June 05, 2006            

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Steve Adamske 202.225.7141

Statement of Congressman Barney Frank
On Travel Paid for by Non-governmental Sources

“Given the interest that has recently been expressed in travel by Members of Congress which is paid for by non-governmental groups, I thought it best to release the complete list of the trips I have taken since 2001, including both the destination and the sponsoring organization, as reported in my annual Financial Disclosure Statements. As the list makes clear, the overwhelming majority of these trips were taken for purposes of political advocacy. I believe it is an important part of my job to push in the political sphere for the public policies for which I work officially. There are several major subgroups within the advocacy category to which I give particular attention, and from which I receive a number of invitations.

“First, I believe it is very important for elected officials to do all that we can to encourage young people to be politically active. For this reason, I try very hard to accommodate any request I get to speak to colleges and universities. Second, as one of only a few openly gay or lesbian elected officials in America, I am frequently asked to speak to gay political groups. I was one of the organizers of the National Stonewall Democratic Federation, a gay Democratic organization, and I promised at the time of the founding to accommodate requests from that organization to speak whenever I could do that without impinging on my duties. Third, because I would very much like to see the Democrats regain control of Congress, I put a high priority on accepting speaking invitations from various Democratic party organizations throughout the country, especially in areas where the Democrats face a difficult fight. And, I have been invited to speak to a number of liberal citizen organizations and I am eager to accept these whenever I can to encourage political activity for progressive causes by various citizens.

“I have also been active through my committee work in international economic matters. I believe that one of the most important issues facing us is to see that globalization is carried out in a socially progressive manner. Thus I have taken several trips to international economic conferences, including those in Davos, Switzerland where I have been three times, though my participation in two of the Davos trips was funded by the U.S. Government rather than a non-governmental entity.

“Finally, as the senior Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, I have done more work in the last couple of years especially to familiarize myself with the agenda of this committee. Some of that is accomplished when I speak with various citizen groups, which include consumer advocates, people concerned with predatory lending, etc. In other cases I accept invitations to meet with various entities in the financial services field. I have been to the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ, and the Mercantile Exchanges in Chicago because they are important institutions which the committee I serve on regulates to some extent and I do believe it is important to have a good understanding of how they function, which is advanced in part by visiting them. Attached is the list of destinations, sponsoring organizations, and trip durations in every case.”

U.S. Congressman Barney Frank

Summary of Travel Funded by Non-Governmental Sources

(As reported in Rep. Frank’s annual Financial Disclosure Statements)

January, 2001 – June, 2006

Category                                             Number of Trips

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,                                        29
Transgender Organizations

Advocacy and Community Groups                      16

Colleges and Universities                                     15

Democratic Political Organizations                      11

Financial Services Groups                                     8

Non-Federal Democratic Candidates                   3*

International Economic Forums                              2

Media Appearances                                                    2

Miscellaneous
(International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians/          2
World Jewish Congress American Section;
National Constitution Center)

* Rep. Frank also traveled during this period on behalf of a number of Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress, and these trips were paid for by the candidates’ campaigns.  Such trips, which are reported in the candidates’ Federal Election Commission filings, are not part of the Financial Disclosure Statements that Members of Congress are required to file annually, though a few are listed in the attachments because they were combined with other trips funded by outside groups.

 To view a pdf version of a detailed record of all travel by the Congressman funded by outside sources since 2001 as reported in the annual Financial Disclosure Statements, please click here.

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