O’Leary Trips Had Precedent, Data Shows

Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary, who has been under fire for her expensive domestic and foreign travel, appears to have followed in a well-established Energy Department tradition, newly obtained documents and interviews show.

O’Leary’s two immediate Republican predecessors also took lengthy domestic and international jaunts at taxpayer expense--routinely traveling first class or on costly military planes.

A third former Republican secretary said that at least during part of his tenure, he, too, flew first class.

To be sure, none of the previous Energy chiefs ventured overseas as frequently or for nearly as many days as the globe-trotting O’Leary; nor did they do so with the same high profile. And none undertook the kind of big-ticket trade missions to such destinations as India and South Africa that have earned O’Leary so much scrutiny.

But both Adm. James D. Watkins and John S. Herrington traveled for weeks at a time--sometimes accompanied by their wives and numerous aides--to such places as Australia, Japan, the Mideast and Hawaii, according to documents obtained by The Times.

Then-Secretary Donald P. Hodel, who used military planes on two overseas trips, said that he flew first class on many domestic flights.

In addition, Watkins, who served as President George Bush’s energy chief from 1989 through 1992, set aside $60,000 under an unusual blanket authorization to travel first class domestically as well as internationally--and did so on at least 28 occasions.

O’Leary has been criticized for nine upgrades to business and first class at public expense; she has repaid the government for seven disallowed upgrades.

Watkins had exceptional domestic travel costs, including $19,600 for a military plane on a two-day trip to Louisiana and Ohio in 1990 to visit coal, oil, gas and uranium facilities with members of Congress. He spent more than $121,000 on 64 domestic trips, records show.

Meanwhile, Herrington--who was Ronald Reagan’s energy secretary from 1985 until 1988 and is now the California Republican Party chairman--flew to the Mideast in 1987 for 18 days with his wife and 11 energy department staffers on a spacious C-135 military plane with a private cabin at a cost of about $252,000--even though a far cheaper option was available, according to an internal Energy Department memorandum.

Although Herrington told The Times in December that he had traveled modestly with few aides, records show that he took a delegation of 10 on a 24-day Pacific Rim trip in 1987 and was joined along the way by 39 other staffers who did advance work. Herrington met with government leaders from Australia to Myanmar, formerly Burma, to discuss energy and diplomatic issues.

Hodel, who was Energy secretary from 1982 until 1985 under Reagan, was joined by 24 others on various legs of an eight-day trip on a military plane in 1983 to establish ties with Mideast oil ministers and urge them to change OPEC’s pricing policy. This included advance teams, security personnel and representatives from other federal agencies, Hodel said.

Each former secretary defended his travel as justified. Referring to his record, Herrington said: “Our trips were lean and pretty much all business.”

The travel documents have been provided by the Energy Department to the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which requested them as part of its wide-ranging probe of O’Leary’s travels.

Congressional Democrats intend to use the disclosures in an effort to blunt the inquiry by demanding that the Republicans leading the effort either focus on the previous secretaries’ travel as well or face charges that they are invoking a partisan double standard.

“If they ignore them or if they try to downplay these revelations, it will confirm . . . that this is a partisan witch hunt,” said a Democratic staffer on the House Science Committee, which also requested the documents.

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The new travel records also may provide fodder for those who favor eliminating the department.

The travel records of O’Leary’s three predecessors are not complete; vouchers providing a cost breakdown were not available for Herrington or Hodel.

Such documentation must be retained for six years under department regulations. Most of the newly disclosed documents were located recently as energy staffers who help organize department travel responded to the congressional inquiries, energy officials said.

O’Leary has been lambasted for her penchant for staying in four-star hotels and luxury airline travel, as well as for her 16 foreign trips totaling 130 days overseas. This included a weeklong South Africa visit in August with 63 department employees and 72 business executives and others. Her four trade missions cost taxpayers about $2.6 million.

O’Leary, who has been forced by budget constraints to cut department spending and personnel, defends her trips, saying they are part of her international responsibilities--including promoting nuclear nonproliferation, expanding American business opportunities and safeguarding nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union.

The travel documents for her predecessors show 11 foreign trips by Watkins for a total of 48 days and four trips by Herrington for a total of 67 days. Herrington made at least two other trips, to Asia and Europe. Partial travel documents for Hodel include seven overseas trips in 18 months totaling 42 days.

Like O’Leary, her predecessors attended sessions of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and the International Energy Agency in Paris. And like O’Leary, Watkins and Herrington brought numerous aides and security personnel.

Watkins took about 20 energy officials to the IEA meeting in 1991 and Herrington at least 10 in 1985, records show. O’Leary took eight in 1993 and 16 in 1995, when she chaired the meeting.

The issue of first-class travel arises with each secretary. The documents show that on three occasions, Watkins issued a blanket approval for himself to travel first class, citing security concerns. This is one of several specific circumstances cited in federal regulations for officials to upgrade, although these exceptions are usually justified case by case.

In a written reply to questions, Watkins said: “The only time I can remember having to pay special attention or ask for security was during the Gulf War, when the White House issued special instructions for certain Cabinet officers.”

Herrington acknowledged that he flew first class.

He said he did so because the policy was set by his predecessor, Hodel, and “I didn’t give it any thought.”

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Hodel said that he, too, flew first class because others had persuaded him to do so for various reasons, including security. But he recalled that at some point, he changed this policy because he decided it would “send all the wrong messages” to employees prohibited or discouraged from flying first class.

All of the secretaries used expensive military aircraft at times, although Watkins did so most often--nine times on domestic trips.

Watkins said that to reach remote sites, “at times I used a military or [Energy Department] aircraft so that whole days wouldn’t be lost or to accommodate the schedules of members of Congress who many times traveled with me.”

For Herrington’s 1987 Mideast trip, an Energy Department document shows he could have flown commercially to Germany, picked up a military plane to go to the Arab countries and returned home on a commercial flight for $95,100--less than half the cost estimated for the C-135.

Herrington said “that option was not presented to me. . . . I left that up to the military.” He called the C-135’s interior “spartan.”

He said that Reagan dispatched him to assure Arab leaders during the Iran-Iraq war that the United States, which was reflagging Kuwaiti oil tankers, was committed to keeping supply lines open.

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Watkins, Herrington and Hodel took their wives on overseas trips. Herrington and Hodel said the government did not pay any of their spouses’ expenses; Watkins said this was so for “most, if not all,” of his wife’s costs. But the wives often had their own itineraries, necessitating additional security staff to accompany them, records and interviews indicate.

Each of the former secretaries said that their wives were assets. Herrington said his wife, Lois, had her own full agenda as a Justice Department attorney and chairwoman of a White House Conference for a Drug-Free America.

A source who traveled with the secretaries said that Herrington’s trips were marked by “leisure-type” schedules, touring expeditions and luxury hotels.

Herrington responded that any sightseeing was done at the invitation of his hosts, between meetings or on Sundays, when little business was possible, and that the hotels were chosen by the local U.S. embassies.

Herrington also addressed a chapter of Republicans Abroad in Bangkok.

Asked whether this was appropriate on a taxpayer-funded trip, he said: “It’s a gray area.”