(This will be the first in an ongoing series of reports publicizing trips and gifts given to Arizona's Representatives and Senators in Washington.)
After his easy re-election in November, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CD6) took off for Cuba. Flake - now running for the U.S. Senate - spent five November days on the island nation on the tab of the Lexington Institute. While the food there was rather cheap, lodging for Flake and his wife ran to more than $300/day.
The next long trip taken by a member of the delegation was when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) spent five days (with her husband and two daughters) in Charleston, SC over New Year's. The well-known Renaissance Weekend brings together political leaders and other movers and shakers for a series of panel discussions. The tab came to $2,740.00 and was picked up by the group.
Three Republican House members from Arizona attended a retreat in late January in Simi Valley, hosted (and paid for) by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Rep. David Schweikert's (R-CD5) tab was the largest, at $2,521.80, while Rep. Trent Franks (R-CD2) only spent $1,536.10. Flake was in the middle with $2,042.60. Schweikert and Flake brought their spouses.
That same weekend, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) attended a similar ideological retreat, but it was apparently much more austere. Grijalva and two staffers spent two days in Chantilly, Virginia, paid for by the Progressive Ideas Network and Progressive Congress Action Fund. The tab for transportation, meals and lodging only came to $535.69/person.
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