118 HR 4962 IH: Justification and Examination of Transportation Staff's Executive Travel Costs Act of 2023 U.S. House of Representatives 2023-07-27 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 4962IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJuly 27, 2023Mr. Bergman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureA BILLTo limit the use of Department of Transportation aircraft for travel by the Secretary of Transportation or the Secretary’s executive staff, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Justification and Examination of Transportation Staff's Executive Travel Costs Act of 2023 or the JETSET Costs Act of 2023.

2.

Executive travel on Department of Transportation aircraft

(a)

In general

Unless the Secretary determines that the cost of a flight to a destination on aircraft owned, operated, or maintained by the Department of Transportation is at least 5 percent less than the cost of a flight on a commercial airline to the destination, neither the Secretary nor the Secretary's executive staff shall travel to such destination on any aircraft owned, operated, or maintained by the Department of Transportation. (b)

Exception

Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case in which emergency travel is required and commercial service is unavailable after notifying the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation and the appropriate committees of Congress in writing not later than 7 days after such emergency travel is completed. (c)

Cost comparison

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall revise Order 2500.36N to reflect the true cost of flight operations. When calculating per-seat costs of a flight, the Department of Transportation— (1)shall be prohibited from charging different rates to non-Department of Transportation officials; and (2)shall use the actual and full cost of a flight on aircraft owned, operated, or maintained by the Department of Transportation when comparing such flight to any commercial alternative. (d)

Reporting

Not later than December 31 of calendar year 2023, and each calendar year thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress that includes the following with respect to the calendar year: (1)An itemization of each trip and flight in which the Secretary or the Secretary's executive staff traveled on aircraft owned, operated, or maintained by the Department of Transportation. (2)A justification for any trip and flight included in the itemization required by paragraph (1), including, for each such trip and flight, documentation that the trip and flight was at least 5 percent less than the cost of a flight on a commercial airline to the destination involved. (e)

Prohibition on personal or political use

Neither the Secretary nor the Secretary's executive staff shall travel on aircraft owned, operated, or maintained by the Department of Transportation for any trip that involves personal or political activities. (f)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Administrator

The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. (2)

Appropriate committees of Congress

The term appropriate committees of Congress means the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. (3)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.