Reid questions Bush travel

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked for a detailed accounting of the costs associated with the political campaign travel of President Bush and members of his administration, alleging the president has used taxpayer dollars to subsidize trips that have included political fund-raisers.

"Because the scheduling of these trips is largely driven by the administration's political agenda of electing more Republicans, it would seem that political campaigns, not taxpayers, should fund the substantial travel and related costs," Reid said in a letter sent to Mitchell Daniels Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget. "Why should taxpayers foot the bill for the president's fund-raising and political stumping?"

The letter comes after the Bush administration has said that it is looking for new ways to cut federal spending.

Bush was scheduled to be in Arizona today to help raise money for GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon and in Colorado for Republican House candidate Bob Beauprez.

Reid states in his letter that the case against spending tax dollars on such trips is made more compelling because of the current state of the economy, the war on terrorism and potential aggression against Iraq.

"The economy remains in a slump and continues to sink," Reid states.