Congressman Richard Pombo, the man who suggested, supposedly tongue-in-check, that we should sell some national park units to generate some dollars for the federal government, is like many other Americans in that he likes to visit national parks.
However, the Tracy Press in Pombo's California congressional district is stirring up a little tempest by questioning whether the Republican's two-week swing through a handful of parks back in 2003 was business, as Pombo maintains, or really a family vacation.
Apparently some officials in the parks that Pombo visited say they never saw him.
And then there was the piece on the congressman's own website that mentioned he "spent two weeks on vacation, stopping along the way to enjoy the splendor of many of our national parks."
The rub is that the nearly $5,000 tab for renting an RV to tour the parks -- he also charged $1,500 to a government credit card during the trip -- was paid for by the House Resources Committee, which Pombo chairs, and if he really was on a vacation, isn't that a no-no.
You can read the details here.
Rep. Pombo Challenged on His Park "Vacation"
Published Date
February 10, 2006
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