59 Senators Took Special Interest Fees, Records Show : Congress: While honorariums declined sharply in 1991 prior to ban, junkets continued. Cranston and Seymour took no speaking fees.

At least 59 senators pocketed appearance fees from special interest groups during 1991, the last year they were permitted to accept honorariums, according to financial disclosure documents made public Friday.

While the amount of honorariums accepted by senators declined sharply over previous years, there appeared to be little--if any--drop-off in the number of junkets that senators took at the expense of special interest groups.

Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) took 19 such trips, more than any other member of the Senate. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) took 16, Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.) took 14 and Sens. John B. Breaux (D-La.) and J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), 13 each.

In 1991, senators were permitted to accrue honorariums for their personal use up to a maximum of $23,068 prior to Aug. 13, when the practice was banned. No single honorarium could exceed $2,000, and all funds in excess of $23,068 had to be donated to charity. Party leaders were permitted to pocket slightly more because their annual salaries also exceed the $129,500 currently paid to rank-and-file members of the Senate.

Eleven senators reported that they had pocketed the maximum amount, and 20 others said they converted to personal use a sum exceeding $20,000.

The senator who raised the most honorariums was Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), who collected $92,750--of which $69,682 went to charity. Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) was second with a total of $89,507. Before last year, it was not unusual to find many more senators with honorariums in that range.

But none of the senators came close to earning as much in speaking fees as Dole’s wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, who heads the American Red Cross and reported $211,500 in honorariums during 1991. Her speaking fees were listed on Sen. Dole’s annual report as part of the family income.

Neither Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) or John Seymour (R-Calif.) took any honorariums in 1991. Cranston reported that he paid almost $244,000 in legal fees during the year, but not from his own pocket. The fees, which grew out of his involvement in the Keating Five case, were paid by his legal defense and Senate campaign funds.

Cranston reported no trips at the expense of special interest groups, but Seymour visited Israel between Feb. 28 and March 4 at the expense of a Los Angeles group known as Youth Towns of Israel. He also went fishing at the expense of Mike Rosen of Roseville, Calif.

Dixon took advantage of special interest groups to ferry him occasionally to Florida, where he maintained a vacation home. United Technologies/Pratt & Whitney paid for his round-trip fare Feb. 1-4; the Olin Corp. paid for his round-trip fare Feb. 8-19, and the Chicago Board of Trade paid for his March 14-19 trip.

In addition, Dixon, who was defeated for reelection earlier this year in a Democratic primary, used a technique that has been employed occasionally by other senators facing reelection: He allowed special interest groups to pay for his air fare back to his home state. In that way, he saved campaign funds for other purposes.

In all, Dixon made nine trips home at the expense of special interest groups, including the Automotive Service Industry Assn., the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, the Chicago Clearing House Assn., Eureka College, the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the Illinois State Bar Assn., the Associate General Contractors and the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois.

In addition, many senators arranged “package” tours for themselves by persuading several special interest groups to join together to pay for extended trips, often taking them overseas.

For example, Johnston, Murkowski and Sens. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and David Pryor (D-Ark.) all went on a trip to Taipei and Bangkok funded by two groups. The first leg was paid for by the Chinese Cultural University of Taiwan; the second leg was funded by the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Assn. of Thailand.

Under Senate rules, members cannot travel overseas on special interest funds for more than 168 consecutive hours. When that time period ended, Nunn and Pryor returned to the United States, but Johnston and Murkowski extended the trip using their own money.

Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) took a trip to Los Angeles in February that was sponsored by four groups. The Motion Picture Assn. of America paid for one night of lodging in Los Angeles, Toyota Motor Sales Inc. paid for two nights in Torrance, Valentine & Co. paid for two nights in LaJolla, and the Brighton Group Ltd. paid for two more nights in LaJolla.

Johnston and his wife flew to San Francisco on Aug. 21 at the expense of the Pacific Gas & Electric, which also paid for two days of lodging and meals. They then spent three days in California on “personal business,” meaning that they paid for it themselves. Beginning Aug. 26, Johnston and his wife spent two more days in Rutherford, Calif., at the expense of the Wine Institute, which also paid to fly the senator’s wife back to Washington.

Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) appeared to take the most trips on a single group: the Huntsman Chemical Corp of Salt Lake City. Huntsman flew him home to Salt Lake City in May, to Armenia in June and to New York City in October. The second leg of the trip to New York was financed by the Chemical Manufacturers Assn.