[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1342-E1343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              PRODIGIOUS TRAVEL BY ENERGY SECRETARY O'LEARY

                                 ______


                          HON. MARTIN R. HOKE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 1995
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, as you may remember, 1 month ago I asked the 
General Accounting Office and the chairmen of the House Commerce, House 
National Security, and House Government Reform and Oversight Committees 
to initiate investigations into the Secretary of Energy's prodigious 
travel.
  I am happy to report that the General Accounting Office has initiated 
an investigation into Secretary O'Leary's travel. This is especially 
important in light of the Monday, June 26, front page story in the Los 
Angeles Times reporting that Secretary O'Leary's travel expenditures 
far exceed those of all other Cabinet officers.
  When I made my May 25 statement about the Secretary's travel habits, 
I was under the impression that she had transferred $100,000 from 
various program accounts to finance her travel. Imagine my surprise 
when it actually turned out that Secretary O'Leary had transferred in 
excess of $400,000 from other accounts, including accounts used by 
scientists and technicians in the Department's nuclear safeguards and 
security program, to pay for her globe-trotting.
  According to the L.A. Times, Secretary O'Leary believes in traveling 
first class all the way, spending approximately $815 per trip for a 
total of nearly $50,000 on her domestic travels. But that does not 
include the costs associated with her entourage that has included as 
many as 10 staff members. I ask unanimous consent that the Los Angeles 
Times article be inserted in the Congressional Record after my 
statement.
  I now understand that Secretary O'Leary has demanded that DOE program 
offices cough up additional funds for her planned boondoggle to South 
Africa. I suppose that a safari to South Africa would be grand this 
time of the year, but I cannot believe that this trip is more important 
than safeguarding our nuclear deterrent. As I have said before, the 
Department of Energy seems to have become nothing more than a travel 
service to satisfy the Secretary's wanderlust.
  For that reason and in order to gain a handle on DOE travel 
expenditures, I plan to offer an amendment to the Energy and Water 
Appropriations bill that would require Secretary O'Leary to report to 
Congress every time the Secretary authorized the payment of travel 
expenditures in excess of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1996.
     [From the Los Angeles Times/Washington edition, June 26, 1995]

     O'Leary: Energy Secretary Logs Cabinet's Highest Travel Costs

                 (By Alan C. Miller and Dwight Morris)

       Washington.--Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary defends her 
     department against budget-cutting proposals to dismantle it 
     by portraying herself as a master economizer in government--
     reducing her work force, boosting efficiency and saving 
     taxpayers' money.
       But when she hits the road in her job, as she often does, 
     O'Leary apparently is no bargain hunter.
       Traveling in a style that is unusual, if not unique, among 
     her Cabinet colleagues, O'Leary is the jet-setter of the 
     Clinton Administration.
       On longer trips, the former corporate executive frequently 
     upgrades her airline flights to business class or first 
     class--and sometimes authorizes staff members accompanying 
     her to do so as well. And she routinely stays at expensive 
     hotels, such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons, in 
     contrast with more cost-conscious fellow Cabinet members.
       The travel habits are apparent on the bills for all trips, 
     other than flights on military or Energy Department aircraft, 
     that she submits to the government. For her first two years 
     on the job, the median cost of O'Leary's 61 domestic official 
     trips was 58% higher than it was for EPA Administrator Carol 
     Browner's trips, 73% higher than for travel by Housing 
     Secretary Henry G. Cisneros and 90% higher than Health and 
     Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala's trips, according to 
     travel documents obtained under the Freedom of Information 
     Act.
       In a written response to questions, O'Leary said her travel 
     costs and practices are entirely appropriate and that, in 
     fact, she had spent nearly $14,500 of her own money on 
     official travel. On most domestic flights, she upgrades to 
     business class at no cost to the government, even though she 
     is on duty 24 hours a day and does considerable work en 
     route, a spokeswoman said.
       ``Secretary O'Leary is an activist secretary who believes 
     that most of the work of the government is beyond the 
     Beltway,'' said Barbara Semedo, the Energy Department's press 
     secretary. ``She is responsible for supervising a nationwide 
     network of sites, many of which are former nuclear weapons 
     facilities located in remote areas of the western United 
     States, where transportation is sometimes time-consuming and 
     expensive.''
       Two practices in particular put O'Leary at the top of the 
     travel-expense list. The government has ceilings on the 
     amount it will repay officials for meals and accommodations 
     but citing special circumstances, O'Leary routinely seeks 
     hotel reimbursement at as much as 150% of the maximum level. 
     Other Cabinet members usually find lodging for considerably 
     less.
       And most other agency heads rarely, if ever, upgrade from 
     coach class on commercial flights.
       The figures cited for O'Leary do not reflect one additional 
     area in which the Energy Department outspends other agencies: 
     travel by staff members. The energy secretary usually takes a 
     larger retinue of aides with her on trips than do her Cabinet 
     colleagues.
 
[[Page E 1343]]

       O'Leary, 58, a lawyer, oversees a $17.5-billion agency and 
     one of the largest federal bureaucracies, with 17,000 federal 
     employees and another 140,000 who work for the government 
     through contracts with private companies. Its 
     responsibilities include cleaning up thousands of sites that 
     were radio-actively contaminated through the nation's nuclear 
     weapon program.
       O'Leary was executive vice president for corporate affairs 
     at Northern States Power Co., a gas and electric utility 
     based in Minnapolis, before Clinton made her the first woman 
     and first African American to head the Energy Department. A 
     multimillionaire, her annual salary is now $148,400.
       She won early plaudits for revealing information about 
     government-sponsored atomic experiments and has led high-
     profile overseas trade missions to India, Pakistan and China, 
     where U.S. energy firms signed deals that the Energy 
     Department said were worth at least $19.2 billion.
       While battling Republican-led efforts to eliminate her 
     department in recent months, O'Leary has announced plans to 
     close offices and reduce staff, as well as cut back on 
     overall department travel.
       An extensive review by The Times of the travel itineraries 
     and vouchers of eight senior Clinton officials found that 
     O'Leary's travel habits stood out. The median cost of her 
     trips, which means that half her trips cost more and half 
     less, was $671. The median duration of the trips was three 
     days.
       Among those surveyed, only Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse 
     Brown recorded similar costs. His traveling style is not 
     comparable to O'Leary's, but he tends to take longer trips.
       The figures for O'Leary and her counterparts appear low, in 
     part because they include inexpensive trips, some of which 
     involved only ground transportation and no overnight stays. 
     In other cases, political campaign committees picked up some 
     of the tab if the trip entailed a political appearance.
       Moreover, government officials can be reimbursed no more 
     than a certain amount for meals and lodging, with those 
     maximums determined on a city-by-city basis. In addition, 
     hotels and airlines often offer discount rates to government 
     workers.
       Overall, O'Leary spent $49,857 on her 61 domestic trips, a 
     figure that does not include travel by her aides.
       That amount was $11,088 less than Cisneros' cumulative 
     cost, although he took nearly twice as many trips. Labor 
     Secretary Robert B. Reich took only three fewer trips than 
     O'Leary but charged taxpayers slightly more than half as 
     much.
       The seven times that O'Leary upgraded to business class or 
     first class at public expense were generally on overseas or 
     cross-country trips. She cited on her travel vouchers that 
     she needed to do so to perform work during the flight, to 
     arrive at her destination fresh enough to conduct business 
     and because of periodic back spasms. Federal travel 
     regulations require such justifications for flying via any 
     class other than coach.
       On other trips, Semedo said O'Leary upgraded by using 
     frequent-flier miles accumulated before she came to the 
     Energy Department or by paying the difference herself.
       The spokeswoman said O'Leary considers it cost-effective 
     for aides to upgrade so they can work with her in flight. 
     Unless otherwise necessary, just a single seat is upgraded, 
     with staff members moving back and forth from coach class to 
     consult with the secretary.
       But the practice can multiply the cost. During an October, 
     1993, flight from Chicago to London, three staff members 
     upgraded to business class with O'Leary. The additional 
     charge to the government for the secretary was $3,198, and 
     the added amount for the three aides was $7,067.
       The lodging choices of O'Leary and her Cabinet colleagues 
     are also a study in contrasts.
       When Browner traveled to Boston in late 1994 for the EPA, 
     she stayed at the Charles Hotel on Harvard Square at a cost 
     of $83 a night. O'Leary stayed at the Four Seasons for $335 a 
     night when she flew to Boston in November, 1993.
       When Reich went to New York for the Labor Department in 
     April, 1993, he stayed at the Sheraton Manhattan for $125. 
     Three weeks later. O'Leary flew to Manhattan and checked into 
     the Ritz-Carlton for $195.
       Federal travel regulations permit officials to seek 
     approval to claim up to 150% of the maximum per diem cost if 
     one of the several ``special or unusual circumstances'' 
     applies. In Boston, O'Leary sought the higher rate in her 
     travel authorization because she required lodging close to 
     where she was scheduled to appear. She also did so in New 
     York, citing high costs and her schedule.
       The government maximum for New York accommodations is $140, 
     or $210 at the higher reimbursement level. In Boston, 
     however, even at the higher reimbursement rate, the secretary 
     was able to put in for only $171 for lodging. O'Leary paid 
     the balance herself.
       Overall, O'Leary billed the government for expenses that 
     exceeded the maximum standard reimbursement rate on 61 of the 
     71 occasions when she stayed at a hotel in the United States, 
     records show. Other agency heads took advantage of the higher 
     cap far less often.
       O'Leary is usually joined by seven or more aides on foreign 
     trips and by several aids on domestic journeys, through that 
     number has been as high as 10 on occasion. She almost always 
     travels with her director of scheduling and logistics and a 
     security officer, Semedo said. Other staff members ``may be 
     assigned if their expertise is needed'' in such matters as 
     nuclear weapons cleanup or international trade, she added.
       By comparison, Cisneros traveled alone on a quarter of his 
     domestic trips, with one aide on nearly half of his trips and 
     with as many of four staff members only once. U.S. Trade 
     Representative Mickey Kantor traveled alone or with one aide 
     on two-thirds of his trips that included domestic 
     destinations and with no more than five on any trip.
       ``I don't travel with a large number of aides because I 
     usually spend my travel time catching up on important reading 
     that I can't get to in the office, or sketching out ideas,'' 
     Cisneros said. ``Likewise, I find coach seating very 
     satisfactory for my needs.''
       One O'Leary destination had nothing to do with official 
     Energy Department business.
       In February, 1994, the secretary and two staff members 
     traveled from Los Angeles to Boca Raton, Fla., where she 
     participated in a weekend conference of the Democratic 
     National Committee's Business Leadership Forum, a group of 
     corporate executives who each gave at least $10,000 to the 
     Democratic Party.
       During her stay at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, O'Leary's 
     schedule consisted primarily of attending a Democratic 
     leadership forum lunch and dinner, as well as recreational 
     and personal appointments. O'Leary did not seek reimbursement 
     from the government for any of her expenses in Boca Raton. 
     The Democratic National Committee repaid the Energy 
     Department for the added cost of her flight from Los Angeles, 
     where she had gone on government business.
       But the two staff members who accompanied her did bill 
     taxpayers for their flights to and from Florida and for some 
     of their expenses during their midwinter stay at the 
     oceanfront resort.
       Chief of Staff Richard H. Rosenzweig was reimbursed for 
     three nights at $125 a night and the daily per diem of $34. 
     Johannah M. Dottori, O'Leary's director of scheduling and 
     logistics, put in for the full resort rate of $257 for two 
     nights and per diem for two days. Both sought the higher 
     ceiling on their lodging because of ``extraordinary expenses 
     associated with accompanying the secretary,'' according to 
     their travel records.
       Even so, Dottori exceeded the 150% limit by approximately 
     $100. Semedo said Friday that this was ``an oversight'' by 
     department auditors and that Dottori will probably have to 
     reimburse the government for the excessive charge.
       During the cross-country flight, Semedo said O'Leary worked 
     on official business and consulted with her staff. Wherever 
     O'Leary is, Semedo said, she spends ``a major portion of her 
     time'' on departmental matters.
       Asked to explain why Rosenzweig and Dottori were reimbursed 
     for their expenses, the department cited a 1990 White House 
     memorandum which said, in part, that travel can be charged to 
     the government for individuals ``whose official duties 
     require them to be with a Cabinet member, whether or not the 
     Cabinet member himself is on official business.''
       The two aides accompanied O'Leary ``to perform official 
     functions, including preparation for upcoming work, policy 
     discussions and providing a communications link to the 
     department headquarters,'' Semedo said. ``They did not take 
     part'' in partisan activities.
     

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