I haven't taken a summer vacation, but our leaders have. 81 of the members of the House are taking part of their vacation in Israel with all expenses paid by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which wields a lot of clout with our leaders. The House members will not be traveling budget-style; they're flying business class along with their spouses and I'm sure they will travel first class within Israel.
House rules have this to say about travel by its members: “The travel provisions of the gift rule severely limit the ability of Members and staff to accept travel from an entity that employs or retains a registered lobbyist or a registered agent of a foreign principal.” That seems fairly clear; members should not have their travel expenses paid by lobbyists. AIEF is a non-profit (501 c3) organization, so, I guess, it's okay for Congressmen to accept their bounty. The problem is that AIEF (which has no paid employees, so who's making travel arrangements?) is funded and controlled by AIPAC; while AIPAC will not be literally paying expenses for our leaders, it, in reality, will be. Do I hear a Congressman mentioning this violation of the House's rules?
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