Kuwait Paid Over $66,000 for Mosbacher, Staff Travel

The Kuwaiti government paid more than $66,000 to fly Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher, his wife and aides to Kuwait City in early March to view the destruction of that country in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, according to reports made public Monday.

The trip to Kuwait was just one of more than 30 trips--both foreign and domestic--that Mosbacher has taken over the last 2 1/2 years at the expense of foreign governments or American corporations.

Although President Bush two years ago persuaded Congress to permit all top Administration officials to travel at the expense of private corporations, Mosbacher, a multimillionaire, far exceeds any other Cabinet officer in using this privilege. He also is the only Cabinet officer permitted to travel anywhere at the expense of another government.

Some critics have questioned why the commerce secretary should be allowed to travel at the expense of foreign governments when other top officials are prohibited from doing so on grounds that such trips could undermine their commitment to U.S. interests.

“The bottom line is that government officials should travel at the expense of the U.S. government,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Common Cause, a citizens’ lobby group. “The excuse is that they are saving taxpayers money. But, at what cost?”

Much of Mosbacher’s domestic travel was paid for by corporations and corporate executives who also were major contributors to Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign, in which Mosbacher served as chief fund raiser.

In a report filed with the Office of Government Ethics, Mosbacher said that the Kuwaiti government paid $66,840 to fly him and his entourage to Kuwait City on March 13 and back to Washington on March 17. He did not specify who paid for accommodations while the delegation was visiting Kuwait City.

Malcolm Barr, Commerce Department spokesman, said that Mosbacher and his party were among a large group of Americans who traveled to Kuwait City aboard a Kuwaiti government jetliner shortly after fighting in the region had stopped. He said that the trip had nothing to do with the Commerce Department’s efforts to promote U.S. participation in the rebuilding of Kuwait.

“Nothing much came of it,” Barr said. “He just eyeballed the country and was appalled by what (he) saw there.”

Twelve members of Congress also took part in the trip, but the cost of their travel reportedly was picked up by Fluor Daniel Inc., a division of the Fluor Corp. of Irvine, Calif., and not by the Kuwaiti government.

Since 1964, the commerce secretary has been permitted to accept free travel from sources other than the U.S. government, including foreign governments, “for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Department of Commerce” in promoting U.S. industry around the world. While some other U.S. officials also have been allowed over the years to accept travel from corporations, including members of Congress, none of them are allowed to travel at the expense of a foreign government, except within that country.

Under the 1989 Ethics in Government Act, all other top Administration officials were given the same opportunity as the commerce secretary to travel at the expense of corporations, providing that they report their activities to the Office of Government Ethics. The first such reports were due last Friday and were made public Monday.

But the new law did not lift the ban on foreign-paid travel for other officials.

In addition to his Kuwaiti trip, Mosbacher flew to New York City from Washington on March 21 at the expense of the Mexican government. He reported the cost of the trip as $118. Mosbacher is currently involved in U.S.-Mexican negotiations on a new trade agreement.

He also reported flying to Cincinnati on March 12 on a corporate jet owned by Chiquita Brands International and to Houston on March 30 for the U.S.-Mexican Border Governors’ Conference at the expense of Transco Energy Co., a Houston natural gas company.

Commerce Department officials said that Mosbacher does not accept travel from corporations that have business pending before the department. But these officials acknowledged that there is no way for him to know if these firms will have business with his department in the future.

Mosbacher sometimes combines business and political fund raising when he travels throughout the United States at the expense of corporations. In these cases, his aides say, the corporations are reimbursed by the Republican Party for any portion of the trip that involved politics. It is illegal for corporations to make contributions to candidates for federal office.

But in at least one instance, Republican Party officials admit that they did not reimburse Sunrise Co. of Palm Springs, Calif., for a political trip that Mosbacher made aboard that firm’s plane in March, 1990. Instead, they said, the flight was considered an “in-kind” contribution to their nonfederal fund-raising account, which is permitted to accept corporate donations.

Those who have provided funds for Mosbacher’s travel in the past include Orange County developer Donald L. Bren, Detroit industrialist Max Fisher, Florida sugar magnate Jose Pepe Fanjul, media investor George N. Gillette Jr., former Mosbacher business partner Chesley Pruet and Heinz Prechter, president of American Sunroof Co. of Michigan.