Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) joined his congressional colleagues today in introducing the Semper Fi Act, which rescinds earmark funding for Berkeley, California after city leaders pressured the local Marine recruiting station to close and encouraged left-wing liberal groups to harass Marine recruits and recruiters.

“Berkeley city leaders aren’t just extreme, they are dangerous in their hatred toward America’s fighting men and women,” said Brady, whose brother is an Iraq war veteran. "You cannot enjoy the freedoms of this great country while deliberately damaging the Marines and soldiers who risk their lives to ensure that freedom. So, the price these strange city leaders can pay is the loss of some of their precious pork-barrel earmarks.”

Last month, the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust the Marine Corps Recruiting Station from their downtown office. The City Council applauded the radical protest group Code Pink and urged others to “impede, passively or actively” the work of Marine Corps recruiters. 

Two of the earmarks to be stripped totaled more than $1 million to promote organic gourmet school lunches and pad the University of California – Berkeley endowment.  Chez Panisse, an organization dedicated to “environmental harmony,” was provided $243,000 in taxpayer dollars to create menu items for the local school district such as, "Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad" and "Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis."

UC Berkeley has an endowment of over $3.5 billion.  However, the university had $975,000 earmarked for the Berkeley Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, to create a new endowment and to catalogue the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.