Bennett took an eight-day trip to Helsinki, Finland, in August 2001, at a cost of $6,326. It was paid for by the prestigious Aspen Institute, a wealthy think tank/leadership development group whose yearly seminars are attended by top U.S. corporate and political leaders. Former President Bill Clinton yearly attended Aspen Institute meetings.

The institute also paid for Bennett to go on a seven-day trip to Prague, Czech Republic, in August 2000, which cost $5,131. Ditto for an institute trip in January 2002; six days to Punta Mita, Mexico, a Pacific coast resort town, $6,164.16.

The institute has spent more than $2.5 million sending various congressmen to seminars around the world over the past 3 1/2 years, the study showed, the largest provider of free travel to Congress. While the institute does not lobby Congress, many other travel-givers do.

For example, Bennett took a two-day trip to Palm Beach, Fla., on the tab of the Direct Marketing Association to give a speech on "privacy, tax and banking issues." Cost: $3,369.20.

"Would I go on such trips?" asks former Democratic Utah attorney general Paul Van Dam who is challenging Bennett this year. "It's a good question. Undoubtedly some (trips) are valuable to get information.

"But the large number of trips he's taken, clearly it's a lot of time off work."

Several of the longer Bennett trips were taken during congressional recesses.

"And I believe a lot of fact collecting can be done from an office, your staff assembling information." Bennett's travel "seems excessive to me," said Van Dam.

Van Dam said he did travel some when he was attorney general and Salt Lake County attorney, but such travel "was exclusively paid for" by trade associations of prosecutors to which he belonged, he said.

"The inherent danger is many times people who pay for these trips have their own private agenda. And you become beholden to them. You have to be very cautious about that," Van Dam said.

Bennett spokeswoman Mary Jane Collipriest said several of his trips led to stronger relationships with European parliaments and leaders. "In fact, Sen. Bennett has been asked at the request of the European members of the group to serve as the next chairman" of the Transatlantic Policy Network, she said. TPN paid more than $4,500 for Bennett to go to Spain and Tucson, Ariz.

"Just as journalists and industry leaders are invited to speak at universities and conferences around the country, Sen. Bennett is requested to share his expertise on economic and health-care issues at relative industry events," she said.

Matheson has taken only two privately funded trips since winning his seat in 2000.