USA Today reported in 2017 that congressional travel, after a drop around 2009 because of increased scrutiny, had surged anew in 2016. It jumped from around $11 million to either $15 million (Congress' own report) or $19 million (a Treasury Department count). "Join Congress, See the World," could be the slogan for some members of our national legislature. Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina who disappeared in 2009 only to be outed for having traveled to Argentina to meet with his "soul mate," continued his globetrotting recently as a member of the House. read more