A group of House staffers spent more than $28,000 going to Europe to plan a trip for lawmakers, but received a jolt just before their return flight _ the bosses decided to stay home. The decision to scrap the travel _ after the staffers had gone to London, Paris, Rome and elsewhere _ has triggered a dispute between the two lawmakers who planned it. Rep. Frank Annunzio, D-Ill., the chief organizer, canceled the trip. He said he didn't want to use a military plane during the U.S. invasion of Panama, which began while the advance team was in Europe. But Rep. Doug Barnard Jr., D-Ga., said he suspected his colleagues got ``cold feet'' because of harsh winter weather in Europe and bad publicity at home. According to House records, the six-member advance team spent more than $28,000 for lodging, meals, commercial air transportation and other expenses between Dec. 13-20. The staffers and members contended they learned useful information regardless of the cancellation. The lawmakers were to have traveled in January to gather information on Europe's move toward a unified financial system. Aides to Annunzio and Barnard also now disagree over whether the January itinerary was even set. The lawmakers' respective advance teams scouted different cities. Curtis Prins, staff director of the Annunzio-led House Banking subcommittee on financial institutions, said the military jet would have taken members to Strasbourg in France, London, Brussels and Rome. Those were the cities visited by Annunzio's staffer on the advance mission, subcommittee economist Gregory Hallisey. Five House Government Operations subcommittee staffers traveled for Barnard to Paris, Brussels and Madrid. One of those staffers, Peter Barash, said the stops had ``not been fixed'' by the members. Barash was staff director of the Government Operations subcommittee on commerce, consumer and monetary affairs, a job he left on March 1. Barnard is chairman of that panel and also serves on Annunzio's subcommittee. A sixth congressional staffer on the trip was assigned to Barnard's committee by Congress' investigative arm, the General Accounting Office. Barnard bristled over Annunzio's decision to cancel the trip, maintaining it is vital lawmakers planning to restructure the U.S. banking system learn firsthand about Europe's move toward unified financial services by 1992. Barash said he held useful meetings with foreign tax authorities, U.S. officials involved in tax enforcement, representatives of the European Community and U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials. ``We've been doing serious and hard work,'' he said. Annunzio said in an interview that he canceled the trip because ``I could not in good conscience justify using military personnel'' and equipment when the U.S. forces ``were fighting and dying'' in Panama. He said the military jet transport, a version of the commercial Boeing 707, ``might have been needed in Panama and I wanted to make sure it would be available for that purpose.'' Barnard, in a separate interview, said, ``I doubt if we're that limited'' in military equipment. He said several members who originally signed up had dropped out before the invasion, leaving so few lawmakers that use of a military plane couldn't be justified anyway. Barnard added he knew of previous trips where ``at least a minority of people got cold feet'' because of potential adverse publicity. ``It sounds alluring to go to London, Paris and Madrid, but when it gets down to going in wintertime, it's not as appealing and they change their minds,'' he said. Barnard said he would like to reschedule the trip for Congress' Easter break. Annunzio noted members will be busy with primary and general elections this year, but he said he would revive the trip ``if I see interest.'' Prins, staff director of Annunzio's subcommittee, said 19 House members were signed up at one point for the January trip, and the party would have reached 41 including military escorts, spouses and staff members. The number of House members had dwindled to 12 just before the cancellation, Prins said, but he and Annunzio insisted the trip would have gone ahead with that number if the invasion had not intervened. Prins acknowledged ``if we had many more defections,'' the trip would have been canceled even without the invasion.
