Congresscritters Travel the World, Taxpayers Foot the Bill

It's good to be an elected official

Want to travel the world at no cost to you? Then get elected to Congress.

Take Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin. The Democrat took trips to Croatia, Tunisia, Alberta, Jordan, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Cuba, Belgium, and the Bahamas within the past 12 years. His wife and daughter occasionally accompanied him on the excursions. In all, Harkin took 16 trips at a cost of $93,442.

And then there's Rep. Steve King, a Republican in Iowa's 5th District. He and his wife took a nine-day trip to Germany and Russia in 2009 and returned two years later to Germany for another six-day stay. Both trips exceeded $20,000.