The New York Times-20080126-House G-O-P- Urges Immediate Earmark Moratorium
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House G.O.P. Urges Immediate Earmark Moratorium
House Republicans called on Friday for an immediate moratorium on earmarking money for pet projects. They urged Democrats to join them in establishing a bipartisan panel to set strict new standards for such spending.
As an interim step, House Republican leaders said, they will insist that all House Republicans follow standards to eliminate wasteful pork-barrel spending.
Republicans set forth their intentions in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The letter reflects a fragile consensus reached Friday after more than two hours of impassioned debate among House Republicans, who met behind closed doors at their annual conference at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Democrats won control of the House in 2006 with promises to end the Republican culture of corruption. House Republican leaders hope to seize the initiative on the issue, which they believe resonates with millions of voters.
Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi, declined to comment on the Republican proposals. But he said, Democrats adopted the toughest earmark reform in the history of Congress and reduced the number of earmarks last year.
Forging a consensus was no easy task. Some House Republicans oppose all earmarks, saying they tend to corrupt the legislative process.
Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said he told his colleagues on Friday: We should have an immediate moratorium on earmarks. We should not wait for the Democrats.
Other House Republicans said it would be foolish to surrender any of the power vested in Congress under the Constitution to decide how money is spent.
Lawmakers quoted Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, as saying House Republicans should not engage in unilateral disarmament. Senators of both parties are likely to continue earmarking money for pet projects.
Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, said, I still believe House Republicans should embrace an immediate one-year moratorium on earmark spending, even if the Democrats don't join us.
But Mr. Pence added: By challenging Speaker Pelosi to join us in ending earmarks as usual in Washington, House Republicans have thrown down the gauntlet of reform.
The letter to Ms. Pelosi was signed by the House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio; the Republican whip, Roy Blunt of Missouri; and seven others.
Pork-barrel spending has outraged American families and eroded public confidence in our institution, the letter said. Both of our parties bear responsibility for this failure.
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said, We believe that it will be very difficult for Democratic leaders to reject our overture.
In his State of the Union address next week, President Bush is expected to insist that Congress take further action to curtail earmarks.
A Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, is campaigning on his record as a longtime foe of earmarks. In wartime, he said, it is especially egregious to squander money on special-interest pet projects.
The White House says Congress earmarked nearly $17 billion for more than 11,700 projects in the current fiscal year. About 40 percent of the money was for items requested by Republicans.
House Republican leaders said they had adopted these standards for members of their caucus:
Members of Congress must not earmark money for projects named after themselves.
All earmarks must be fully disclosed, and none can be inserted into bills at the last minute by conference committees.
No money should be earmarked for front groups that mask the true recipients of federal money.
Members of Congress who request earmarks should give a plan describing exactly how the money will be spent and why using federal money is justified. These plans should be published in The Congressional Record before lawmakers vote on the floor.
Moreover, the Republican rules would require that many recipients of earmarks spend some of their own money on projects, so that taxpayers do not bear all the risk for such expenditures.
House Republicans acknowledged that many earmarks were requested by the president each year. In the letter to Ms. Pelosi, they said Congress should hold present and future administrations accountable for such earmarks.
Mr. Flake and a handful of other Republicans offered many proposals to kill individual earmarks last year, but they failed in almost every case.
In one debate, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, said: Congress has earmarked funds since the beginning of the Republic. In fact, that is the primary power of Congress, to direct the executive branch in the spending of taxpayers' money.
But Mr. Obey said he could do without earmarks because they were beginning to be so numerous that they were unmanageable.
[Illustration]PHOTO: President Bush speaking to Republican lawmakers on Friday at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where House Republicans spent hours debating behind closed doors.(PHOTOGRAPH BY PABLO MARTINEZ MONIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS)