Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990 TAG: 9006060033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Tournament sponsors and airlines pay for the tickets, food and hotel rooms. Lawmakers who love golf get the perk even if they're not the national celebrities that charity tournaments like to attract.
House financial-disclosure records released last week showed that Burton, an Indiana Republican without a national following, participated in six tournaments in 1989.
Others with multiple appearances at such tournaments include Rep. Marty Russo, D-Ill., Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, the Illinois Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Minority Leader Bob Michel, also from Illinois.
The trips are examples of the lifestyle that members of Congress may live - partially at others' expense - within the rules of the House and Senate.
House members last year got free trips, lodging and meals for going to conferences at Florida's five-star Boca Raton Resort, the island of St. Croix, Palm Springs, Calif., Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a mountain retreat in Switzerland.
"Members of Congress who like to play golf - when they're not in session and there's no business in the district - can help charity and have fun," Burton said.
Burton had a busy golf schedule in 1989: the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs in January; the Kemper Open in Washington in May; the Larry Bird Youth Links tournament in Indianapolis (his district) in June; the Arte Johnson golf tournament in Chicago in July; the Danny Thompson Memorial tournament in Sun Valley, Idaho; and the Sugarloaf Invitation tournament in Maine.
Burton said he paid his own way to the Hope tournament and stayed with friends. All the tournaments, he said, donated profits to charity.
Financial-disclosure statements show that golf outings, and more traditional trips to conferences sponsored by special-interest groups, often appear more valuable than the $2,000 per speech that lawmakers may earn for addressing those organizations.
The free perks will become even more precious to House members Jan. 1, when honoraria will be banned in return for a pay raise.
This year, House members are allowed to earn the same amount of honoraria as last year, $26,850. Senators are still allowed honoraria and may keep it until the figure reaches 40 percent of their salary. The remainder is donated to charity.
Rostenkowski led the House in honoraria, earning $285,000 and giving $258,150 to charity.
Rep. Joe Moakley, D-Mass., was among the congressional guests at the four-day Securities Industry Association conference at the Boca Raton Resort in Florida.
The resort has 29 tennis courts, a 23-slip marina, rooms that cost from $195 to $340 a night and suites that start at $380 nightly.
by CNB