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Letter to the Hon. Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services - DeLauro and Lowey Request Details of Secretary Price's Noncommercial Flights

Letter

Date: Sept. 25, 2017
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations

Dear Secretary Price:

We are writing in response to recent media reports that you have spent more than $400,000 of taxpayer funds on chartered private flights during your seven-month tenure as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

If true, this is an unacceptable abuse of U.S. taxpayers.

According to a recent article in Politico, published September 21, you have taken "at least 24 flights on private charter planes at taxpayers' expense since early May," including private chartered flights to Philadelphia, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Aspen, as well as Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan, West Virginia, and Oklahoma.

Politico notes that the Department of Health and Human Services spent $17,760 for a chartered flight to Nashville, Tennessee, despite sample fares showing that commercial flights were available for as low as $202.

As the Ranking Members on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, we are deeply concerned about this misuse of taxpayer dollars. It is particularly outrageous that you have wasted taxpayer dollars on lavish travel while President Trump has proposed to slash vital services for hardworking Americans and to cut HHS's budget by 18 percent.

While we welcome both the Inspector General review of your conduct and your pledge to stop using expensive charter flights while the review is ongoing, the Appropriations Committee has a responsibility to ensure responsible use of appropriated funding and to enact spending laws that prevent wasteful spending.

By September 30, 2017, please provide the following information about your use of private chartered flights:

The dates and itineraries of all noncommercial flights taken since being confirmed as Secretary of HHS
The cost of each noncommercial flight
The official justification for each noncommercial flight
Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

Nita Lowey Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member Ranking Member


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