Dole’s Flights Raise Conflict Questions

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole has flown 187 times since 1993 aboard private jets, most of them owned by corporations which had interest in congressional business, according to Newsweek.

The most frequent sponsor of Dole’s private flights was Archer Daniels Midland Co., an agribusiness owned by Dole ally Dwayne Andreas, Newsweek said in its April 24 edition, on newsstands Monday. The magazine said Dole has sponsored tax breaks to back the company’s development of ethanol.

U.S. Tobacco Inc., which has contributed $40,000 to Dole campaigns since 1987, flew Dole aboard its planes 26 times, according to the magazine. Dole has worked to hold down taxes on smokeless tobacco, Newsweek reported.

Dole, a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, also flew three times aboard jets owned by American Financial Corp., which is linked to Chiquita Banana, a company that benefited from Dole’s urging the administration to oppose banana quotas.