The true costs of Congressional delegation (CODEL ) travel for official business is often not fully disclosed and hard to calculate from government travel reports, according to an article in the Washington Guardian. Official travel reports often show that military air transportation was used by a House Congressional delegation, and no cost figure is disclosed. See early 2013 delegation trips to Switzerland and another to Belgium . Speaker John Boehner, who must approve all CODELS, announced he will no longer allow delegations to travel by military aircraft on Congressional delegations trips, effective March 1. It is not yet clear whether this policy has been fully implemented. If commercial aircraft is used, and travel reports include the costs, there may be a clearer picture of the CODEL costs. First quarter travel reports are due by the end of April. Overall tabulations and individual trip detail of House member government travel and gifts of privately-paid travel are available on Political MoneyLine website. Travel data is also cross-referenced to each member's profile. (Subscription required.)
