Unlike Moulton and Meijer, the former military personnel who served in Iraq, Mullin is not a veteran. But for Gainer it doesn’t matter what military background someone has. If a congressman shows up in an area of conflict or a dangerous home situation, it puts everyone else’s safety at risk.
On a typical official trip by members of the House or Senate, the sergeant-at-arms would work with staff in the speaker’s office or the Senate secretary to contact the military to get a plane or find transportation. Once this is ensured, officials work with authorities to determine how many people would like to attend and coordinate local governments and law enforcement to make sure they know when the plane is going to land and that members are safe during their trip.
Freelance travel to dangerous areas brings back memories of other lawmakers who took their international travel plans into their own hands. Not all were without incident.
In 1954, Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith go on a world tour assess the communist threat on her own and at her own expense, saying that she believed official codels or congressional delegations were being administered too tightly. The trip caught the attention of famous CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow, whose cameras were locked on her during the 23 country tour and she served as special correspondent. The press in an election year was an added bonus for them.
On November 18, 1978, Rep. Leo J. Ryan shot together with four others when a group tried to escape the Jonestown Commune established by cult leader Jim Jones. representative Jackie Speier, then Ryan’s attorney, was shot five times and believed to be dead along with others in her group on a remote airstrip in Guyana, South America.
