[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 72 (Friday, June 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 THE OFFICIAL TRAVEL REFORM RESOLUTION AND THE GOVERNMENT TRAVEL COST 
                             REDUCTION ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. KARAN ENGLISH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 10, 1994

  Ms. ENGLISH of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Official Travel Reform Resolution and the Government Travel Cost 
Reduction Act.


                 the official travel reform resolution

  Mr. Speaker, in September 1991, the rules of the House were changed 
to allow Members and staff to make personal use of free travel awards 
that accrue from frequent-flier mileage programs earned as a result of 
official travel. Mr. Speaker, this rule change was a mistake. We should 
reverse this policy. And that's what the Official Travel Reform 
Resolution would do.
  Under the resolution, members and staff would no longer be able to 
make personal use of free airline tickets they earned by flying at 
taxpayer expense. They would only be able to use these free travel 
awards for regular official travel, to improve the cost-effectiveness 
of their offices.
  The U.S. House of Representatives is the only organization in the 
entire Federal Government that allows its members and officials to use 
travel awards earned as a result of official travel for personal gain. 
These free travel awards that are earned as a result of official travel 
should be used for official travel. They should be used to cut costs 
and improve service. This is the policy of every executive branch 
department. It is the policy of the judicial branch. It is the policy 
of the Senate. And it should be our policy too.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a simple, straightforward issue. I argue that 
the point is not that taxpayer funds are not really being used to fund 
these free tickets and therefore, what's the harm if a Member gets free 
vacation travel as a result of his or her position? I argue the real 
point is that we Members of Congress have a choice.
  We can continue to capitalize on our position of enrich ourselves and 
our families. Or, we can choose to reject personal gain for greater 
cost-effectiveness and better constituent service. I believe, Mr. 
Speaker, the latter is the right choice. We should change the rules of 
the House. We should pass the Official Travel Reform Resolution without 
delay.


                the government travel cost reduction act

  Mr. Speaker, there is a second part to this story. Frequent-flier 
travel programs offer the Federal Government tremendous potential cost 
savings. The problem is it is often difficult to make efficient use of 
these programs to capitalize on these potential savings.
  The Government Travel Cost Reduction Act seeks to address this 
problem by requiring airlines that serve the Federal Government to 
establish a separate business frequent-flier account for travel on 
official business. This would allow Federal employees to separate their 
official and personal frequent-flier accounts.
  The bill would also allow for the pooling of frequent-flier miles by 
various administrative units of the Federal Government and Congress. 
That means the travel manager for a Federal office or agency would be 
able to pool the frequent-flier miles of all employees in that office 
or agency, allowing much greater flexibility in capitalizing on these 
programs to save money. The same would be true for Members of Congress 
and their employees.
  The Federal Government spent about $1.8 billion on official travel 
last year. Millions of dollars could be saved, Mr. Speaker, without 
reducing services or laying people off, if only we could more 
effectively manage frequent-flier travel award programs. The Government 
Travel Cost Reduction Act would give Federal travel managers the tools 
necessary to realize these savings. I urge support for this 
legislation.

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