II 

★(Star Print)

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 429 

To improve the reporting requirements relating to foreign travel by members 

of Congress and the use of foreign currency. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2011 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the reporting requirements relating to foreign 

travel by members of Congress and the use of foreign 

currency. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cleaning Up Congress 

5 by Providing Accountability for Congressional Foreign 

6 Travel Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY. 

8 Section 502(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 

9 (22 U.S.C. 1754(b)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY TO MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES

2 OF CONGRESS AND REPORTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) LOCAL CURRENCIES FOR MEMBER AND

4 EMPLOYEE FOREIGN TRAVEL.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

6 to be appropriated such sums as may be nec7 essary to purchase local currencies for the pur8 poses of congressional member and employee 

9 foreign travel, which— 

10 ‘‘(i) the amounts necessary for obtain11 ing local currencies for the use of any indi12 vidual whose pay is disbursed by the Chief 

13 Administrative Officer of the House of 

14 Representatives shall be appropriated from 

15 the applicable accounts of the House of 

16 Representatives; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the amounts necessary for ob18 taining local currencies for the use of any 

19 individual whose pay is disbursed by the 

20 Secretary of the Senate shall be appro21 priated from the contingent fund of the 

22 Senate. 

23 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The amounts de24 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

25 (A) shall be made available to Members and 


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1 employees of the Congress for their local cur2 rency expenses when authorized as provided in 

3 subparagraph (C). 

4 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATIONS.—The authoriza5 tion required for purposes of subparagraph (A) 

6 may be provided by— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Speaker of the House of Rep8 resentatives, in the case of a Member or 

9 employee of the House of Representatives; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the chairman of a standing or se11 lect committee of the House of Representa12 tives, in the case of a member or employee 

13 of that committee; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the President of the Senate, the 

15 President pro tempore of the Senate, the 

16 majority leader of the Senate, or the mi17 nority leader of the Senate, in the case of 

18 a Member or employee of the Senate; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the chairman of a standing, se20 lect, or special committee of the Senate in 

21 the case of a member or employee of that 

22 committee or of an employee of a member 

23 of that committee; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) the chairman of a joint com2 mittee of the Congress in the case of a 

3 member or employee of that committee. 

4 ‘‘(D) REVIEW PROCEDURE.—The following 

5 information shall be required and reviewed by 

6 the authorizing officials under subparagraph 

7 (C) before approval or denial of any foreign 

8 travel authorization or appropriated dollar ex9 penditures in connection with travel outside of 

10 the United States by any Member or employee: 

11 ‘‘(i) An explanation of purpose, the 

12 itinerary of travel, and the related cost es13 timates (per diem, lodging, meals, trans14 portation and other purposes), including 

15 the dollar equivalency of any Federal Gov16 ernment entity transportation mode 

17 planned. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Before using any Federal Gov19 ernment transportation mode, a Member 

20 or employee shall perform a cost analysis 

21 comparison against a commercially avail22 able transportation equivalent to determine 

23 the most cost effective travel mode. This 

24 analysis shall institute all Federal Govern25 ment transportation mode and commerVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:31 Mar 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 cially available transportation equivalent 

2 cost analysis comparisons. If the Federal 

3 Government transportation cost is greater 

4 than the commercially available transpor5 tation equivalent, a waiver shall be ap6 proved by the authorizing officials under 

7 subparagraph (C) permitting the Federal 

8 transportation mode, and an explanation 

9 and cost differential shall be reported in 

10 the consolidated report for committees and 

11 joint committees required under paragraph 

12 (2)(A) and the Member or employee report 

13 required under paragraph (3)(A). 

14 ‘‘(iii) The names of any other individ15 uals who are accompanying the Member or 

16 employee during the travel, without regard 

17 to whether such individuals are Members 

18 or employees of Congress and the purpose 

19 for their travel. 

20 ‘‘(iv) Whether the amount of per diem 

21 requested is greater than the standard per 

22 diem provided under chapter 57 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 

24 ‘‘(v) A Member or employee who uses 

25 commercial air carriers for transportation 


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1 on official foreign travel business shall use 

2 coach or economy class accommodations 

3 for flights under 14 hours unless a waiver 

4 is obtained. A waiver for business class ac5 commodations may be obtained by the au6 thorizing officials under subparagraph (C) 

7 for flights under 14 hours and the reasons 

8 for the waiver shall be reported in the con9 solidated report for committees and joint 

10 committees required under paragraph 

11 (2)(A) and the Member or employee report 

12 required under paragraph (3)(A). 

13 ‘‘(E) COST REDUCTION.—Each Member or 

14 employee to whom the House of Representatives 

15 or the Senate provides a per diem under this 

16 subsection shall take such actions as may be 

17 necessary to reduce costs incurred for such 

18 travel and shall return to the House of Rep19 resentatives or the Senate (as the case may be) 

20 any per diem provided to the Member or em21 ployee which remains unexpended as of the con22 clusion of the travel. Any amount returned in 

23 accordance with the preceding sentence shall be 

24 transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, 


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1 who shall use such amount for the purposes of 

2 deficit reduction. 

3 ‘‘(F) TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS FOR MEM4 BERS AND EMPLOYEES; EXCEPTIONS; WAIV5 ERS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) ELECTION PERIOD.—Unless au7 thorized by the Senate (or by the President 

8 of the United States after an adjournment 

9 sine die) or the House of Representatives 

10 (or by the Speaker of the House after an 

11 adjournment sine die), no funds from the 

12 United States Government (including for13 eign currencies made available under sub14 paragraph (B)) shall be received by any 

15 Member of the Senate or House of Rep16 resentatives whose term will expire at the 

17 end of a Congress after— 

18 ‘‘(I) the date of the primary elec19 tion in which his successor is elected; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(II) in the case of a Member 

22 who is not a candidate in such pri23 mary election, the earlier of the date 

24 of such primary election or the adVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:31 Mar 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 journment sine die of the second reg2 ular session of that Congress. 

3 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION.—The travel re4 strictions provided by subparagraph (A) 

5 with respect to a Member of the Senate or 

6 House of Representatives whose term will 

7 expire at the end of a Congress shall apply 

8 to travel by— 

9 ‘‘(I) any employee of the Mem10 ber; 

11 ‘‘(II) any elected Officer of the 

12 Senate or House of Representatives 

13 whose employment will terminate at 

14 the end of a Congress; and 

15 ‘‘(III) any employee of a com16 mittee whose employment will termi17 nate at the end of a Congress. 

18 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRAV19 EL.—This subsection does not apply with 

20 respect to travel to a military installation 

21 or travel to a theater of operations of the 

22 Armed Forces. 

23 ‘‘(iv) WAIVER.—A Member or an em24 ployee may also obtain a waiver by the au25 thorizing officials under subparagraph (C) 


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1 for travel restrictions under clauses (i) and 

2 (ii). The reasons for the waiver shall be re3 ported in the consolidated report for com4 mittees and joint committees required 

5 under paragraph (2)(A) and the Member 

6 or employee report required under para7 graph (3)(A). 

8 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On a quarterly basis, 

10 the chairman of each committee of the House 

11 of Representatives or the Senate and of each 

12 joint committee of the Congress shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) prepare a consolidated report 

14 which— 

15 ‘‘(I) provides the purpose and 

16 destination of the foreign travel taken 

17 by Members or employees of the com18 mittee, to include the duration and 

19 purpose of any intermediary stops or 

20 layovers; 

21 ‘‘(II) itemizes the actual amounts 

22 and dollar equivalent values of each 

23 foreign currency expended and the 

24 amounts of dollar expenditures from 

25 appropriated funds in connection with 


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1 travel outside the United States, in2 cluding transportation, lodging, meals 

3 (breakfast, lunch, dinner), and other 

4 purposes, including the providers of 

5 the transportation, lodging, and 

6 meals, and any unspent per diem; 

7 ‘‘(III) lists any itinerary changes 

8 from the approved itinerary under 

9 paragraph (1)(D)(i) and reasons for 

10 such change; 

11 ‘‘(IV) lists the names of any 

12 other individuals who are accom13 panying the Member or employee dur14 ing the travel, without regard to 

15 whether such individuals are Members 

16 or employees of Congress; 

17 ‘‘(V) lists any lodging, per diem, 

18 transportation, or other purpose cost 

19 estimate changes in excess of 10 per20 cent of the original amounts approved 

21 by the authorizing officials and rea22 sons for such change; 

23 ‘‘(VI) itemizes any Federal gov24 ernment transportation mode and re25 lated dollar equivalent expenses inVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:31 Mar 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 curred for the travel duration, includ2 ing any intermediary stops to the des3 tination; 

4 ‘‘(VII) lists any waivers for above 

5 coach or economy class accommoda6 tions approved under paragraph 

7 (1)(D)(i), and waivers for employee 

8 restrictions approved under paragraph 

9 (1)(F); and 

10 ‘‘(VIII) shows the total itemized 

11 expenditures, by such committee and 

12 by each member or employee of such 

13 committee (including in the case of a 

14 committee of the Senate, each em15 ployee of a member of the committee 

16 who received an authorization under 

17 paragraph (1) from the chairman of 

18 the committee); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) forward such consolidated report 

20 to the Clerk of the House of Representa21 tives (if the committee is a committee of 

22 the House of Representatives or a joint 

23 committee whose funds are disbursed by 

24 the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

25 House) or to the Secretary of the Senate 


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1 (if the committee is a committee of the 

2 Senate or a joint committee whose funds 

3 are disbursed by the Secretary of the Sen4 ate). 

5 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Each consolidated 

6 report required by this paragraph shall be made 

7 available for public inspection on the official 

8 public Web sites of the Clerk of the House of 

9 Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate 

10 on the official public Web sites and shall be 

11 published in the Congressional Record within 

12 10 legislative days after the report is forwarded 

13 pursuant to this paragraph. In the case of the 

14 Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate 

15 and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel16 ligence of the House of Representatives, such 

17 consolidated report may, in the discretion of the 

18 chairman of the committee, omit such informa19 tion as would identify the foreign countries in 

20 which members and employees of that com21 mittee traveled. 

22 ‘‘(3) MEMBER OR EMPLOYEE TRAVEL RE23 PORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Member or em25 ployee who receives an authorization from the 


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1 appropriate authorizing official for the purposes 

2 of travel outside of the United States under 

3 paragraph (1)(B), shall within 7 business days 

4 after the completion of the travel involved, sub5 mit a report setting forth the information speci6 fied in paragraph (2) along with all associated 

7 documentation and reimbursable expense re8 ceipts to the authorizing officials under para9 graph (1)(C). 

10 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL PROCESS.—The author11 izing official shall approve or deny reimbursable 

12 expenses submitted under subparagraph (A) 

13 within 7 business days after receipt of the re14 port and supporting documentation and reim15 bursable receipts from the Member or employee. 

16 The authorizing official shall keep record of the 

17 report, supporting documentation, and reim18 bursable receipts for not less than 6 years and 

19 3 months. 

20 ‘‘(C) SUBMISSION TO CLERK OR SEC21 RETARY.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After the author23 izing official approves the submission re24 quired under subparagraph (A), the Mem25 ber or employee shall submit a report withVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:31 Mar 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 in 7 business days after the information 

2 specified in paragraph (2) to the Clerk of 

3 the House of Representatives (in the case 

4 of a Member of the House or an employee 

5 whose salary is disbursed by the Chief Ad6 ministrative Officer of the House) or the 

7 Secretary of the Senate (in the case of a 

8 Member of the Senate or an employee 

9 whose salary is disbursed by the Secretary 

10 of the Senate). In the case of an authoriza11 tion for a group of Members or employees, 

12 such reports shall be submitted for all 

13 Members of the group by its chairman, or 

14 if there is no designated chairman, by the 

15 ranking Member or if the group does not 

16 include a Member, by the senior employee 

17 in the group. 

18 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—Each re19 port submitted pursuant to this subpara20 graph shall be made available for public in21 spection as follows: 

22 ‘‘(I) The statement shall be sub23 mitted for publication in the Congres24 sional Record. 


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1 ‘‘(II) The statement shall be 

2 posted on the official public Web site 

3 of the authorizing office. 

4 ‘‘(III) In the case of a statement 

5 submitted with respect to travel of an 

6 employee, the statement shall be post7 ed on the official public Web site of 

8 the employee’s employing office. 

9 ‘‘(IV) In the case of a statement 

10 submitted with respect to travel of a 

11 Member, the statement shall be post12 ed on the official public Web site of 

13 the Member. 

14 ‘‘(iii) CONSOLIDATED REPORT.—On a 

15 quarterly basis, the Clerk of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Secretary of the 

17 Senate shall each prepare a consolidation 

18 of the reports received by them under this 

19 subparagraph with respect to expenditures 

20 during the preceding quarter by each 

21 Member and employee or by each group in 

22 the case of expenditures made on behalf of 

23 a group which are not allocable to indi24 vidual members of the group. Each such 

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1 spection and shall be published in the Con2 gressional Record and be available on the 

3 official public Web sites of the Clerk of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Sec5 retary of the Senate within 10 legislative 

6 days after the consolidation is completed. 

7 ‘‘(4) EXCLUSION OF INFORMATION.—A Member 

8 or employee may exclude from a statement prepared 

9 under this subsection any information which is clas10 sified or the disclosure of which would adversely af11 fect national security if the Committee, Member, or 

12 employee includes documentation in support of the 

13 exclusion in the statement prepared under this sub14 section. 

15 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

16 ‘‘(A) any reference to a ‘Member’ of the 

17 House of Representatives or Senate includes a 

18 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con19 gress; 

20 ‘‘(B) the term ‘official foreign travel’ 

21 means any travel outside of the United States 

22 for which the costs (including the costs of 

23 transportation, lodging, meals, and related ex24 penses) may be covered by appropriated funds, 

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1 resentatives or Senate, under law or the Rules 

2 of the House of Representatives or the Stand3 ing Rules of the Senate; 

4 ‘‘(C) the term ‘authorizing official’ refers 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(i) the Speaker of the House of Rep7 resentatives in the case of a Member or 

8 employee of the House; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the chairman of a standing or se10 lect committee of the House of Representa11 tives in the case of a member or employee 

12 of that committee; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the President of the Senate, the 

14 President pro tempore of the Senate, the 

15 majority leader of the Senate, or the mi16 nority leader of the Senate, in the case of 

17 a Member or employee of the Senate; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the chairman of a standing, se19 lect, or special committee of the Senate in 

20 the case of a member or employee of that 

21 committee or of an employee of a member 

22 of that committee; and 

23 ‘‘(v) the chairman of a joint com24 mittee of the Congress in the case of a 


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1 member or employee of that committee; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(D) the term ‘reimbursable expense’ re4 fers to those amounts personally expended by 

5 the Member or employee for transportation, per 

6 diem, or other travel related expense in which 

7 they are entitled a refund at the limitations and 

8 expense categories specified in subchapter I of 

9 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON EXPENDITURES FOR OFFI11 CIAL FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

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

13 a study of the amount of appropriated funds (including 

14 official funds of the House of Representatives and Senate, 

15 funds made available for the Secretary of Defense or the 

16 Secretary of State, and other funds available under any 

17 Federal law, rule, or regulation) for official travel outside 

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

19 of the House of Representatives and Senate, and shall in20 clude in the study the following: 

21 (1) For the period beginning with fiscal year 

22 1994 and ending with the most recent fiscal year for 

23 which relevant information is available, and for each 

24 fiscal year during such period, the amount of such 

25 funds spent on such travel, the number of trips 


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1 taken, and a list of the most frequently visited des2 tinations, broken down by travel by Members, travel 

3 by employees, and travel for which payment was 

4 made using funds of committees of the Senate and 

5 the House of Representatives. 

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

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

8 spent on such travel or on any component of such 

9 travel, such as airfare and accommodations. 

10 (3) The types of military aircraft which are 

11 used to carry out such travel, the military personnel 

12 required to operate such aircraft, and the aggregate 

13 and hourly costs involved. 

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

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

16 submit to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the 

17 House of Representatives, the Secretary of Defense, and 

18 the Secretary of State a report on the study conducted 

19 under subsection (a) which shall include such rec20 ommendations as the Comptroller General considers ap21 propriate for determining the funding level for official 

22 travel outside of the United States by Members, officers, 

23 and employees of the Senate and the House of Representa24 tives which will promote transparency and cost savings. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall apply to fiscal year 2012 and each suc3 ceeding fiscal year thereafter. 

Æ 


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