into the United States by stamping passports and collecting import duties 

from officials, news media representatives, and any private citizens 

accompanying the President.

Other Agency Support for 

Presidential Foreign Travel

While some agencies participate in all foreign trips, other federal agencies 

may participate in or otherwise support certain trips but not others. This 

support varies from trip to trip and is somewhat dependent on the goals 

and agenda of the planned trip. For example, if trade relations are a trip 

agenda item, the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture and officials 

from the U.S. Trade Representative may accompany the President. Cabinet 

1

These centers are located in Paris, France; Bangkok, Thailand; and Charleston, South 

Carolina.
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secretaries or other agency heads may also take some agency staff to assist 

the agency heads in preparing for discussions of issues with 

representatives of the host government or to perform other duties. 

Agencies whose officials are part of the official delegation may also, on 

occasion, have missions of their own to address while accompanying the 

President.

The Cost of the 

President’s Trip to 

Africa

Beginning March 22, 1998, through April 2, 1998, the President and his 

delegation visited Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, and 

Senegal. According to the administration, the purpose of the trip was to

(1) help reshape the way Americans think about Africa; (2) show U.S. 

support for emerging democracies; (3) promote U.S. investment, trade, and 

economic growth in Africa; (4) promote education; and (5) promote 

conflict resolution and human rights. White House officials stated that this 

was the most extensive trip by an American President to the African 

continent. 

They also stated that the President held summit meetings with the heads of 

states of the six countries visited, and cohosted, with Uganda’s President 

Museveni, a regional summit meeting with the heads of state or 

governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Secretary General of the 

Organization of African Unity. In addition, the President participated in 

other events that included an open-air speech to about 500,000 people in 

Ghana; visits to schools and housing projects; and meetings with human 

rights activists, environmentalists, and survivors of the Rwandan genocide. 

He also dedicated the first U.S. Trade Center on the African continent in 

Johannesburg, South Africa; signed agreements; and announced a number 

of initiatives.
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State, White House, Secret Service, and/or DOD officials were members of 

10 separate advance teams that traveled from January 1998 to March 1998 

to prepare for the President’s arrival in the six countries to be visited. 

According to agency records, the federal agencies represented on the trip 

paid for about 1,300 individuals to travel to Africa as advance team 

members, to accompany the President, or to provide other support to his 

delegation.2

 (See app. I, table 4 for a breakout by agency of the travelers.) 

Figure 1 shows the six countries the President visited, beginning with the 

stop in Ghana.

2

This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes Peace Corps officials assigned to 

posts in Africa that incurred local travel expenses, and nonfederal officials and/or private 

citizens that, according to the Department of State, reimbursed the government for their 

travel expenses.
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Figure 1: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Africa

The estimated incremental cost of the President’s trip to Africa was at least 

$42.8 million, excluding Secret Service costs, which are classified. The 

estimated cost of the Africa trip is shown in table 1.

South Africa

Botswana

Rwanda

Uganda

Ghana

Sengal
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Table 1: Estimated Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to Africa

a

The State Department paid the travel costs of Members of Congress that accompanied the President. 

Where information was incomplete, we used the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers 

rather than actual amounts in this estimate.

b

Includes expenses incurred by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

c

Less than 0.1 percent.

d

Excludes Secret Service costs.

Source: Agencies shown in the table.

DOD Expenses DOD records show that DOD spent about $37.7 million in support of the 

trip. About $32.7 million of the $37.7 million was spent for passenger and 

strategic lift and aerial refueling operations. According to the U.S. 

Transportation Command, DOD flew 98 airlift missions using strategic lift 

aircraft, including C-17s and C-5s, to move vehicles and other equipment 

from various locations in the United States and Europe to Africa at a cost of 

about $29.2 million. The Transportation Command’s data shows that DOD 

also flew 110 aerial refueling missions using KC-135 and KC-10 tanker 

aircraft at a cost of just over $1 million. The airlift and aerial refueling 

missions were made to transport 13 Army and Marine Corps helicopters; to 

establish at least four maintenance support teams on Cape Verde and 

Ascension Islands and at two locations in South Africa; and to establish 

temporary medical evacuation units in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, 

Agency Amount Percent of total

DOD $37,738,016 88.2

Department of State 3,665,155a 8.6

U.S. Information Agency 986,606 2.3

Executive Office of the President 122,235b 0.3

Department of Commerce 120,101 0.3

Agency for International Development 57,298 0.1

Department of Transportation 53,896 0.1

Department of Labor 40,430 0.1

Peace Corps 11,977 c

Department of the Treasury 7,450 c

Department of Agriculture 1,071 c

Immigration and Naturalization Service 928 c

Customs Service 829 c

Total reported to GAO $42,805,992d 100
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Botswana, and Senegal. The 89th Airlift Wing flew the President’s aircraft 

and five other aircraft to transport the advance teams or the official 

delegation at a reported cost of about $2.5 million. The Marine Helicopter 

Squadron One reported helicopter and related support costs of about 

$555,000. (See app. I, tables 5 and 6 for more information on fixed-wing and 

rotary-wing airlift and aerial refueling operations costs.)

In addition to airlift and aerial refueling costs, DOD incurred costs to 

deploy troops in support of the Africa trip. DOD established (1) Joint Task 

Force Eagle Vista under the command of an Air Force major general and 

deployed over 400 servicemembers representing 4 services from bases in 

Europe and the United States and (2) a joint task force headquarters of 

30 people. These troops engaged in a variety of activities, including 

providing medical services and aircraft maintenance and erecting 

temporary aviation support facilities such as a dome shelter for 

helicopters. The U.S. European Command and the service components in 

Europe estimated the incremental direct cost of the joint task force to be 

$633,369, primarily for travel expenses. The U.S. Atlantic Command 

deployed about 190 military personnel from U.S. bases to provide aircraft 

maintenance and aviation services at a cost the Command estimated at 

over $775,000. DOD explained that the complexity of the trip, that is, visits 

to six countries, and the need to provide some temporary infrastructure 

contributed to the cost of its operations. The State Department disbursed 

an additional $2.9 million of DOD funds for other in-country expenses such 

as vehicle and equipment rentals, lodging, landing fees, and transportation. 

DOD’s reported expenses also included about $200,000 in travel costs for 

servicemembers assigned to the White House Military Office or Air Force 

servicemembers that provided advance services for the President’s plane.

Department of State 

Expenses 

On the basis of data provided to us by the State Department and the U.S. 

embassies in the six countries visited, we estimated that State’s 

incremental direct costs were about $3.7 million. The expenses were for 

lodging, vehicle and other equipment rentals, telecommunications 

equipment and services, and procurement of miscellaneous items. The 

State Department paid about $1.3 million in travel costs for most White 

House and all State staff members traveling to support one or more 

advance trips to the six countries visited or to accompany the President 

during his trip, and 16 Members of Congress invited to accompany the 

President.
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Other Support Agency 

Expenses 

Other agencies participated in and incurred costs associated with the 

President’s trip to Africa. For example, U.S. Information Agency records 

showed that it incurred incremental direct costs of about $1 million for 

telecommunication and meeting rooms for support of press operations and 

for staff travel. The executive branch bills the news media for logistical 

support costs, and the cost estimate of expenses for the U.S. Information 

Agency was the net amount after receipt of the reimbursement. The other 

agencies’ expenses included travel, lodging, and vehicle and equipment 

rentals for staff that accompanied the President, agency heads, or staff that 

participated in other events. For example, the Department of 

Transportation sent staff to work on an aviation safety and security 

initiative in Africa and to promote aviation services between countries in 

Africa and the United States. Also, Department of Commerce staff and the 

President participated in the opening of a trade center in South Africa 

named after the late Secretary of Commerce, Ronald Brown.

The Cost of the 

President’s Trip to 

Chile

The President and his delegation visited Chile from April 16, 1998, through 

April 20, 1998, to attend the second Summit of the Americas and hold 

bilateral meetings with the President of Chile. The Summit of the Americas 

was a scheduled meeting of 34 heads of state or governments from 

countries in North, Central, and South America. Agenda items at the 

summit included a discussion of the establishment of a Free Trade Area of 

the Americas, the promotion of democracy, and the eradication of poverty 

in the Americas.

Five advance teams of State, White House, Secret Service, and/or DOD 

officials made five trips from November 1997 through April 1998 to prepare 

for the President’s arrival. Advance team members visited the Chilean 

capital of Santiago and at least three other cities to plan for presidential 

events at those locations. According to agency records, the federal 

agencies represented on the trip paid for about 600 individuals to travel to 

Chile as advance team members, to accompany the President, or to provide 

other support to his delegation.3

 (See appendix II, table 7 for a breakout of 

the travelers by agency.) Figure 2 shows the cities the President visited in 

Chile in 1998.

3

This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes nonfederal officials and/or private 

citizens that, according to the Department of State, reimbursed the government for their 

travel expenses.
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Figure 2: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Chile

Santiago

Argentina

South

Atlantic

Ocean

South

Pacific

Ocean

Paraguay

Peru Bolivia

Valparaiso
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The estimated incremental cost of the President’s trip to Chile was at least 

$10.5 million excluding Secret Service costs. The estimated cost by agency 

of the Chile trip is shown in table 2.

Table 2: Estimated Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to Chile

a

The State Department paid the travel costs of Members of Congress that accompanied the President. 

Where information was incomplete, we used the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers 

rather than actual amounts in this estimate.

b

Less than 0.1 percent.

c

Excludes Secret Service costs.

d

May not add due to rounding.

Source: Agencies shown in the table.

DOD Expenses DOD records show about $8.8 million was spent in support of this trip. Of 

the $8.8 million, about $7.8 million was for passenger and strategic lift and 

aerial refueling support. The U.S. Transportation Command used C-5 and 

C-141 aircraft for 24 airlift missions to move vehicles and other equipment 

from various locations in the United States to Chile at a cost of about 

$6.7 million. The Command’s data also shows that KC-135 tanker aircraft 

flew nine aerial refueling missions at a cost of about $152,000 and that the 

Agency Amount Percent of total

DOD $8,814,346 83.6

Department of State 1,322,004a 12.5

U.S. Information Agency 222,279 2.1

Executive Office of the President 54,037 0.5

Department of Education 26,421 0.3

Drug Enforcement Administration 24,188 0.2

Department of Commerce 22,039 0.2

Department of Energy 20,690 0.2

Department of Justice 13,194 0.1

Small Business Administration 11,450 0.1

Overseas Private Investment Corporation 6,726 0.1

Agency for International Development 1,771 b

Immigration and Naturalization Service 589 b

Customs Service 492 b

Total reported to GAO $10,540,226c 100d
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89th Airlift Wing flew the President’s plane and two others at a cost of 

about $948,000. The remaining approximately $1 million in costs consisted 

of helicopter support from the Marine Helicopter Squadron One; travel for 

DOD staff assigned to the White House Military Office, Joint Staff, and Air 

Force headquarters; and other support. (See app. II, tables 8 and 9, for 

more information on fixed- and rotary-wing airlift and aerial refueling 

costs.)

Department of State 

Expenses 

On the basis of data provided to us by the State Department and the U.S. 

embassy in Chile, we estimated that State’s incremental direct costs were 

about $1.3 million to support the Chile trip. The expenses were for lodging, 

vehicle rentals and other transportation services, telecommunications 

equipment rentals and services, and a variety of other items. The State 

Department paid over $300,000 for most White House and all State staff 

members traveling to support one or more of the advance trips to Chile or 

to accompany the President during his trip, and 5 Members of Congress 

invited to accompany the President.

Other Support Agency 

Expenses

Other agencies participated in and incurred costs associated with the 

President’s trip to Chile. For example, the U.S. Information Agency spent 

about $222,000 to support the trip. The agency’s support expenses included 

rentals of rooms for the press and telecommunications services to support 

press operations and staff travel. The executive branch billed the news 

media for the cost of logistical support provided to them, and the estimate 

of expenses for the U.S. Information Agency was the net amount after 

receipt of the reimbursement. The expenses included travel, lodging, and 

vehicle and equipment rentals for staff that accompanied the President, 

agency heads, or staff that participated in other events. For example, 

Department of Education staff provided support because an education 

initiative was an agenda item for the Summit of the Americas.

The Cost of the 

President’s Trip to 

China

The President and his delegation visited China from June 25, 1998, through 

July 3, 1998, to conduct bilateral talks with the President of China and for 

other purposes. According to the White House, the President traveled to 

China to build on discussions at the October 1997 summit held in 

Washington, D.C., with President Jiang Zemin. Issues discussed were 

security, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, economics and 

trade, energy and environment, science and technology, and law 
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enforcement. Each of the accompanying agencies represented on the trip 

had specific missions designed to further the overall agenda or was tasked 

to provide logistical support. 

Eight separate teams from the State Department, White House, Secret 

Service, and/or DOD made advance trips to Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, Guilin, 

and Hong Kong from April 1998 through June 1998. According to agency 

records, the federal agencies represented on the trip paid for about 500 

individuals to travel to China as advance team members, to accompany the 

President, or provide other support to his delegation.4

 (See app. III, table 10 

for a breakout by agency of the travelers.) Figure 3 shows the major 

locations visited by the President, beginning with the delegation’s stop in 

Xi’an.

Figure 3: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in China

The estimated incremental cost of the President’s trip to China was at least 

$18.8 million, excluding Secret Service costs. The estimated cost of the 

China trip by agency is shown in table 3.

4

This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes nonfederal officials and/or private 

citizens that, according to the Department of State, reimbursed the government for their 

travel expenses.

Shanghai

Beijing

Hong Kong

Guilin

Xian
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Table 3: Estimate of the Cost of the President’s 1998 Trip to China 

a

State paid the travel costs of Members of Congress that accompanied the President. Where 

information was incomplete, we used the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers rather 

than actual amounts in this estimate.

b

Includes expenses incurred by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

c

Less than 0.1 percent.

d

Excludes Secret Service costs.

e

May not add due to rounding.

Source: Agencies shown in the table.

DOD Expenses DOD records show about $14 million was spent in support of the trip. Of 

the $14 million, passenger and strategic lift and aerial refueling operations 

accounted for about $12.8 million. The Transportation Command’s data 

shows that the Air Force flew 36 airlift missions using C-5 and C-141 

aircraft to move vehicles and other equipment to China at a cost of about 

$10.3 million. The data also show that the Air Force flew seven aerial 

refueling missions at a cost of just over $79,000 and that the 89th Airlift 

Wing flew the President’s aircraft plus three others at a cost of about 

$2.5 million. The remaining approximately $1.2 million in DOD expenses 

were accounted for by deployments or travel of servicemembers to China 

to provide other support required during the President’s visit or for other

Agency Amount Percent of total

DOD $14,007,128 74.4

Department of State 3,601,588a 19.1

U.S. Information Agency 983,835 5.2

Department of the Treasury 70,517 0.4

Executive Office of the President 63,099b 0.3

Department of Agriculture 57,250 0.3

Department of Commerce 39,098 0.2

Department of Energy 2,534 c

Peace Corps 2,254 c

Customs Service 1,942 c

Immigration and Naturalization Service 847 c

Total reported to GAO $18,830,092d 100e
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costs incurred in China by deployed servicemembers.5 (See app. III, table 

11, for more information on fixed-wing airlift and aerial refueling costs.)

Department of State 

Expenses 

On the basis of data provided to us by the State Department and the U.S. 

embassy in Beijing, we estimate that State spent about $3.6 million. The 

expenses were for lodging, vehicle and other equipment rentals, 

telecommunications equipment and services, and procurement of 

miscellaneous items such as aviation ground handling services. The State 

Department paid about $1.3 million in travel costs for most White House 

and all State staff members traveling to support one or more advance trips 

to China or to accompany the President, and 6 Members of Congress 

invited to accompany the President.

Other Support Agency 

Expenses 

Other agencies participated in and incurred costs associated with the 

President’s trip to China. For example, the U.S. Information Agency 

reported an expenditure of just under $1 million that consisted primarily of 

support for press operations and staff travel. The executive branch billed 

the news media for the cost of logistical support provided to them, and the 

estimate of expenses for the U.S. Information Agency was the net amount 

after receipt of the reimbursement. The other agencies’ expenses included 

travel, lodging, and transportation or other support for staff that 

accompanied the President, agency heads, or staff that participated in 

other events. For example, the Department of Commerce and the U.S. 

Trade Representative discussed trade and economic development with 

officials of the host government.

Agencies Use a Variety 

of Means to Account 

for the Cost of 

Presidential Travel 

The executive branch does not maintain a single cost accounting system or 

a set of procedures to track all costs of presidential travel. Nonetheless, the 

agencies supporting or participating in the three presidential trips that we 

reviewed accounted for their travel or support costs in a variety of ways.

The State Department and its embassies have their own procedures for 

gathering data on the costs they incur in supporting presidential trips. 

State’s Presidential Travel Support Services Office collects and maintains 

5

According to officials from the Office of the White House Counsel, the Marine Helicopter 

Squadron One did not fly any missions during the China trip.
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files that have been organized individually for each presidential trip. These 

files contain the travel vouchers of certain White House and State travelers 

that participated in one or more of the advance trips and/or accompanied 

the President during his trip. The embassies that we contacted in Africa, 

Chile, and China also maintained files containing such documents as bills 

for hotels and equipment rentals and for aircraft servicing contracts. The 

files contain sufficient detail to show the amount disbursed by State for the 

other agencies’ share of the costs of support procured under these 

contracts. These records were obtained and summed to determine the cost 

of presidential travel on specific trips. 

DOD components that support presidential travel also have information on 

individual costs. For example, the U.S. Transportation Command maintains 

data that can be used to identify strategic airlift and aerial refueling 

missions that support presidential trips. However, the data system does not 

readily account for presidential missions by trip. To account for the cost of 

a particular trip, one has to review the mission dates and itineraries 

throughout the database to identify the support. Other DOD components 

maintain records that while not specifically designed to account for the 

cost of presidential support can be used to identify the cost of a mission 

that supported presidential travel. For example, U.S. European Command 

officials said that they can account for incremental direct costs by military 

operation and thus can determine support costs for a presidential trip.

Other agencies or DOD components provide an accounting code to the 

State Department, which the Department uses to disburse the agencies’ 

funds electronically for costs incurred. For example, the Department of the 

Treasury provided its accounting code to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, 

China, for the cost of hotels and other expenses that Treasury staff would 

incur during the trip. The Treasury Department also limited the amount of 

funds that State could obligate. In addition, each of the agencies that 

participated in the presidential trips could provide travel vouchers or other 

documents showing costs or obligations incurred.

Agency Comments and 

Our Evaluation

In separate written comments on a draft of this report, the White House 

stated it had no comments, and the Department of State provided technical 

comments, which we incorporated as appropriate (see apps. V and VI). The 

Department of Defense stated it found no areas of significant disagreement 

(see app. VII). The White House and Department of Defense provided 

technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.
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For the other agencies participating in the President’s trips, we conducted 

exit conferences with each agency to discuss how we arrived at the costs 

and numbers of travelers attributed to them. The agency officials 

concurred with the information as presented. We also discussed their 

accounting processes when accompanying the President on trips to foreign 

countries.

Scope and 

Methodology

We discuss our scope and methodology in appendix IV.

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of 

this report earlier, we will not distribute it until 30 days from the date of 

this letter. At that time, we will send copies of this report to interested 

congressional committees; John Podesta, the President’s Chief of Staff, 

Executive Office of the President; the Honorable William S. Cohen, the 

Secretary of Defense; and the Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, the 

Secretary of State. We are also sending copies of this report to the other 

agencies that participated in these trips.

Key contacts and contributors on this assignment are listed in appendix 

VIII.

Mark E. Gebicke

Director, National Security

 Preparedness Issues
Page 20 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix I

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to Apendxies

Africa ApendxiI

A number of federal departments or agencies were represented in the 

official delegation on the President’s trip to Africa. Table 4 displays the 

number of official travelers that each agency reported sending or that 

reported incurring expenses on the trip, excluding Secret Service travelers. 

The table also excludes non-federal officials or private citizens that, 

according to the Department of State, paid their own travel expenses.

Table 4: Travelers on the Africa Trip

a

Includes one official from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

b

Includes 16 Members of Congress invited to accompany the President. 

c

Some official travelers may have spent part of their time attending to agency business apart from the 

President’s trip. Others may have been traveling in support of their cabinet secretary or agency head. 

This also includes officials that may have participated in one or more of the advance trips. This 

excludes Peace Corps officials that traveled within Africa and incurred some expenses.

Source: The agencies shown in the table.

DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling using 

fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft to support the Africa trip. Table 5 

displays the fixed-wing support for the Africa trip, and table 6 displays 

rotary-wing support to the trip.

Department or agency Number of travelers

Department of Defense 904

Executive Office of the President 205a

U.S. Information Agency 103

Department of State 60b

Department of Transportation 9

Agency for International Development 6

Department of Labor 6

Department of Agriculture 3

Department of Commerce 3

Customs Service 1

Immigration and Naturalization Service 1

Department of the Treasury 1

Total 1,302c
Appendix I

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

Africa

Page 21 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Table 5: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to Africa

a

Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are as follows: (1) VC-25A (Boeing 747), 

which is the President’s plane, and (2) C-137 (Boeing 707), C-20B (Gulfstream III), and C-9A and

C-9C (Douglas DC-9).

b

A mission may include one or more flight segments, such as a round trip flight to a foreign destination 

and a return flight to home base. It may also include multiple flight segments. Also, the number of 

missions does not necessarily reflect the number of aircraft used because a given aircraft may have 

flown more than one mission.

c

According to Air Force officials, the flying hour rates for the KC-135 aircraft differ depending on the 

type of mission due to differences in the accounting based on the type of mission.

Source: Air Mobility Command and the White House Airlift Operations Office.

Aircraft 

modela

Primary 

mission

Missions

flownb

Flight

hours

Hourly

rate Mission cost

VC-25A Passengers 1 38.0 $34,400 $1,307,200

C-137 Passengers 2 77.5 9,935 769,963

C-20B Passengers 1 40.7 3,348 136,264

C-9A Passengers 1 46.5 2,005 93,233

C-9C Passengers 1 48.7 4,092 199,280

C-5 Strategic lift 66 1,975.6 12,605 24,902,438

KC-135 Strategic lift 8 104.4 4,051c 422,924

C-141 Strategic lift 19 568.4 5,349 3,040,372

C-17 Strategic lift 5 116.4 7,025 817,710

KC-135 Aerial refueling 104 456.9 2,075c 948,068

KC-10 Aerial refueling 6 35.8 2,692 96,374

Total 214 3,508.9 $32,733,826
Appendix I

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

Africa

Page 22 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Table 6: DOD-Provided Rotary-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to Africa

Note: The number of missions flown was not available.

Source: White House Airlift Operations Office.

Helicopter model Flight hours Hourly rate Cost

VH-3D 28.7 $5,597 $160,634

UH-53E 27.3 3,658 99,863

VH-60N 22.1 4,252 93,969

CH-53E 31.0 3,658 113,398

UH-60A 38.9 2,236 86,980

Total 148.0 $554,844
Page 23 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix II

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

Chile ApendxiI

A number of federal departments or agencies were represented in the 

official delegation on the President’s trip to Chile. Table 7 displays the 

number of official travelers that each agency reported sending on the trip, 

excluding Secret Service travelers. The table also excludes nonfederal 

officials or private citizens that, according to the Department of State, paid 

their own travel expenses.

Table 7: Travelers on the Chile Trip

a

Includes five Members of Congress invited to accompany the President.

b

Includes officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

c

Includes travelers from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

d

Some official travelers may have spent part of their time attending to agency business apart from the 

President’s trip. Others may have been traveling in support of their cabinet secretary or agency head. 

This also includes officials that may have participated in one or more of the advance trips. 

Source: The agencies shown in the table.

DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling using 

fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft to support the Chile trip. Table 8 

displays the fixed-wing support for the Chile trip, and table 9 displays 

rotary-wing support for the trip.

Department or agency Number of travelers

Department of Defense 193

Department of State 175a

Executive Office of the President 109b

U.S. Information Agency 67

Department of Justicec 14

Department of Commerce 10

Department of Education 7

Department of Energy 7

Small Business Administration 5

Overseas Private Investment Corporation 2

Agency for International Development 1

Customs Service 1

Immigration and Naturalization Service 1

Total 592d
Appendix II

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

Chile

Page 24 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Table 8: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to Chile

a

Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are as follows: (1) VC-25A (Boeing 747), 

which is the President’s plane, and (2) C-137 (Boeing 707), and C-9 (Douglas DC-9).

b

A mission may include one or more flight segments, such as a round trip flight to a foreign destination 

and a return flight to home base. It may also include multiple flight segments. Also, the number of 

missions does not necessarily reflect the number of aircraft used because a given aircraft may have 

flown more than one mission.

Source: Air Mobility Command and the White House Airlift Operations Office.

Table 9: DOD-Provided Rotary-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to Chile

a

The number of missions flown was not available.

Source: White House Airlift Operations Office.

Aircraft 

modela

Primary 

mission

Missions

flownb

Flight

hours Hourly rate

Mission

cost

VC-25A Passengers 1 18.5 $34,400 $636,400

C-137 Passengers 1 20.0 9,935 198,700

C-9C Passengers 1 27.6 4,092 112,939

C-141 Strategic lift 4 73.5 5,349 393,152

C-5 Strategic lift 20 503.9 12,605 6,351,660

KC-135 Aerial refueling 9 73.4 2,075 152,305

Total 36 716.9 $7,845,156

Helicopter model Flight hoursa Hourly rate Cost

VH-60N 25.2 $4,252 $107,150

CH-53E 20.1 3,658 73,526

Total 45.3 $180,676
Page 25 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix III

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

China ApendxiI

A number of federal departments or agencies were represented in the 

official delegation on the President’s trip to China, excluding the Secret 

Service. Table 10 displays the number of official travelers that each agency 

reported sending on the trip, excluding Secret Service travelers. The table 

also excludes nonfederal officials or private citizens that may have gone on 

the trip and who, according to the Department of State, paid their own 

travel expenses.

Table 10: Travelers on the China Trip

a

Includes officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

b

Includes six Members of Congress invited to accompany the President.

c

Some official travelers may have spent part of their time attending to agency business apart from the 

President’s trip. Others may have been traveling in support of their cabinet secretary or agency head. 

This also includes officials that may have participated in one or more of the advance trips. 

Source: The agencies shown in the table.

DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling using 

fixed-wing aircraft to support the China trip. Table 11 displays the fixedwing support provided for the China trip. Officials from the White House 

Counsel’s Office told us that while some helicopters were sent to China to 

support the trip, they were not used.

Department or agency Number of travelers

Executive Office of the President 186a

Department of Defense 123

Department of State 116b

U.S. Information Agency 50

Department of the Treasury 14

Department of Commerce 9

Department of Agriculture 6

Peace Corps 2

Department of Energy 2

Customs Service 1

Immigration and Naturalization Service 1

Total 510c
Appendix III

Support Provided for the President’s Trip to 

China

Page 26 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Table 11: DOD-Provided Fixed-Wing Support to the President’s Trip to China

a

Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are as follows: (1) VC-25A (Boeing 747), 

which is the President’s plane, and (2) C-137 (Boeing 707).

b

A mission may include one or more flight segments, such as a round trip flight to a foreign destination 

and a return flight to home base. It may also include multiple flight segments. Also, the number of 

missions does not necessarily reflect the number of aircraft used because a given aircraft may have 

flown more than one mission.

Source: Air Mobility Command and the 89th Airlift Wing.

Aircraft 

modela

Primary 

mission

Missions

flownb

Flight

hours Hourly rate

Mission

cost

VC-25A Passengers 1 39.2 $34,400 $1,348,480

C-137 Passengers 3 113.5 9,935 1,127,623

C-5 Strategic lift 33 808.2 12,605 10,187,361

C-141 Strategic lift 3 18.3 5,349 97,887

KC-135 Aerial refueling 7 38.2 2,075 79,265

Total 47 1,017.4 $12,840,616
Page 27 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix IV

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology ApendxiIV

The objectives of our review were to determine (1) the estimated costs and 

the nature of the costs of President Clinton’s 1998 trips to Africa, Chile, and 

China and (2) executive branch accounting procedures for such expenses.

To determine the estimated cost and nature of the costs of the President’s 

1998 trips to China, Chile, and Africa, we contacted each agency that was 

financially responsible for the conduct of the three trips based on official 

delegation lists and Department of State records. To determine the types of 

support the Department of Defense (DOD) provided, we interviewed 

officials and obtained messages, briefing slides, planning documents, 

situation reports, electronic mail, and other documents from the Office of 

the Secretary of Defense (Office of the General Counsel); the Joint Staff; 

and the Office of the Vice Chief of Staff, Special Air Missions, U.S. Air 

Force. To determine the cost of strategic airlift and tanker support 

operations, we interviewed officials and obtained flight records, hourly 

flying rates, briefing slides, scheduling documents, excerpts from 

command guidance, and other documents from the U.S. Transportation 

Command and the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command in Illinois and the 

Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii. To verify a sample of data collected from the 

Transportation and Air Mobility Commands, we visited air wings that 

provided significant strategic lift, the 436th Air Mobility Wing and the 512th 

Reserve Wing in Delaware. While there, we interviewed officials and 

obtained flight, budget, maintenance, and other records from the active and 

reserve wings. To determine the cost to operate the President’s plane and 

supporting aircraft, we obtained (1) flight records from the 89th Airlift 

Wing in Maryland, (2) the flying hour rate for the President’s plane from the 

White House Military Office, (3) the operating costs of other aircraft from 

the Transportation Command, and (4) certain flying costs from the Office 

of the White House Counsel.

To determine other DOD support costs, we obtained the flying hour rates, 

flight records, and other information for helicopters used on one or more of 

the trips from the U.S. Atlantic Command, the Marine Corps’ Marine 

Helicopter Squadron One in Virginia, the 101st Aviation Brigade in 

Kentucky, the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing in California, and the 2nd Marine 

Air Wing in North Carolina. We also obtained the cost of technical support 

provided by the 49th Material Maintenance Squadron in New Mexico. In 

addition, to determine the cost of Operation Eagle Vista, we obtained and 

reviewed information showing the cost of travel and transportation, 

communications, contracts, and other support from the U.S. European 

Command, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Naval Forces-Europe, or U.S. ArmyEurope. Similarly, we obtained travel vouchers from the U.S. Pacific 
Appendix IV

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 28 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Command to determine the travel costs of 16 officials that accompanied 

the President to China. With the assistance of the Office of the White House 

Counsel, we also obtained and reviewed travel cost information from the 

White House Transportation Agency, the White House Communications 

Agency, and the White House Mess to determine the cost of travel of DOD 

officials assigned to these organizations.

To determine the travel cost of White House and Department of State 

officials that participated in one or more of the advance trips and/or 

accompanied the President during his trips, we interviewed officials and 

obtained documents from the Office of the White House Counsel and the 

Department of State’s Presidential Travel Support Services Office. 

Specifically, we obtained travel vouchers, staff manuals, memorandums, 

and official delegation lists. Where information was incomplete, we used 

the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers rather than actual 

amounts in this estimate.

To determine other expenses incurred by the Department of State, we 

obtained hotel bills, equipment rental contracts, travel cost summaries, 

aircraft servicing contracts, staff overtime charges, and/or other 

information from the U.S. embassies in (1) Beijing, China; (2) Santiago, 

Chile; (3) Kampala, Uganda; (4) Kigali, Rwanda; (5) Gaborone, Botswana; 

(6) Dakar, Senegal; (7) Pretoria, South Africa; and (8) Accra, Ghana. To 

determine the funds disbursed by the Department of State for other federal 

agencies for in-country expenses related to these trips, we obtained and 

reviewed records from each of the eight embassies and from the 

Department of State’s Office of International Financial Services.

To determine the cost of travel for officials that accompanied or otherwise 

supported the President or a cabinet secretary or agency head, we 

reviewed travel vouchers and related travel information from the Executive 

Office of the President; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and the 

Departments of State, the Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, 

Transportation, Labor, Justice, Energy, and Education; the Peace Corps; the 

U.S. Information Agency; the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the 

Customs Service; the Secret Service; the Drug Enforcement 

Administration; the Small Business Administration; the Overseas Private 

Investment Corporation; and the Agency for International Development. 

We also obtained and reviewed the flying hour rate and flight record for a 

Drug Enforcement Agency aircraft used to transport the Attorney General 

on a portion of her trip to Chile. We had to rely on the White House, the 
Appendix IV

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 29 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

agencies, and the embassies to accurately report their costs and number of 

travelers participating in the selected trips.

To determine how the cost of presidential travel is accounted for, we 

consulted the Federal Travel Regulations issued by the General Services 

Administration, agency staff manuals, and agency guidance. We also 

interviewed officials knowledgeable about cost accounting for presidential 

travel in the agencies that supported or participated in the President’s three 

trips.

We excluded the following costs from our analysis: (1) Secret Service 

expenses, which are classified; (2) regular salaries and benefits of U.S. 

government civilian and military travelers; and (3) agency planning 

expenses that may have been incurred in preparing to travel. We did not 

evaluate the need for any element of support provided on the trips that we 

reviewed. 

We excluded past Presidents’ travel costs because the records were not 

readily available. Finally, we did not evaluate the underlying accounting 

systems or independently verify certain underlying data such as the flying 

hour rates used to calculate DOD’s flying costs associated with the trips.

We conducted our review from August 1998 to August 1999 in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Page 30 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix V

Comments From the White House ApendxiV
Page 31 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix VI

Comments From the Department of State ApendxiVI
Page 32 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix VII

Comments From the Department of Defense ApendxiVI
Page 33 GAO/NSIAD-99-164 Presidential Travel

Appendix VIII

GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments ApendxiVI

GAO Contacts Mark E. Gebicke (202) 512-5140

William M. Solis (202) 512-8365

Acknowledgments In addition to the contacts named above, Carol R. Schuster, Brian J. Lepore, 

James A. Driggins, and Penny A. Berrier made key contributions to this 

report.

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