Cool destination for junketeers

Lovers of spicy food can take comfort in knowing that the seeds of several outstanding American chili peppers have been placed in Arctic cold storage to protect them against war, natural disasters and other catastrophes.

The protected seeds include Pico de Gallo, Wenk's Yellow Hots, and the San Juan Tsile, described as an unpredictably mild to hot spice grown by Native American farmers in New Mexico. The deposit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Norwegian seed vault also included 537 varieties of 13 crops, including melons, beans, peanuts and sorghum.

And it required the services of seven members of Congress to escort those seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Considering the recent East Coast heat wave, Spitsbergen Island inside the Arctic Circle was a particularly cool destination. The trip included other stops in Norway and Estonia.

The delegation, led by Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., included Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Tom Udall, D-Ariz.; Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter, D-N.Y., Rep Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala.

Far-flung travel on the taxpayers' dime is a staple of the summer congressional recess.

It's one area where federal lawmakers can achieve bipartisan accord.