Erik Paulsen (center). Photo: house.gov

“Unfortunately I was not surprised there was a Yemen connection, given what we were told,” U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen told the Star Tribune. Paulsen is the second member of a bipartisan congressional delegation that visited Yemen last year to comment on that country’s links to the man who tried to bomb a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas.

It appears that only trip leader Adam Smith, a Washington State Republican and chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee on terrorism, has also made a public statement about accused would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Smith questioned the bomber’s ties to Yemen in the week after Christmas, before a Yemen official acknowledged that besides studying Arabic there in 2004–2005, Abdulmutallab had also been in Yemen last fall, when he met cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a favorite of Al-Qaeda followers.

Three Democrats who were also part of the delegation to Yemen and other African countries don’t seem to have made remarks on Yemen since Christmas.

Paulsen says one thing did surprise him about the Abdulmutallab story:

I guess I am surprised that someone with the background that this individual had — or the watchlist he was put on — was even able to get on the plane in the first place.

On the trip last April, Paulsen delivered Doritos to a staffer at the U.S. embassy who also comes from his hometown of Eden Prairie. The members of Congress visited the embassy to learn about counter terrorism efforts.

The U.S. embassy is now closed.

“I met Minnesotans, even Eden Prairie residents, at every stop I made,” Paulsen said.

Also at each stop: Counter-terrorism discussions. “Anarchy in [the region] can give way to actions like piracy,” Paulsen told the Star Tribune.

Accompanying Paulsen on the late-April tour were four Democrats, including trip leader Rep. Adam Smith of Washington.

Besides Yemen, the group’s itinerary included Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco.

Upon his return from Africa, Paulsen spoke on the House floor (video) in favor of removing trade barriers so U.S. consumer products could reach the shores of a foreign land — Columbia. He didn’t mention Doritos.