Mixed Messages On Possible Resolution
New laws meant to keep high-flying
Congressional lawmakers closer to the ground -- and off high-dollar
planes paid for by lobbyists and special interests -- has had an
opposite effect for a Minnesota representative who travels in his
own Beech Bonanza.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Collin Peterson uses the
plane to commute to and from his district... but since last month,
he's been grounded, as the laws enacted by his fellow Democratic
lawmakers mean he can no longer be reimbursed for his Beech
business trips.
"It's a pretty stupid deal," said Peterson, who is also the new
chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
"I threatened to put in a bill to make it illegal for any member
to drive their own car until we got this fixed," Peterson added.
"And I told Nancy Pelosi that if she didn't get this fixed, I was
going to quit and there was going to be a Republican in my place,
that if I couldn't fly I wasn't going to do this anymore. She just
kind of looked at me -- she said it'll be fixed."
Of course, the new House Speaker has some plane problems of her
own... with many criticizing her request to use larger military
aircraft to fly back-and-forth from Washington and her home in San
Francisco, CA. Pelosi has argued she needs planes with the ability
to fly cross-country nonstop, and carry staffmembers along for the
ride.
Peterson also used his Bonanza to travel throughout the 35
counties that make up the Seventh Congressional District, one of
the nation's largest. In the past, he was reimbursed for miles
flown.
"A plane has made it possible for him to be up in Roseau in the
morning, Marshall in the midafternoon and then back up to Warroad
at night," Peterson's chief of staff, Mark Brownell, told the
Star-Tribune.
When Peterson sought help from Florida Representatives Alcee
Hastings, he was told Hastings -- a member of the House Rules
Committee -- agrees the new rule shouldn't apply to the
approximately half-dozen House members who fly their own
planes.
"It is not intended to
apply to a member who is using her or his own airplane, whether or
not it is on his personal campaign or official business," Hastings
said.
But Peterson (right) says he's getting conflicting
messages about that. House administration officials have told
him he may continue to be reimbursed; the Ethics Committee says no
dice. So, for the moment, Peterson is relegated to staying on the
ground -- or, flying commercially.
"They didn't know anything about airplanes, the people who were
writing this, and they didn't talk to me," Peterson said. "I
haven't asked for any money for it. It could be that I can't even
legally fly my own plane even if I don't ask anybody to pay for it,
which would be kind of crazy."