Congress: Flying Down to Sao Paulo

As a former member of the National Alcohol Fuels Commission, Democratic Congressman Bill Alexander of Arkansas wanted to take advantage of the August recess to inspect Brazil's production of ethanol. It is an unwritten House rule that Congressmen can request the services of a Pentagon plane only if three or four of them travel together. So Alexander invited four of his colleagues to join him on his six-day sojourn. He sent their names to Speaker Tip O'Neill, who asked the Pentagon to secure a jet for the group. But when the Air Force C-9 took off for Sao Paulo, Alexander, 51, the House chief deputy majority whip, was the only Congressman among the nine passengers aboard. None of the four legislators Alexander had asked along agreed to accompany him.

The C-9, which can carry as many as 42 passengers, costs taxpayers $2,310 for each flying hour. Although it was expensive, Alexander claimed the trip did produce something: primarily, a letter of intent from Brazil to exchange research and personnel with an alcohol-fuels project at the University of Arkansas. And when the Congressman returned to the U.S. via Honduras, he paid his own way.