Congressional Republicans attack first lady's travel costs

Thursday, March 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans released documents Thursday showing Hillary Rodham Clinton reimbursed only a fraction of her taxpayer-funded campaign travel, a move Democrats claimed is aimed at embarrassing the first lady.

Mrs. Clinton's Senate campaign paid back only about a fifth of the costs of the trips she took to New York on government jets,
according to figures compiled by the GOP from White House documents.

The 26 trips Mrs. Clinton took between June 9 and Dec. 14, 1999, cost $182,471. She reimbursed taxpayers $32,878, according to the
documents.

Mrs. Clinton flies on government aircraft on the advice of Secret Service and reimburses the government the same way presidential candidates do: at the rate of a first-class commercial ticket.

The practice, though legal, has been criticized by her Republican rival for the Senate, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who says Mrs. Clinton should reimburse all the money.

"It's amazing that Mrs. Clinton has only reimbursed the taxpayers a little over $30,000. Something is clearly wrong," Giuliani campaign spokeswoman Kim Serafin said.

White House spokesman Jim Kennedy said policies regarding the first lady's travel on military planes date to the 1980s. He handed
out memos signed by former Republican chiefs of staff James Baker and John Sununu endorsing the policy.

At a hearing by the House subcommittee that oversees the White House budget, Republicans said the laws governing White House travel were never intended to cover a political campaign by a first lady.

"We're in new waters and charting new territory here today," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. and the subcommittee chairman. "It is
unprecedented for a first lady to use government aircraft for her own political purposes."

Democrats assailed the hearing as an extension of the Giuliani campaign.

"This is a political hearing, make no mistake about it," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "We're here to score political points."

As evidence, they pointed out the hearing was announced Wednesday by the Republican National Committee, which had claimed the first lady's taxpayer-funded travel expenses topped $900,000.

RNC staffers stood by the higher figure Thursday. They said the subcommittee had not been given all the pertinent data by the White
House. During the hearing, RNC officials distributed their own tally, which included trips taken on Air Force One with the
president.

While the White House supplied information on the travel dates and who was on the flight, it did not provide costs. Republicans
estimated those based on the $3,705 per hour the Air Force says it costs to fly a C-20. Republicans noted that aircraft is less
expensive to fly than the C-9, which the first lady is believed to use on occasion.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa, urged the White House to release the first lady's travel costs and reimbursements on a monthly basis.

Michael Lyle, White House director of office administration, said that would be "burdensome" and was unnecessary because Mrs. Clinton has followed all laws and regulations involving travel.

Mrs. Clinton's campaign spokesman, Howard Wolfson, claimed the hearing was an attempt by Republicans to deflect attention from
Giuliani's response to last week's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by New York police.

"The real issue in this campaign is Rudy Giuliani's irresponsible rush to judgment" in the case, Wolfson said.

Giuliani, who has stood by the officers, ordered the release of the dead man's police record, showing a juvenile charge that later
was dropped and two guilty pleas in the mid-1990s to disorderly conduct.
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