 Abramoff later arranged an all-expenses paid trip to Saipan for Tom DeLay on New Year's Eve in 1997.Although House ethics rules at the time prohibited House members from accepting such gifts from lobbyists, the trip was funded directly by the CNMI and thus was technically allowable.An internal memo from Preston, Gates, and Ellis stated that these sort of trips are "one of the most effective ways to build permanent friends on the Hill."