Voinovich heads to Hawaii

Because Congress is on a two-week recess, Sen. George Voinovich is headed to the beach.

Actually, it's unclear whether the Cleveland Republican will get much beach time, but he and his wife, Janet, will spend this week in Honolulu for an intensive weeklong program aimed at providing lawmakers with a stronger grasp of U.S.-Chinese relations.

"I'm looking forward to it ... It's a beautiful state," said Voinovich, who noted that this will be his seventh trip to Hawaii.

Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, and 10 House members also are attending the conference. It is being paid for by the Aspen Institute, an independent nonprofit group that funds educational forums. Voinovich, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, attended a similar conference in China last year. He has been a critic of the United States' growing trade deficit with China.

Bills pending in Congress aim to eliminate trips paid for by lobbyists and private corporations but not those paid for by nonprofit groups such as Aspen. Voinovich, chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, said lawmakers should be allowed to accept certain trips to help them understand complex issues.

"Let's get serious about this stuff (lobbying reform), but for goodness sakes, let's not go overboard and deny senators the opportunity to get information that they desperately need to get their jobs done," he said.

(From today's "Inside Washington" notebook. Read the entire column here.)