Washington D.C.- Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, today sharply criticized Speaker Pelosi and Democrat Leadership for continuing to hold critical funding for our nation’s veterans hostage in order to further their own tax and spend agenda. Earlier today, Democrat leadership used the DOD Appropriations bill as a vehicle to drive an unclean ‘Continuing Resolution,’ 24 air-dropped earmarks that were not previously considered by the House, and over 2,000 other earmarks that were previously included in the bill. In total, Democrats added $6.4 billion in additional, unrelated funding to the Defense Appropriations Bill.
RSC Chairman Hensarling issued the following statement:
“Left to their own devices, Democrats will continue to corrupt the appropriations process by attaching billions of taxpayer funded pork projects to critical projects. By wrapping over $400 billion in needed defense spending around $6 billion worth of pork, Democrats left little doubt that they will stop at nothing to advance their tax and spend agenda.
“There is something horribly wrong with Congressional leadership when a powerful Democrat is permitted to air-drop a $3 million earmark for a golf course into a bill while veterans across the country wait for the full funds that they have earned. If Speaker Pelosi is wondering why her Congress’s approval rating is 11 percent, she needs to take a hard look in the mirror.
“Despite trying to spend billions of dollars on things that have nothing to do with the defense of our nation, Democrats refused to provide funds needed to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, by falsely classifying funds as being necessitated by ‘emergency,’ Democrats subverted the spirit of their own PAYGO rules and violated the caps set by their budget.
“It just isn’t right that members trying to support our military had to do so by voting for such a bad bill.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: H.R. 3222 extends the current CR from November 16th to December 14th. However, this extension is not “clean” with the addition of several spending provisions unrelated to a straight extension of the current CR.
Ø Provides the Census Bureau, Periodic Censuses and Programs, an operating rate of $1 billion, which is $300 million above the FY 2007 enacted level.
Ø Increases the operating rate for the Department of Veterans Affairs by $2.9 billion compared to the FY 2007 enacted level. CQ Today (on November 7th) explained part of the reason for the inclusion of this provision as follows: “By including the extra funds, Democrats hope they can blunt criticism if the annual veterans’ bill is delayed.”
Ø The CR includes $6.4 billion in domestic emergency spending—$500 million for fire suppression, $2.9 billion to replenish FEMA’s disaster relief fund, and $3 billion for the “Road Home” program, which is intended to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricanes Katrina.
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