"The people of Montana have a right to demand value for their hard-earned tax dollars," said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Though earmarks are an important part of the federal system, when this privilege is abused, American taxpayers are the ones who pay. This bill would create a bipartisan committee, consisting of both House and Senate members, which would be charged with developing a common sense proposal on reforming the earmark process. This is a great first step towards responsible spending."

          The Committee on Earmark Reform would be composed of 16 members, evenly split between the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Republicans and Democrats. The study will cover earmarking practices in the House, the Senate and the Executive Branch including those in authorizing, appropriation, and tax measures. Findings would be reported back to the House and Senate within six months and while the report is being conducted, no earmarks would be considered by either body.

          "We need to put a stop to the poor practices taking place in the earmarking process until we can get the problem fixed," said Rehberg. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to bring this proposal to the floor."