For Immediate Release:
Thursday, September 14, 2006

This week the U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation to reform the congressional earmark process.  This is a necessary step toward addressing our federal budget problems and in restoring openness to the legislative process. 

 

Most federal funding goes directly to federal agencies to spend as the administration deems appropriate.  However, Congress – as the branch of government the Constitution entrusts with deciding how tax dollars are spent – often uses earmarks to direct a small percentage of funding to specific uses.

 

When a local community needs help building a road or a rural health center needs federal assistance to continue providing services, I consider it my responsibility to request funding on their behalf.  As Eastern Oklahoma’s voice in Washington, if I don’t stand up for our rural communities who will?

 

There is no doubt that some members of Congress abuse earmarks, inserting massive special-interest projects into lengthy bills at the last minute.  That’s why there has to be more transparency and accountability.  But I would rather have elected representatives decide where tax dollars go than leave the decisions to bureaucrats in Washington.

 

This week the House will vote on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.  Introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and passed by the Senate last week, the bill would create a free, online database of all federal earmarks, grants, contracts and loans.  I support this legislation because it will bring transparency to the federal spending process and allow the American people to hold government accountable for how tax dollars are spent.

 

Until this database is implemented I will be posting on my web site (http://boren.house.gov) a list of all earmarks for Eastern Oklahoma.  You deserve to know what I am doing on your behalf and how your tax dollars are being spent.  Whether it is funding to improve our roads or grow our military installations, every dollar I request for the Second District is needed to improve our quality of life and ensure our region’s economic security.

 

We are also expected to consider a bill before the end of the month that would change the rules of the House of Representatives on earmarks.  Current procedure makes earmarks anonymous, leaving individual members unaccountable for the funding they request.  The proposal the House will soon consider would require earmark disclosure.  Next to each earmark in a bill would be the name of the member who requested it.

 

I support this idea and believe – if implemented effectively – it would dramatically reduce the number of frivolous programs funded by Congress.  Early last year I joined with the other members of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to announce a 12-point plan to reform the federal budget process.  The eighth point of the plan called for justification of each and every federal earmark.  Effective earmark disclosure legislation would be a significant step toward bringing transparency to the process and ridding it of the corruption it breeds.

 

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Rep. Dan Boren (D-Muskogee) represents Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District.