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Each year, Members of Congress are given an opportunity to direct federal dollars to their home districts to support local projects. This process, known as “earmarks”, is a privilege I have used from time to time to help meet responsible funding needs for academic and career assistance programs, road and water infrastructure improvements, and methamphetamine eradication in Central Kentucky.
Unfortunately, over time this process has been abused, requiring Congress to pass tougher disclosure regulations in an effort to increase transparency and individual accountability. Prior to these changes, decisions regarding earmark funding were often made in the final hours of legislative conferences, resulting in a confusing, fiscally irresponsible final product.
I was glad to contribute to efforts to end this abuse and affirm our responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars in a more responsible and transparent manner. In fact, I introduced legislation in the 109th Congress to amend the rules of the House of Representatives to require parity and transparency in the earmark process. Many of my objectives concerning transparency were incorporated into reforms measures now in effect.
The new Democratic majority made earmark reform a central priority of their first 100 hour legislative agenda. Many of my Republican colleagues took the opportunity to work in good faith across party lines to support greater accountability and disclosure. It was a great disappointment last week to see Democratic leaders, at the first opportunity to earmark legislation, attempt to subvert their own reforms.
According to a list included in a House Intelligence Committee report, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 included 26 unclassified earmarks inserted at the last minute totaling almost $100 million. My colleagues and I were not able to see the list of earmarks until after the House Rules Committee closed its process for accepting amendments to the bill late Wednesday preventing us from offering amendments to remove the earmarks.
Evidently, there remains a learning curve for some of Congress’ most habitually irresponsible stewards of federal dollars. This surreptitious effort by House Democrats to add funding for pork-barrel projects without appropriate scrutiny or debate was a clear violation of House rules drafted and passed by their own party.
When House Republicans discovered the added earmarks, a motion was introduced to close proceedings to discuss the apparent violation. House Democrats, including Speaker Pelosi, voted nearly unanimous to defeat the inquiry, effectively allowing their peers to circumvent House rules without consequence.
In addition to this early misuse of power, serious inequities still persist in the distribution of earmark funds. All of our constituents, no matter what region of the country, pay federal income taxes and thus every congressional district should see a fair return of the money they send to Washington.
I believe taxpayer dollars should be spent wisely and transparently. All earmark requests should be fully disclosed and subject to an up-or-down vote of the full House. While I support many of the reforms that the new leadership has made to the earmark process, I believe they should be held accountable for continued abuses.
As Congress further considers federal appropriations for Fiscal Year 2008, I will continue to be a strong advocate for our local budgetary requests. Expectations must be tempered by the tough reality that these recent changes along with a tight federal budget will result in fewer designations to our region in the next fiscal year.
I have done all that I can do throughout my career to support responsible projects in Central Kentucky. I am proud of the difference these federal dollars have made to the quality of life of my constituents. Despite new challenges, I will always remain responsive to the needs of my congressional district.
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