The recording industry paid $18,000 for the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to travel to Asia to urge government officials to clamp down on pirating of music and movies. Watchdog groups say the trip may have violated House ethics rules.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said it asked Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) to make the January trip to Taiwan and Thailand to reinforce the U.S. position on pirated products. Sensenbrenner was accompanied by his wife and an aide.
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. took private-sector fee for an official trip.
(Jacqueline Roggenbrodt -- AP)
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RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said the State Department and trade representatives have long pressured Taiwan and Thailand to enforce U.S. laws on intellectual property. Sensenbrenner was asked to go, Lamy said, "so they understand that this is a unified message coming from all levels of the U.S. government, including Congress."
After meeting Sensenbrenner, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian issued a statement saying he would crack down on piracy of intellectual property.
Gary Ruskin, who runs the government watchdog group Congressional Accountability Project, said the trip may have violated a House rule that bars members and staff from accepting expenses "from a private source for travel the primary purpose of which is to conduct official business."
Ruskin called on the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate. A committee staffer declined to comment.
"The impression that the trip gives is that our intellectual property policy is for hire when the recording industry pays for the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to level threats at these governments," Ruskin said. "It creates an appearance of influence-peddling."
Another government watchdog group, the Center for Public Integrity, agreed.
"This does sound like it crosses a line," said a spokesman, Bill Allison. "Taxpayers can complain about trips that lawmakers take, but if he's the chairman of the committee and feels it's necessary to do it, he should do it the right way and not rely on the deep pockets of the private sector."
In an interview, Sensenbrenner said he could have used committee funds to pay for the trip but, "I thought I would save the taxpayers some money on this."
"The purpose was to give a very strong message to both governments that intellectual property thievery has got to stop," he said, "and that if the governments wish to have normal trade relations with the United States, they will have to crack down on people who are stealing American property."
He said the five-day trip was "no vacation."
Sensenbrenner's schedule was put together by the State Department. It consisted mostly of meetings with government officials, as well as a couple of sessions with American business executives.
His disclosure form, filed with the House clerk, calls the visit a "fact-finding trip," which under House rules may be paid for by private groups. But Ruskin said pressuring governments went beyond that.
"Fact-finding is very different from arm-twisting," Ruskin said.
