Pentagon Disputes Lawmaker’s Account of Military Plane Trip

The night before he left on a military transport plane to Brazil as the only congressman aboard, Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.) assured an Air Force officer that four other lawmakers would be traveling with him, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Moreover, the Pentagon said it had “no record” of Alexander ever requesting, as he indicated he had, that a smaller plane be used for his party. In any event, it said, the only plane readily available and prepared for the trip was the one that had been reserved with the understanding that five congressmen would be traveling.

As a result, Alexander left Andrews Air Force Base on Aug. 14 aboard the military version of a DC-9 airliner with his daughter and seven other guests, attended by a doctor and four military escorts but with no congressional colleagues.

Use of the plane, which can carry up to 42 passengers, cost taxpayers $56,364, the Air Force said Wednesday.

Contradicts Alexander

A written Pentagon statement contradicted Alexander’s version of how he made arrangements to obtain a military plane for the fact-finding trip, which was devoted to a study of alcohol fuel production.

On Aug. 22, Alexander’s administrative assistant, Bill Miles, told the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock that the Air Force “knew who was going to be on the plane” at least a day or two before the departure.

On Tuesday, at a news conference in Jonesboro, Ark., Alexander asserted that there was no subterfuge involved “because all of the facts have been known . . . far in advance of the trip, which was then blown out of proportion by members of the press.”

The Pentagon was told in an Aug. 7 letter that Alexander would be accompanied by Reps. Ronnie G. Flippo (D-Ala.), Butler Derrick (D-S.C.), Toby Roth (R-Wis.) and Dan Glickman (D-Kan.).

The four other congressmen have denied ever planning to make the trip. Alexander said Tuesday that one of the four had made a commitment, but he refused to identify him.