Congress seeks records on Leavitt's plane travel
Some eyeing use of CDC craft to push drug plan
Leavitt used a plane intended to help scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention respond to emergencies, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday. Leavitt's trips on the leased plane have cost more than $700,000 since January, and at least two occurred when agency scientists might have used the plane for emergencies, the paper said.
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday questioned Leavitt during a hearing on the Medicare drug benefit. Republicans including Nancy Johnson of Connecticut said Leavitt, a former Utah governor, was entitled to use the plane to encourage participation and explain the drug program. Democrats Pete Stark of California and John Lewis of Georgia questioned whether Leavitt wasted tax dollars touting the benefit to help President George W. Bush.
"There's nothing political about this," Leavitt said to reporters after the hearing.
Leavitt's department includes the Atlanta-based CDC and the Baltimore-based Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Some of the travel on the CDC plane was related to U.S. preparations for the threat of a global pandemic of avian influenza, Leavitt told the committee. Leavitt said he wouldn't have been able to reach as many meetings on flu and the drug benefit, known as Part D, without the plane.
"When you add Medicare Part D to avian flu, you need that kind of a tool," Leavitt said.
Democratic Representative Lewis, whose district includes most of Atlanta, said he thought Leavitt had used the plane to do public relations for Bush.
"It's bad enough you had buses. It is disgraceful," said Lewis, whose Web site has posted a continuously updated count on the rising $8.3 trillion U.S. debt, and tells visitors that their individual share today is more than $29,000. "It is a waste of resources."
Clay Shaw, a Florida Republican, said it was "hypocritical" for members of Congress to criticize this use of government aircraft when lawmakers use them to visit other nations. Leavitt was "making the best use of his time," Shaw said.
"I think it's a good thing and I encourage you to keep it up," he told Leavitt.
Stark, the ranking Democrat on the committee's health panel, asked Leavitt to submit records on his use of the plane. Leavitt agreed to do so.
The Medicare drug benefit now directly subsidizes purchases of medicine for about 22.5 million people, with 10.4 million enrolled in plans newly created for Part D. Along with retiree and employer benefits and coverage from the Veterans Affairs Department, about 38 million of the 43 million people in Medicare now get help buying drugs.
E-mail: kdooley@bloomberg.net
You can be the first to comment on this story.