U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville during her trip to Kenya in April 2023. Underwood was among the lawmakers serving the Chicago suburbs who traveled abroad last year as guests of private groups.
Courtesy of U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood
Five of the congressional representatives serving the North, West and Northwest suburbs took trips abroad last year that were funded by think tanks and other special interest groups, documents show.
Destinations included Israel, Kenya and Norway. All but one lawmaker brought along family members on the trips.
The travel was detailed on the representatives’ annual financial disclosure reports, the most recent of which were made public in August, and related filings.
Travel is restricted
Representatives and staffers are allowed to take privately sponsored trips, but they’re considered gifts and are restricted. Lawmakers and staffers must obtain written approval from the House Ethics Committee before traveling.
Such trips must be detailed on reports designed to cast light on potential conflicts of interest and unethical financial behavior. In addition to trips and gifts, the reports contain information about income, investments, debts and more.
Reports can be viewed online at disclosures-clerk.house.gov/FinancialDisclosure.
Israel
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Highland Park Democrat who represents Illinois’ 10th District, reported he and his wife traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, as part of a congressional delegation hosted by the American Israel Education Foundation in August 2023.
The foundation is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that pushes pro-Israel policies in Congress.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider
The nonprofit foundation frequently pays for American politicians from both political parties to visit Israel. The trips offer briefings on Middle East affairs and meetings with Israeli leaders on regional security, technology, health and other subjects, AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann said in an email.
This time, the foundation covered eight days of travel, lodging, meals and other expenses for the Schneiders totaling nearly $34,161, a post-trip report showed.
Schneider has visited Israel five times at the foundation’s expense since first joining Congress in 2013, reports show.
Norway and Denmark
Schneider also reported going with his wife to Norway in August 2023, visiting Oslo and Bergen, for meetings on climate change and clean energy. The trip’s primary sponsor was the Aspen Institute, a nonprofit group concerned about the environment, education and other global issues.
“Our policy conferences are designed with the core objective of educating members of Congress in an off-the-record setting, free of special interests and lobbying,” Aspen Institute spokesman Jon Purves said in an email.
No U.S. taxpayer funds are used to support the programs, Purves said.
The Norway gathering was co-sponsored by Breakthrough Energy, a group founded by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, and the Climate Imperative Foundation, which aims to shape global climate- and energy-related policies.
The Schneiders’ estimated expenses totaled $14,051, according to their post-trip disclosure form.
Schneider tacked a “three-day personal excursion” to Copenhagen, Denmark, onto the front of the trip that he paid for, documents show.
Schneider’s trips abroad were criticized by Jim Carris, his Republican challenger in the upcoming election. Tenth District residents deserve a representative who “remains committed to being present and accountable here at home,” said Carris, of Lake Forest, in an email.
“Every moment and every dollar spent outside our district is a missed opportunity for our community,” Carris said.
Also making the trip to Oslo was U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Downers Grove Democrat representing Illinois’ 6th District.
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten
Casten — a former energy industry executive for whom climate change and energy conservation are primary concerns — spent six days in Oslo, at an $8,027 cost to the institute, reports indicate.
Colombia
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat who represents Illinois’ 9th District, visited Cartagena, Colombia, as a guest of the Aspen Institute in February 2023. The organization hosted more than a dozen members of Congress for a program called “U.S. Leadership in a World in Conflict.”
Schakowsky was accompanied by her husband on the four-day trip, documents indicate. Their covered expenses reportedly totaled $6,342.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Kenya
The Aspen Institute also paid for Schakowsky and her husband to visit Nairobi, Kenya, for seven days in August 2023. The trip was co-sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which tackles poverty, education and other global issues.
The couple’s covered expenses totaled $25,078, documents indicate.
Schakowsky wasn’t the only suburban lawmaker to visit Kenya last year as a guest of private groups.
So did U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Naperville Democrat who represents the 14th District. She and her mother went to Nairobi for nine days in April 2023 on a trip sponsored by the Save the Children Action Network, CARE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood
Save the Children Action Network is the political advocacy arm of a similarly named group that aims to improve kids’ lives through education, health care and economic opportunities; CARE fights poverty and hunger around the world.
The Underwoods’ expenses reportedly totaled $26,898.
In an Instagram post after the trip, Underwood called the experience “unforgettable.”
“(I) saw the importance of our international investments in maternal health care up close,” wrote Underwood, for whom maternal health has been a legislative priority.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, second from left, visited Kenya in April 2023 as a guest of private groups.
Courtesy of U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood
London
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Schaumburg Democrat who represents the 8th District, reported an August 2023 trip to London with his wife sponsored by the Ripon Society, a Republican public policy organization, and the nonpartisan Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange. The couple’s expenses totaled $22,690, documents indicate.
Krishnamoorthi was part of a congressional delegation that met with British leaders to discuss health care, defense matters, the financial industries and other issues. Among the lawmakers on the trip was Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of the Peoria area; the pair appeared together on BBC News to discuss relations between the U.S. and the United Kingdom and other topics.
U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, left, and Raja Krishnamoorthi were interviewed by BBC News during their trip to London in 2023. Both are from Illinois.
YouTube screenshot
The same groups also paid for Krishnamoorthi to travel to South Dakota with his wife in September 2023 to receive a leadership award, records show.