This report discusses the statutory and congressional rule structure under which Members of the House and Senate, under an exception to the gift Rules, may generally accept from some private sources—other than registered lobbyists or registered foreign agents— necessary travel expenses, including transportation, food and lodging, for travel "in connection with" their official duties, such as for fact-finding trips, conferences or symposia, under certain circumstances and limitations. Under these provisions, Members of Congress and congressional staff are prohibited from soliciting or accepting gifts from any private sources unless expressly permitted by an exception in the congressional rules. Members and staff may generally not accept private gifts, reimbursements, or payments of their expenses, other than from their relatives and certain long-term personal friends, when the value of a gift is $50 or more (or when multiple gifts of under $50 from the same source aggregate $100 or more in a calendar year). Officially Connected Travel

The travel that has recently raised several questions has been the acceptance of private payment or reimbursement of "officially connected" travel by Members and staff. The wording of the House and Senate Rules on this subject are substantially identical, other than as to the permissible duration of such trips, which is limited in the House to four days for domestic and seven days for foreign travel (excluding travel days), and in the Senate to three days for domestic travel and seven days for foreign travel (also excluding travel days). Because such events are intended to be restricted to those connected to one's official duties, and are ostensibly for the purpose of informing, educating or broadening the knowledge of the Member of certain issues and their factual backgrounds relevant to matters coming before the Member in an official capacity, such expenses received by or reimbursed for the Member are "considered" or "deemed" to be a "reimbursement to the House" or "to the Senate," as the case may be, rather than a personal gift to the Member, as long as such expenses are publicly disclosed within 30 days of the end of the travel. Under both the House and Senate Rules, the following general limitations apply:

			1. If the over-all purpose of the trip is "substantially recreational in nature," the trip will not be considered officially connected. Reporting, Disclosure

Members of the House and the Senate are not required to provide advance notification or receive advance approval for officially connected travel.
While the acceptance by Members of Congress and staff of personal gifts from most outside, private sources is significantly regulated and restricted by internal congressional rules, Members of the House and Senate may still generally accept from some private sources—other than those who are registered lobbyists or registered foreign agents—necessary travel expenses, including transportation, food and lodging, for travel "in connection with" their official duties, such as for fact-finding trips, conferences or symposia, under certain limited circumstances. Under both House and Senate Rules, the over-all purpose of any privately funded trip of this nature must be related or connected to official duties, and may not be "substantially recreational in nature." Furthermore, while Members may accept "necessary" travel expenses for events which are sufficiently officially-related or "officially connected," the expenses for incidental recreational activities during these trips, such as the costs for golf, snow-skiing, jet-skiing, or tennis, are expressly not considered "necessary" expenses of such travel under either the House or the Senate Rules, and thus fall within the general prohibitions and the $50 limitations on gifts from private sources. (Under both the House and Senate Rules, gifts from any private source, other than from relatives and certain long-term personal friends, are generally prohibited if the value of the gift is $50 or more.) The duration of any permitted trip under the "officially connected" travel exception is limited in the House to four days for domestic and seven days for foreign travel (excluding travel days), and in the Senate to three days for domestic travel and seven days for foreign travel (also excluding travel days). Staff employees must receive advance approval for accepting from private sources expenses for such officially connected travel, and whenever expenses or reimbursement for officially connected travel are accepted by Members or staff, a disclosure report on such travel and expenses is required to be made within 30 days of the end of the travel.