When Congress is in session, lawmakers do most of their fundraising partying at a handful of Washington hot spots clustered close to the Capitol building. With members of the House already on recess and the Senate soon to follow, however, lawmakers are taking their parties to far-flung locales, from Aleyeska Resort in Alaska to California’s Napa valley to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

• On August 14, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) hosts an event benefiting his leadership PAC, Great Land PAC, at Alaska’s Aleyeska Resort. Activities include hiking, bike riding, fishing–and, but of course, gold mining. If your PAC pays $5,000 for a space, that amount will apply to all Great Land PAC events for the rest of the year.
• Sen. Pat Roberts is venturing far from the plains of Kansas to the valleys of Napa. On August 8, he welcomes donors to a wine tour; cost is $5,000 for a PAC to host, or $3,000 per PAC or individual to attend. The next night he hosts a dinner benefitting the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) at the farm at Carneros Inn.
• On August 10, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) is hosting his second annual “Teton Tee-Off” at the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club. Cost is $2,000 for a PAC or $1,000 for an individual–but does not include green fees. And Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) is joining Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) on August 13 for “a day in the Tetons (fishing & dinner)” for Making Business Excel PAC, Enzi’s leadership PAC.

Click here to see a full listing of Party Time August events. This list is growing daily as we add in new invitations.

Last night the Huffington Post’s Arthur Delaney attempted to get into the “health care roundtable” fundraiser thrown by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that we blogged about yesterday.The fundraiser was slated to feature three key senators–Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Richard Burr (R-NC).

Grassley and Enzi represent one-third of the half dozen senators who are now trying to hammer out a compromise on health care reform in a Senate Finance Committee conference room. All three are members of key health care committees, and have big health care donors.

Delaney wasn’t allowed in to the festivities:

An NRSC staffer said the event was closed to reporters. Asked if we could gain entrance for $2,000, the staffer reiterated that the event was closed.

However, he did get to talk to some of the attendees:

Some guests who walked by were kind enough to speak on the record, including Ed Lenz of the American Staffing Association. Lenz said he was hoping to get a sense from the senators of what was happening with the bill.

“It’s part of our system. It’s part of free speech,” he said. “There are people from all walks of life and all strata of society who have opportunities to have their voices heard.”

Of course in this case, being heard cost each attendee at least $2,000.

About three dozen lucky donors have the chance to gather at Charlie Palmer steakhouse tonight for a “roundtable on health care issues” featuring Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Richard Burr (R-NC)–all of whom raise big bucks from the health care industry and sit on key health care committees.

A seat at the roundtable–only 35 available–costs a PAC $2,000, payable to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. A seat at the more exclusive dinner costs a PAC $5,000, and only 20 seats are available.

The national health care debate is at a key point, with Senate leaders hoping to complete a bill before the August recess. At the time of this posting, none of the senators’ offices had returned calls requesting information about tonight’s event.

Sen. Grassley’s top lifetime donors include health professionals, the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and nursing homes, and lobbyists. He is the ranking minority member of on the Senate Finance Committee. (We blogged here about a Grassley fundraiser hosted by an alternative health care lobbyist.) Grassley has gained fame recently for his idiosyncratic tweets, many on health care.

Sen. Enzi, who sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, counts the pharmaceutical industry and health professionals as his top most generous lifetime donors. The HELP committee approved a health care reform bill on July 15 along party lines.

Sen. Burr’s top all-time donor is the pharmaceutical industry.  He also sits on the Senate HELP committee, and voted against the health care reform bill.

Edited  at 4:14 p.m. Eastern to add: This just in from Sen. Enzi’s press secretary, about the senator’s attendance at the health care roundtable tonight:

Senator Enzi attends numerous NRSC events throughout the year. Since he is knowledgeable about health care, being the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member, organizers asked him to speak on that topic. He agreed. Health care is #1 on the country’s agenda right now. It’s important and Senator Enzi is happy to explain this issue from his point of view whether it be at the NRSC or the Lions Club in Lander, Wyoming. Either place, he would say the same thing. As for the use of any money, that’s up to the NRSC.

Today’s Washington Post analysis on the massive lobbying forces deployed by industry groups on the health care debate features numerous prominent lobbyists who have close ties to key lawmakers (Sunlight’s Paul Blumenthal blogs about it here). At Party Time we can treat you to a glimpse at the social calendars of some mentioned in the story who are also active on the congressional fundraising circuit:

• David Castagnetti, a former chief of staff for Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), whose clients include PhRMA and America’s Health Insurance Plans;

• Colette Desmarais, a former health care policy advisor for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), who now lobbies for numerous health care interests at her job with Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti;

• Kelly Bingell, who also works for Mehlman Vogel Catagnetti, and formerly was chief of staff for Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR);

• Stephen Northrup, who worked for Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), and now lobbies for Wellpoint, one of the world’s largest insurance conglomerates;

• former Rep. Dick Armey, now a lobbyist for DLA Piper.

This was just a quick look based on the Post’s  story–we’ll be looking more at revolving door health care lobbyists who also party.