Joe Pitts: “in 1991, White House Chief of Staff John Sununu was harshly criticized by the news media for using official aircraft for…”

“in 1991, White House Chief of Staff John Sununu was harshly criticized by the news media for using official aircraft for personal use. There seemed at the time to be a consensus on the part of the news media that despite his position, taking military aircraft on personal trips was inappropriate. But, Mr. Speaker, 9 years later, we have a First Lady whose use of official aircraft to run for political office has already cost the taxpayers more than $182,000, and the election is still 7 months away. Chief of Staff Sununu was criticized for using government airplanes for personal use. Is not using government aircraft to run for a political office in a political campaign even more questionable? Every one of us in this body lives and works under strict ethics rules designed to prevent the misuse of official tax paid resources. Is it not wrong to charge 80 percent of your campaign travel costs to the taxpayer? The First Lady's campaign costs the taxpayer over $3,700 for every hour she is in the air. Mr. Speaker, I am amazed that this has gone on so long unquestioned by many in the media.”