From The Kansas City (Mo.) Star — Originally published Monday, Feb. 23

… More so than in most years, the overseas journeys popular among members of Congress are raising eyebrows at home.

… This would have been a good year for elected representatives to stay home and show solidarity with constituents.

Some did. But plenty set off on trips paid for either by U.S. taxpayers or by sponsors.

The most high-profile traveler is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is connecting with her Italian roots on a trip to Rome. Pelosi led a delegation of Congress members, staff and spouses that traveled on an Air Force jet.

She met with the pope and was scheduled to meet with U.S. troops and NATO officials. But news footage also showed the speaker visiting museums and being presented with a copy of her Italian grandparents’ birth records.

Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat from Johnson County [Kansas], is part of a delegation visiting NATO headquarters in Brussels, then moving on to Paris, Vienna and a ski center in the Bavarian Alps.

Rep. Sam Graves [Mo.], a Republican who represents areas north of the Missouri River, traveled to Germany for the sixth annual Congress-Bundestag Forum, an exchange of legislative leaders from Germany and the United States. …