There’s more on the use of military aircraft by Speaker Pelosi I posted on yesterday. ABC News comments:
The treasure trove of documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Department of Defense regarding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s use of military aircraft doesn’t seem to prove the organization’s allegation that Pelosi has made “unprecedented demands” for the flights.
In fact, it appears that Pelosi uses military aircraft less often than her predecessor, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
[…]
The Judicial Watch release also cites an e-mail from a Pelosi staffer complaining about the lack of available C-5 aircraft for Congress’s 2007 Memorial Day recess, but this has nothing to do with Pelosi’s travel. Instead, the staffer was trying to arrange travel for eight Congressional delegations (all such travel is arranged through Pelosi’s office).
One can question whether the military should fly the speaker of the House around, but the practice dates back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The level of security for the speaker is higher than for other congressional leaders because she is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president who also, of course, flies in military aircraft.
My views remain essentially unchanged: I have no problem with Congressmen enjoying the perquisites of their offices. Nonetheless, I do think they should be subject to the same rules that the rest of us are.
However, what the Speaker is required to do by law she is required to do and, clearly, that falls into a different category. I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t part of the Continuity of Government Act which I opposed at the time and wrote my own Congressman about.
Hat tip: Michael Reynolds (in comments)
