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| Boehner Restricts House Member Flights on Military Planes | |
| 2013-02-28 | |
| House Speaker John Boehner plans to restrict lawmakers' use of military aircraft for official travel after federal spending cuts begin tomorrow, his spokesman said. "The speaker believes this is the prudent and responsible course of action, and it goes above and beyond the spending cuts the House will be implementing" as the automatic cuts take effect, Boehner's spokesman, Kevin Smith, said in an e-mail. Boehner made the announcement during a closed meeting of House Republicans yesterday, said a party leadership aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was private. The speaker, an Ohio Republican, told lawmakers their office budgets would be reduced and their use of military aircraft for official travel would be curtailed, the aide said. Congressional delegations use military aircraft for trips to Afghanistan and Iraq or to conduct oversight in other parts of the world where the U.S. military is engaged. All overseas trips by congressional delegations on military aircraft require Boehner's approval. Under the new policy, House members won't be able to fly directly from the U.S. to other countries on military aircraft, said an Armed Services Committee aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Instead, they would fly on commercial airlines to an another country, such as Kuwait, to connect with a regularly scheduled military aircraft, the aide said.
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| Posted by:tipper |