US House Representatives from Florida and Nevada have asked for an investigation to find out whether a travel blacklist bans government agencies from holding meetings in certain leisure-oriented and holiday resort cities.

Rayburn Building - U.S. House of Representatives

The letter asking for an investigation, signed by five lawmakers from Florida and three from Nevada, was sent to the U.S. Government Accountability office.

It says that “We write to you to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) undertake a review of the policies and practices that federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the General Services Administration, use to determine city locations for convening meetings, seminars and conferences within the United States.”

The letter goes on to ask for information about written or unwritten orders that direct agency personnel to avoid meetings and conferences in specific U.S. cities, along with an analysis of the request for proposals issued and proposals accepted by each agency – which would help determine if any U.S. city is being purposely excluded.  

To add to this, Senator Ben Nelson (D-FL) is planning to introduce legislation which would forbid federal agencies from blacklisting any U.S. destination from their travel plans.

All this activity comes after Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) exchange of letters on this subject with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The media exposure and pressure from Congress could push the Obama Administration into issuing some kind of specific directive to all federal agencies making it clear that cities like Las Vegas and Orlando are not off the table.

That should be a relief to federal employees who were probably resigned to never again enjoying the guilty pleasures and attractions in Las Vegas.

The 8 lawmakers who sent the letter asking for an investigation of the travel blacklist are Suzanne Kosmas,  Dina Titus, Corrine Brown, John Mica, Alan Grayson, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Shelley Berkley and Dean Heller.

Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) has been especially supportive of the travel and tourism sectors, and recently introduced the Paid Vacation Act in Congress, which aims to make employers offer mandatory paid vacations.

Photo by cliff1006 via flickr (creative commons).