I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5957 

To require that any local currencies used to provide per diems to Members 

and employees of Congress for official foreign travel for a fiscal year 

be obtained by Congress and paid for using funds appropriated for 

salaries and expenses of Congress for the fiscal year, to enhance the 

disclosure of information on official foreign travel of Members, officers, 

and employees of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2010 

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

the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require that any local currencies used to provide per 

diems to Members and employees of Congress for official 

foreign travel for a fiscal year be obtained by Congress 

and paid for using funds appropriated for salaries and 

expenses of Congress for the fiscal year, to enhance 

the disclosure of information on official foreign travel 

of Members, officers, and employees of the House of 

Representatives, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Congressional Foreign Travel Reform Act of 2010’’. 

4 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The 56-year-old Mutual Security Act gov6 erns the current procedures and reporting require7 ments associated with the expending of foreign cur8 rencies for foreign travel by members of Congress 

9 and their staffs. 

10 (2) A recent Congressional Research Service 

11 (CRS) memorandum finds that ‘‘there are no re12 quirements regarding the disclosure of international 

13 travel by Members of Congress or their staffs that 

14 contain records of all international travel that might 

15 be taken.’’. 

16 (3) This memorandum also finds that— 

17 (A) the current travel disclosure require18 ments ‘‘may be of limited utility’’ when trying 

19 to assess the amount Congress spends on for20 eign travel; 

21 (B) some foreign travel disclosures ‘‘. . . 

22 identify annual expenditures for an entity, rath23 er than quarterly,’’ as is required by the law; 

24 (C) some disclosures contain ‘‘. . . typo25 graphical and mathematics errors’’; 


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1 (D) the current disclosure requirements for 

2 Congressional foreign travel ‘‘. . . might raise 

3 questions about the accuracy of reported des4 tinations, participants or expenditures’’; and 

5 (E) the current reporting requirements for 

6 Congressional foreign travel ‘‘. . . may reduce 

7 the suitability and reliability’’ of the following 

8 data: ‘‘number of trips taken, number of con9 gressional travelers, destinations and the num10 ber of times a destination was visited, purposes 

11 of travel, benefits of travel and the extent of ex12 penditures for congressional travel.’’. 

13 (4) In April 2010 Roll Call reported that these 

14 travel ‘‘. . . accommodations are made by the State 

15 Department and billed back to a government ac16 count that automatically refills itself and has no 

17 spending limit attached.’’. 

18 (5) In March 2010 the Wall Street Journal re19 ported that while congressional rules require any un20 used per diem received for congressional travel must 

21 be paid back, this rule is rarely followed. 

22 (6) The ‘‘Questions and Answers’’ section of 

23 the Official Foreign Travel Guide for the U.S. Con24 gress advises Members of Congress that they ‘‘. . . 


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1 may keep any ‘excess’ funds’’ from a per diem allow2 ance. 

3 (7) The CRS memorandum finds that from the 

4 only public available records on Congressional for5 eign travel, the House of Representatives went from 

6 spending $1,557,162 on foreign travel in 1994 to 

7 $9,303,709 in 2009, and that the amount the House 

8 has spent on travel has nearly doubled since 2006. 

9 Furthermore, these amounts do not take into ac10 count the use of military aircraft. 

11 (8) In June 2010 Roll Call reported that 

12 ‘‘Members of Congress routinely fail to report mil13 lions of dollars’ worth of costs . . . on foreign 

14 trips’’, and that the ‘‘total spent on foreign travel 

15 has skyrocketed in the past decade.’’ 

16 SEC. 2. REQUIRING CONGRESS TO OBTAIN AND PAY FOR 

17 LOCAL CURRENCIES USED TO PROVIDE PER 

18 DIEMS TO MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES OF 

19 CONGRESS ON OFFICIAL FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

20 (a) OBTAINING AND PAYING FOR LOCAL CURRENCY

21 PER DIEMS FOR MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES ON OFFI22 CIAL FOREIGN TRAVEL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The House of Representa24 tives and Senate may obtain local currencies of for25 eign nations for the purpose of providing a per diem 


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1 allowance to a Member, officer, or employee of the 

2 House of Representatives or Senate who is on offi3 cial foreign travel, if the individual obtains an au4 thorization under paragraph (2) to receive such an 

5 allowance. 

6 (2) AUTHORIZATION DESCRIBED.—An indi7 vidual wishing to receive a per diem allowance under 

8 paragraph (1) shall obtain an authorization— 

9 (A) from the Speaker of the House of Rep10 resentatives, in the case of a Member, officer, 

11 or employee of the House; 

12 (B) from the chairman of a standing or se13 lect committee of the House of Representatives, 

14 in the case of a member or employee of that 

15 committee; 

16 (C) from the President of the Senate, the 

17 President pro tempore of the Senate, the major18 ity leader of the Senate, or the minority leader 

19 of the Senate, in the case of a Member, officer, 

20 or employee of the Senate; 

21 (D) from the chairman of a standing, se22 lect, or special committee of the Senate, in the 

23 case of a member or employee of that com24 mittee or of an employee of a member of that 

25 committee; and 


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1 (E) from the chairman of a joint com2 mittee of the Congress, in the case of a member 

3 or employee of that committee. 

4 (3) LIMIT ON AMOUNT.—The amount of local 

5 currency provided for the use of an individual under 

6 this subsection may not exceed— 

7 (A) the equivalent of $75 per day per per8 son; or 

9 (B) the maximum per diem allowance es10 tablished under the authority of subchapter I of 

11 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, for 

12 employees of the United States Government 

13 while traveling in a foreign country, 

14 whichever is greater, exclusive of the actual cost of 

15 transportation. 

16 (4) REPAYMENT OF UNUSED AMOUNTS.—Any 

17 individual to whom the House of Representatives or 

18 the Senate provides a per diem under this subsection 

19 shall return to the House of Representatives or the 

20 Senate (as the case may be) any per diem provided 

21 to the Member or employee which remains unex22 pended as of the conclusion of the travel. Any 

23 amount returned in accordance with the previous 

24 sentence shall be transferred to the Secretary of the 


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1 Treasury, who shall use such amount for the pur2 poses of deficit reduction. 

3 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

5 as may be necessary for obtaining local currencies 

6 under this subsection, of which— 

7 (A) the amounts necessary for obtaining 

8 local currencies for the use of any individual 

9 whose pay is disbursed by the Chief Adminis10 trative Officer of the House of Representatives 

11 shall be appropriated from the applicable ac12 counts of the House of Representatives; and 

13 (B) the amounts necessary for obtaining 

14 local currencies for the use of any individual 

15 whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the 

16 Senate shall be appropriated from the contin17 gent fund of the Senate. 

18 (6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

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

20 House of Representatives includes a Delegate 

21 or Resident Commissioner to the Congress; and 

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

23 means any travel outside of the United States 

24 for which the costs (including the costs of 

25 transportation, lodging, meals, and related exVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:50 Jul 31, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5957.IH H5957

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1 penses) may be covered by appropriated funds, 

2 including official funds of the House of Rep3 resentatives or Senate, under law or the Rules 

4 of the House of Representatives or the Stand5 ing Rules of the Senate. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) REPEAL EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Section 

8 502(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (22 

9 U.S.C. 1754(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 

10 (1). 

11 (2) MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING REPORTING

12 REQUIREMENTS.—Section 502(b)(3)(A) of such Act 

13 (22 U.S.C. 1754(b)(3)(A)) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘an authorization under paragraph (1)’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘an authorization under section 2(b) of the Con16 gressional Foreign Travel Reform Act of 2010.’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend18 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to fis19 cal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

20 SEC. 3. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE AND OTHER RESTRIC21 TIONS RELATING TO MEMBER TRAVEL 

22 UNDER RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTA23 TIVES. 

24 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR OFFICIAL FOR25 EIGN TRAVEL BY HOUSE MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 


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1 (1) STATEMENT REQUIRED PRIOR TO UNDER2 TAKING TRAVEL.—A Member or employee of the 

3 House of Representatives may not undertake any of4 ficial foreign travel unless, not later than 14 days 

5 prior to the date on which the travel begins, the 

6 Member or employee prepares and makes available 

7 for public inspection in accordance with subsection 

8 (b) a statement containing the following information: 

9 (A) A statement of worthiness regarding 

10 the purpose of the travel, including a descrip11 tion of how the travel relates to the Member’s 

12 or employee’s official duties. 

13 (B) A tentative itinerary for each day of 

14 the travel, including a list of the locations the 

15 Member or employee intends to visit and any 

16 individuals with whom the Member or employee 

17 intends to meet. 

18 (C) The names of any other individuals 

19 who are accompanying the Member or employee 

20 during the travel, without regard to whether 

21 such individuals are Members or employees of 

22 the House. 

23 (D) The amount of the per diem the Mem24 ber or employee requested to be provided for 

25 the travel, and whether the amount is greater 


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1 than the standard per diem provided under 

2 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

3 (E) A description of the aircraft to be used 

4 for transportation for the travel, and the Mem5 ber’s or employee’s best estimate of the costs of 

6 using such aircraft. 

7 (2) STATEMENT REQUIRED AFTER COMPLETION

8 OF TRAVEL.—Not later than 14 days after com9 pleting any official foreign travel, the Member or 

10 employee who undertook the travel shall prepare and 

11 make available for public inspection in accordance 

12 with subsection (b) a statement containing the fol13 lowing information: 

14 (A) A statement detailing the value, wor15 thiness, and educational benefit to the Member 

16 or employee of the travel. 

17 (B) The actual itinerary for the travel, in18 cluding a comprehensive statement of travel 

19 times, meetings, and other activities carried out 

20 during the travel. 

21 (C) The actual cost of the travel, itemized 

22 by the costs of— 

23 (i) transportation (including the iden24 tification of the providers of the transpor25 tation); 


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1 (ii) lodging (including the identifica2 tion of the providers of the lodging); and 

3 (iii) meals (including the identification 

4 of the providers of the meals). 

5 (D) How much, if any, of the per diem 

6 provided for the travel was unspent. 

7 (3) EXCEPTION FOR INFORMATION AFFECTING

8 NATIONAL SECURITY.—A Member or employee may 

9 exclude from a statement prepared under this sub10 section any information which is classified or the 

11 disclosure of which would adversely affect national 

12 security, so long as the Member includes documenta13 tion in support of the exclusion in the statement pre14 pared under this subsection. 

15 (b) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTS.— 

16 Each statement required to be prepared under subsection 

17 (a) with respect to official foreign travel of a Member or 

18 employee of the House of Representatives shall be made 

19 available for public inspection as follows: 

20 (1) The statement shall be submitted for publi21 cation in the Congressional Record. 

22 (2) The statement shall be posted on the official 

23 public website of the Clerk of the House of Rep24 resentatives. 


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1 (3) The statement shall be posted on the official 

2 public website of the authorizing office. 

3 (4) In the case of a statement submitted with 

4 respect to travel of a Member, the statement shall 

5 be posted on the official public website of the Mem6 ber. 

7 (5) In the case of a statement submitted with 

8 respect to travel of an employee, the statement shall 

9 be posted on the official public website of the em10 ployee’s employing office. 

11 (c) PROHIBITING VACATION STOPOVERS DURING

12 TRAVEL.—A Member or employee of the House of Rep13 resentatives may not undertake a vacation stopover for an14 nual leave at any point during official foreign travel. 

15 (d) RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVEL BY EMPLOYEES.— 

16 (1) TRAVEL BY EMPLOYEES OF MEMBERS.—An 

17 employee of the House of Representatives whose em18 ploying office is the office of a Member may not un19 dertake any official foreign travel unless— 

20 (A) the authorizing office for the travel is 

21 the office of the Member; 

22 (B) the travel is undertaken by the em23 ployee to accompany the Member on the Mem24 ber’s own official foreign travel; and 


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1 (C) no other employee of the office accom2 panies the Member on such travel. 

3 (2) TRAVEL BY EMPLOYEES OF COMMITTEES.— 

4 An employee of the House of Representatives whose 

5 employing office is the office of a committee of the 

6 House of Representatives may not undertake any of7 ficial foreign travel unless— 

8 (A) the authorizing office for the travel is 

9 the office of the committee; 

10 (B) the travel is undertaken by the em11 ployee to accompany a Member who serves on 

12 the committee on the Member’s own official for13 eign travel; and 

14 (C) the number of employees accom15 panying the Members of the committee on such 

16 travel does not exceed the number of Members 

17 of the committee who are participating in such 

18 travel. 

19 (3) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRAVEL.—This 

20 subsection does not apply with respect to travel to 

21 a military installation or travel to a theater of oper22 ations of the Armed Forces. 

23 (e) REQUIRING EFFORTS TO REDUCE EXPENSES; 

24 RETURN OF UNSPENT PER DIEM.—Each Member and 


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1 employee of the House of Representatives who undertakes 

2 official foreign travel shall— 

3 (1) take such actions as may be necessary to re4 duce the costs incurred for such travel; and 

5 (2) return any per diem provided to the Mem6 ber or employee which remains unexpended as of the 

7 conclusion of the travel. 

8 (f) REGULATIONS.—This section shall be carried out 

9 in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Com10 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi13 nitions apply: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘authorizing office’’ means, with 

15 respect to a Member or employee of the House of 

16 Representatives, the office which is authorized under 

17 law or the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

18 approve the use of appropriated funds, including of19 ficial funds of the House of Representatives, for offi20 cial travel outside of the United States by the Mem21 ber or employee. 

22 (2) The term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep23 resentatives’’ includes a Delegate or Resident Com24 missioner to the Congress. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘official foreign travel’’ means 

2 any travel outside of the United States for which the 

3 costs (including the costs of transportation, lodging, 

4 meals, and related expenses) may be covered by ap5 propriated funds, including official funds of the 

6 House of Representatives, under law or the Rules of 

7 the House of Representatives. 

8 (h) STATEMENT OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY OF

9 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—This section is enacted 

10 by Congress as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

11 the House of Representatives and shall be considered a 

12 part of the rules of the House of Representatives, with 

13 full recognition of the constitutional right of the House 

14 to change this section at any time, in the same manner 

15 and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule 

16 of the House. 

Æ 


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