Gore Defends Money Spent By O’Leary

Vice President Al Gore defended Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary’s extensive spending on overseas trips Sunday, praising her for using the journeys to create jobs.

“All that stuff doesn’t sound good and she’s the first to want to correct any excesses that might be found,” Gore said, after the Los Angeles Times reported O’Leary stayed in luxury hotels and flew on a charter jet often rented by rock stars.

On a trip to South Africa using the chartered jet, O’Leary “created thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in contracts for companies in this country,” Gore said.

O’Leary responded to the Times story by announcing - before it was published - that she had asked the department’s inspector general to review the “facts on which the article is based” and assess her office’s practices.

“The article overlooks the vital national interests that have been advanced on our overseas missions,” she said in a statement Saturday, estimating the benefit of business deals concluded during the trips at $2.4 billion.