Rep. Andrew Garbarino tied for 3rd-most trips paid for by special interests this year
WASHINGTON — Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino is tied for the third-most trips paid for by special interest organizations of all U.S. House members this year, based on congressional filings reviewed by Newsday and sorted by the legislative data service LegiStorm LLC.
Garbarino (R-Bayport) has accepted four trips from private sponsors totaling nearly a month of traveling and more than $37,000 in free airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals and other expenses.
Three of the trips were overseas and he did not bring a guest on any of them. His latest trip was a weeklong August excursion to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, paid for by a nonprofit group with corporate ties that seeks to help shape conservation-related legislation, after earlier trips to the U.K., Amsterdam and Houston.
Democratic Reps. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) and Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), also are among the 135 House members who’ve altogether taken 204 such free trips from private sponsors this election year, while 300 of their colleagues in the chamber, including Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), did not take any.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) has accepted four trips from private sponsors, tied for the third-most in the House this year. The trips totaled nearly a month of travel and more than $37,000 worth of free airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals and other expenses.
- Democratic Reps. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) and Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), also are among the 135 House members who’ve altogether taken 204 such free trips from private sponsors.
- A Garbarino spokesperson called these "tightly regulated, non-political opportunities with partners abroad on issues directly before Congress," and noted they were pre-approved by an ethics board.
Suozzi has taken two trips, for a combined cost of $34,667 to private sponsors. He traveled in August to Alaska with his wife, herself also for free. The couple in April also went on an all-expenses paid trip to East Africa. Gillen has taken one trip, with her husband, also on the Alaska excursion, for a total cost of about $8,215.
These findings into this year’s special interest paid travel by Long Island's Congress members comes after a Newsday review found 13 such trips taken last year through November, spanning more than a dozen cities across five continents. Garbarino also led the delegation then, having taken seven trips.
"These are tightly regulated, non-political opportunities with partners abroad on issues directly before Congress," Garbarino spokesperson Annie McCarthy explained when asked about this year’s travel. She added such trips must be pre-approved by the bipartisan Ethics Committee.
But critics say trip sponsors are buying the lawmakers’ time and attention in ways the average person cannot, and that these trips typically are not all business, but also include entertainment and visits to museums, game preserves, castles or other historical sites.
Meredith McGehee, an independent expert on ethics and money in politics, said that some congressional travel is constructive, and even necessary, for lawmakers to get a better picture of what's going on around the country and the globe. But the potential for outside influence-peddling through special interest paid trips is still high, she said, "and that’s the stark reality."
"It’s bad for the American people," McGehee said. She added that lawmakers who aren't shy about taking several of these trips amid an election year — rather than spending that time in their districts — project a level of self-assuredness about the November outcomes.
The Democrat challenging Garbarino for his congressional seat this November, former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin, questioned the free travel at a time he says Long Islanders struggle with soaring costs for gas, food and energy.
"Congressman Garbarino’s global jet-setting with special interests is a slap in the face to every voter in his district,” said Halpin, who has himself worked as a registered lobbyist on behalf of health-related and energy companies, and other clients, state records show.
But McCarthy noted that Garbarino is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and that "engaging with international counterparts is critical to the success of the Committee." She said, for instance, the Ecuador-Galápagos Island trip included a focus on conservation, as well as drug trafficking and national security.
These privately funded trips are distinct from taxpayer-paid congressional delegation travel, typically taken overseas and involving military transportation.
Separate filings for those trips reviewed by Newsday found that Garbarino as Homeland Security chairman led one such trip in January to the Fiji Islands and Australia. Including privately funded excursions, Garbarino this year has spent 31 days traveling to, staying in and returning from locations overseas.
Garbarino’s four privately sponsored trips since January — in terms of the raw number — place him next to the top of the 435-member House, according to LegiStorm’s sorting of the sponsor-provided travel disclosures.
Only California Democratic Reps. Jimmy Panetta and Maxine Waters have five each. Garbarino is tied for third with fellow Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina with four. Garbarino is also listed as approving 11 added trips for staff along with his own four.
Overall, 15 other House members have taken three trips; Suozzi and 32 colleagues have taken two trips; and Gillen and 86 others have taken one trip.
Gillen said of her trip, "It’s an honor to represent Long Island’s interests on a national stage as I work across the aisle to deliver for our region."
Suozzi spokesperson Lily Cohen added: "These privately funded bipartisan trips, that were pre-approved by the Ethics Committee, were important fact-finding and relationship-building opportunities."
But others have concerns.
Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonpartisan group that emphasizes government accountability, was involved in efforts 20 years ago that led to a reform law that imposed a ban on registered lobbyists from arranging or paying for congressional travel. The law also limited other registered groups like corporations and unions to sponsoring only one-day trips for domestic travel.
Looking back, Holman said, "A ban should have been established on any sponsor of foreign travel who is also involved in trying to influence U.S. public policies," because, he said, these trips are often "luxurious and made to exotic but safe places — and the sponsor almost always wants something in return."
Newsday's Bahar Ostadan contributed to this story.
Congressional trips paid for by private interest groups
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport)
Trip: Ecuador-Galápagos Islands, Aug. 7 to Aug. 14
Sponsor: The International Conservation Caucus Foundation, a nonprofit group with corporate ties, which seeks to help shape conservation-related legislation.
Cost paid for Garbarino: $9,239
Details: The trip saw briefings and tours on wildlife conservation and efforts to combat drug trafficking, including a meeting with the head of the Galápagos National Park.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "As co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus and Zoo and Aquarium Caucus, this trip will better inform my work with respect to conservation policy and collaboration with our international partners on matters involving the environment.
Trip: Amsterdam, June 13 to June 19
Sponsor: Center Forward, a nonprofit centrist social and political advocacy group that has received contributions from oil and pharmaceutical industry sources, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Cost paid for Garbarino: $16,178
Details: The trip’s itinerary reflects session at Shell Energy Transition Campus on new technologies being used to address global energy challenges, as well as briefings and dinner with the Amsterdam mayor, and a visit to the Europe’s largest seaport port in Rotterdam.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "Participate in meetings, roundtables and tours with Dutch officials to gain knowledge of the United State/Dutch relationship, global security, intersection of financial sectors, trade and defense as it relates to my work as chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security member of the House Financial Services Committee."
Trip: U.K. (Including Dublin and Edinburgh) March 24 to April 4
Sponsor: Republican Main Street Partnership, a tax-exempt organization that supports fiscally conservative GOP lawmakers with more moderate positions on social issues; has an affiliated political action committee backed by a mix of corporate interests and labor organizations.
Cost paid for Garbarino: $10,256
Details: Included one day in London, four days in Scotland and two in Ireland. Meetings included one with Meta representatives. Private tours of Edinburgh Castle and the Winston Churchill war room, and visits to other historical sites such as Westminster Abbey were scheduled.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "Participate in meetings, tours and discussions with U.K officials and executives to gain knowledge of the United States/United Kingdom relationship and business development as it relates to my work in Congress as a Member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Trip: Houston, March 22 to 24.
Sponsor: The Climate Solutions Foundation, a bipartisan group that seeks to bring together ideologically diverse global leaders and corporate and trade executives to discuss climate science, economics and policy; has received support from the Business Roundtable, among other sources.
Cost paid for Garbarino: $1,680
Details: Topics listed in the trip itinerary included global energy security, including a lunch with Chevron executives and session with Energy Sec. Chris Wright.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "As Co-Chair of the House Climate Solutions Caucus and a member of the Conservative Climate Caucus, this trip will better inform my duties as they relate to legislative action on energy and environmental policy" including "technological advancement and prioritization of energy resources."
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove)
Trip: Alaska, Aug. 23 to 28
Sponsor: The Aspen Institute Inc. congressional program, which describes itself as a nonpartisan educational initiative; funders have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Mastercard Impact Fund; Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund.
Cost for Suozzi and his wife: $8,173
Details: Trip to Seward and Utqiagvik for meetings that touched on energy costs and modernization of the U.S. energy grid, including listed visits on itinerary to the Arctic Circle and Exit Glacier.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "As a member of the Ways & Means Committee and co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Tom Suozzi has been asked to join this trip to participate in a series of roundtable discussions on how to address the current affordability crisis for households and businesses, the evolving landscape of global energy technology and its security ..."
Trip: Nairobi, Kenya, April 6 to 13
Sponsor: The International Conservation Caucus Foundation, a nonprofit group with corporate ties that seeks to help shape conservation-related legislation; the Eleanor Crook Foundation, a philanthropy fighting global malnutrition; and Angama LTD, which operates luxury ecotourism lodges in Kenya East Africa that also works with groups focused on human-wildlife conflict.
Cost for Suozzi and his wife: $26,494
Details: Trip included meetings with regional leaders and experts on food security and malnutrition, healthcare, trade and conservation — with visits to preserves and protected areas, such as to track lion pride and rhino movements.
Justification filed by lawmaker: "As a member of the House Ways & Means Committee and the International Conservation Caucus, Rep. Tom Suozzi has been asked to join this trip to learn more about the impacts of malnutrition on communities, particularly mothers and children, and how conservation efforts can lead to improved access to health services, food production and how that affects trade with the U.S. and sustainable economic development."
Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre)
Trip: Alaska, Aug. 23 to 28
Sponsor: The Aspen Institute Inc. congressional program. Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan educational initiative; funders have included the bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Mastercard Impact Fund; Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund;
Cost for Gillen and her husband: $8,215
Details: Trip to Seward and Utqiagvik for meetings that touched on energy costs and modernization of the U.S. energy grid, including listed visits on itinerary to the Arctic Circle and Exit Glacier.
Justification filed for trip by lawmaker: "This program is relevant to the congresswoman’s service as on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as it focuses on energy infrastructure and investments, grid reliability and regulatory reforms needed to meet growing demand while maintaining affordable and reliable energy.
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