Travel Files, 1997-2008

Travel Files is 8.75 feet covering trips that Senator Hagel and/or his staff took during Hagel's two terms in the Senate. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hagel visited the continents of North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. On most of these visits, if not all of them, Hagel visited with the countries' leaders, key business people, American citizens operating in official government capacities, and other American citizens. The countries he visited most often are in the Middle East. Hagel also attended several conferences dealing with terrorism and strategies for fighting it.

The paperwork does not always specify who hosted the trips. It is probable that Hagel hosted or co-hosted 21 of the Congressional Delegations (CODEL) in this subseries. It is a lot of work to put together a CODEL. The hosting representative’s office must invite colleagues to join them and choose the countries and the best time to visit. They must get clearance, arrange meetings in the host countries, and organize transportation and lodging. For this reason the CODELs that Hagel hosted have more administrative information than the files for trips he did not host.

Background information is a significant component of the travel files. Background notes often include country histories, 8.5 by 11 inch print out maps of the destination countries, histories and biographies of people Senator Hagel was to meet with, and information about topics that would likely be discussed. Past speeches given by Hagel or others were sometimes included as background material. When Hagel or staff attended conferences the folders contain information about the conference and background information on the topics that would be discussed at the conference. These background notes came from many different sources: Lexis-Nexis, magazines and newspapers, Congressional Research Services, PowerPoint printouts and even data culled from websites.

Administrative information includes memos back and forth in preparation for the trip, information about who will be going and who they might meet. Also included are itineraries, schedules, phone numbers for contacts abroad and people at home. Sometimes seating arrangements, recommended attire, weather forecasts and notes on cultural differences are present. In some cases the per-diem rates are stated. At the end of the files there are often copies of the thank-you notes Hagel sent to people he worked and met with.

The two staff members who most often accompanied Hagel were Dr. Andrew Parasiliti and Rexon Ryu who both served as foreign policy adviser to Senator Hagel—Parasiliti from 2002-2005 and Ryu from 2006 to 2009.

Sixteen folder cover trips made by staff members without Hagel. Some of these trips were for conferences or meetings with government and business leaders. On folder documents the trip of staff member Jill Kosch when she was an observer for the 2004 Ukrainian elections.