II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 103 

To require disclosure and payment of noncommercial air travel in the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To require disclosure and payment of noncommercial air 

travel in the Senate. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DISCLOSURE AND PAYMENT OF NONCOMMER4 CIAL AIR TRAVEL. 

5 (a) RULES.— 

6 (1) DISCLOSURE AND PAYMENT.—Paragraph 2 

7 of rule XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) A Member, officer, or employee of the Senate 

10 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) disclose a flight on an aircraft that is not 

2 licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to 

3 operate for compensation or hire, excluding a flight 

4 on an aircraft owned, operated, or leased by a gov5 ernmental entity, taken in connection with the duties 

6 of the Member, officer, or employee as an office7 holder or Senate officer or employee; 

8 ‘‘(2) reimburse the owner or lessee of the air9 craft for the pro rata share of the fair market value 

10 of such flight (as determined by dividing the fair 

11 market value of the normal and usual charter fare 

12 or rental charge for a comparable plane of appro13 priate size by the number of members, officers, or 

14 employees of the Congress on the flight); and 

15 ‘‘(3) with respect to the flight, file a report with 

16 the Secretary of the Senate, including the date, des17 tination, and owner or lessee of the aircraft, the pur18 pose of the trip, and the persons on the trip, except 

19 for any person flying the aircraft.’’. 

20 (2) FAIR MARKET VALUE OF NONCOMMERCIAL

21 AIR TRAVEL.—Paragraph 1(c)(1) of rule XXXV of 

22 the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended— 

23 (A) by inserting (A) after (1); and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) Fair market value for a flight on an 

2 aircraft that is not licensed by the Federal 

3 Aviation Administration to operate for com4 pensation or hire shall be the fair market value 

5 of the normal and usual charter fare or rental 

6 charge for a comparable plane of appropriate 

7 size.’’. 

8 (3) REIMBURSEMENT.—Paragraph 1 of rule 

9 XXXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) Use of an aircraft that is not licensed by the 

12 Federal Aviation Administration to operate for compensa13 tion or hire shall be valued for purposes of reimbursement 

14 under this rule as provided in paragraph 2(g)(2) of rule 

15 XXXV.’’. 

16 (b) FECA.— 

17 (1) DISCLOSURE.—Section 304(b) of the Fed18 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

19 434(b)) is amended— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para21 graph (7); 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

23 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(9) in the case of a principal campaign com2 mittee of a candidate (other than a candidate for 

3 election to the office of President or Vice President), 

4 any flight taken by the candidate (other than a 

5 flight designated to transport the President, Vice 

6 President, or a candidate for election to the office of 

7 President or Vice President) during the reporting 

8 period on an aircraft that is not licensed by the Fed9 eral Aviation Administration to operate for com10 pensation or hire, together with the following infor11 mation: 

12 ‘‘(A) The date of the flight. 

13 ‘‘(B) The destination of the flight. 

14 ‘‘(C) The owner or lessee of the aircraft. 

15 ‘‘(D) The purpose of the flight. 

16 ‘‘(E) The persons on the flight, except for 

17 any person flying the aircraft.’’. 

18 (2) EXCLUSION OF PAID FLIGHT FROM DEFINI19 TION OF CONTRIBUTION.—Subparagraph (B) of sec20 tion 301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

21 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended— 

22 (A) in clause (xiii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (B) in clause (xiv), by striking the period 

25 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 clause: 

3 ‘‘(xv) any travel expense for a flight 

4 taken by the candidate (other than a flight 

5 designated to transport the President, Vice 

6 President, or a candidate for election to 

7 the office of President or Vice President) 

8 on an aircraft that is not licensed by the 

9 Federal Aviation Administration to operate 

10 for compensation or hire: Provided, That 

11 the candidate (or the authorized committee 

12 of the candidate) pays to the owner, lessee, 

13 or other individual who provides the air14 plane the pro rata share of the fair market 

15 value of such flight (as determined by di16 viding the fair market value of the normal 

17 and usual charter fare or rental charge for 

18 a comparable plane of appropriate size by 

19 the number of candidates on the flight) by 

20 not later than 7 days after the date on 

21 which the flight is taken.’’. 

Æ 


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