Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethical problems have focused attention on other legislators, and one who is coming under increasing scrutiny, according to the Washington Post is Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt.
Blunt is one of the top users of free flights aboard corporate jets, according to the Post investigation. The Post article began this way:
"When House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., left Washington last August to attend a friend's funeral in his home state and give a political speech in Ohio, he didn't wait in long lines for a non-stop commercial flight.
"Instead, he hopped aboard a private jet at Dulles International Airport that belongs to the corporation that owns Cracker Barrel stores -- just one of about 30 companies with legislative interests before Congress that have provided this service to Blunt.
"Blunt is not alone in enjoying frequent corporate jet travel. He and 11 other current or former House and Senate leaders -- each with exceptional power to determine the fate of legislation and regulation -- flew on corporate-owned jets at least 360 times from January 2001 to December 2004, according to a review of records by The Washington Post."
The Post article showed 12 congressional leaders, from both sides of the aisle, took 360 free corporate flights in the four-year period between 2001 and 2004. Blunt was second only to DeLay in the use of such flights, the Post investigation revealed.
In an editorial column on the subject, the Toledo Blade noted, "On most of these flights, lawmakers are accompanied by lobbyists eager to bend their ear on legislation of interest to the corporations. One spokesman said her company considers the flights 'part of the cost of doing business.' "
The lawmakers, including Blunt, say the free transportation doesn't affect their decisions. The flights are permissible under House and Senate rules, as long as the corporation is reimbursed for the cost of a first-class fare if the plane is already headed for the site, or the full cost if it is not. The Post investigation showed the senators and representatives rarely made full reimbursement.