I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4447 

To impose a moratorium on the use of appropriated funds for official travel 

outside of the United States by Members, officers, and employees of 

the House of Representatives until the Comptroller General issues a 

report on the costs of such travel and makes recommendations regarding 

appropriate restrictions and reporting requirements on such travel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2010 

Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To impose a moratorium on the use of appropriated funds 

for official travel outside of the United States by Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives until the Comptroller General issues a report on 

the costs of such travel and makes recommendations 

regarding appropriate restrictions and reporting requirements on such travel. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4447 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Suspending Travel 

3 After Years of Pleasure Trips on Unwitting Taxpayers Act 

4 of 2010’’ or the ‘‘STAY PUT Act of 2010’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The Wall Street Journal reported on July 

8 2, 2009, that spending on congressional foreign 

9 travel has increased nearly tenfold since 1995, with 

10 lawmakers spending almost $13 million on foreign 

11 trips in 2008. According to a December 17, 2009, 

12 follow-up report, the Wall Street Journal found that 

13 spending on congressional foreign travel had in14 creased by 70 percent from 2005–2008. 

15 (2) The true cost of congressional foreign travel 

16 cannot be calculated because the cost to travel out17 side of the United States on a military aircraft does 

18 not have to be disclosed by the Department of De19 fense. 

20 (3) The congressional foreign travel reporting 

21 requirements established by the Mutual Security Act 

22 of 1954 (22 U.S.C. 1754) do not require members 

23 of Congress to reveal the purpose or merit of their 

24 foreign travel to the taxpayers. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4447 IH

1 SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON USE OF FUNDS FOR OFFICIAL 

2 FOREIGN TRAVEL BY MEMBERS OF HOUSE 

3 OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

4 (a) MORATORIUM.—Until the Comptroller General 

5 submits the report required under section 4(b), no appro6 priated funds, including official funds of the House of 

7 Representatives or funds available under any Federal law, 

8 rule, or regulation, may be used to pay for official travel 

9 outside of the United States by any Member, officer, or 

10 employee of the House of Representatives. 

11 (b) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRAVEL.—Subsection 

12 (a) shall not apply with respect to the following travel: 

13 (1) Travel to a military installation. 

14 (2) Travel to a theater of operations of the 

15 Armed Forces. 

16 (3) Travel by Members and employees of the 

17 Committee on Foreign Affairs, if the travel is for of18 ficial committee business. 

19 (4) Travel by Members and employees of the 

20 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, if the 

21 travel is for official committee business. 

22 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON EXPENDITURES FOR OFFI23 CIAL FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

25 a study of the use of appropriated funds (including official 

26 funds of the House of Representatives, funds made availVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:39 Jan 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4447.IH H4447

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4447 IH

1 able for the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of 

2 State, and other funds available under any Federal law, 

3 rule, or regulation) for official travel outside of the United 

4 States by Members, officers, and employees of the House 

5 of Representatives, and shall include in the study the fol6 lowing: 

7 (1) For the period beginning with fiscal year 

8 1994 and ending with the most recent fiscal year for 

9 which relevant information is available, and for each 

10 fiscal year during such period, the amount of such 

11 funds spent on such travel, the number of trips 

12 taken, and a list of the most frequently visited des13 tinations, broken down by travel by Members, travel 

14 by employees, and travel for which payment was 

15 made using funds of committees of the House of 

16 Representatives. 

17 (2) The source of funds used to pay for such 

18 travel, and any limits on the amount which may be 

19 spent on such travel or on any component of such 

20 travel, such as airfare and accommodations. 

21 (3) The procedures by which the use of funds 

22 for such travel is approved, including reporting re23 quirements which apply either before or after the 

24 travel is undertaken, and whether those procedures 

25 sufficiently restrict the use of the funds for travel 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4447 IH

1 which is not in the best interests of taxpayers and 

2 provide sufficiently detailed information regarding 

3 how the funds are used. 

4 (4) The types of military aircraft which are 

5 used to carry out such travel, the military personnel 

6 required to operate such aircraft, and the aggregate 

7 and hourly costs involved. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

10 submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

11 the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of State a 

12 report on the study conducted under subsection (a), and 

13 shall include in the report such recommendations as the 

14 Comptroller General considers appropriate for restrictions 

15 on, and reporting requirements applicable to, official trav16 el outside of the United States by Members, officers, and 

17 employees of the House of Representatives which will pro18 mote transparency and cost savings. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS