Willowbrook, IL – U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL-13) today announced that she will not participate in Washington’s broken earmark system.  The announcement was made during an economic roundtable event in Downers Grove where Biggert met with local business leaders from the Downers Grove Chamber of Commerce and Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation to discuss local and national economic concerns, including federal spending, taxes, and mortgage reform.
 
           “Last year, Congress passed 11,737 earmarks at a cost of $16.9 billion in taxpayer money,” said Biggert.  “And just this month, the House Democrat majority passed a budget that sets the stage for more spending and the largest tax increase in history -- $683 billion over five years.  They want to raise taxes, but they don’t want a transparent process that allows wasteful spending to be challenged on the House floor.  My constituents don’t want to pay for bridges to nowhere and indoor rainforests in Iowa anymore.”
 
           Biggert announced that she will back up her demands for earmark reform with a moratorium on earmarks from her office.  The moratorium will include all district-specific appropriations requests not included in an agency’s budget.
 
           “I’ve always said I’d be willing to give up earmarks if the Senate would do the same and spending is actually reduced,” said Biggert.  “With more support than ever before for a moratorium, I think we have the best opportunity yet to do just that.  But individual members must be willing to take the lead on this if we are ever going to see real earmark reforms enacted.”
 
           Biggert noted that Congress has a Constitutional responsibility to make spending decisions, including decisions to spend federal money on specific projects, but the process should be open to greater public scrutiny and debate.  Although the House has enacted recent reforms to increase transparency, the potential for abuse remains high because rules do not apply equally to bills and conference reports, or to authorization, appropriations, or tax bills.  In some cases, whoever is chairing the floor of the House can rule on an objection to an earmark -- without a vote ever occurring.  Other earmarks can avoid review altogether by being ‘airdropped’ into a conference report after a spending bill has passed both the House and Senate.
 
           “I’m proud that I’ve secured federal support for things like widening I-55, restoring the Orland Grasslands, and equipping the Will County Sheriff’s Office,” said Biggert.  “But when elected officials aren’t willing to defend their spending requests in front of the American people, the costs of abuse begin to outweigh the benefits of the system.  Earmarks must be subject to significant scrutiny, without gimmicks or parliamentary sleights of hand.”
 
           In order to tighten House rules, Biggert has cosponsored H.Con.Res 263 which would place a moratorium on all congressional earmarks and establish a joint select committee to make recommendations for reforming the earmark process.  She also has signed a discharge petition (No. 110-2) to bring H.Res.479 to the House floor for consideration.  H.Res.479 would allow any member to raise a point of order against House consideration of all authorization, appropriations, or tax bills or conference reports for any earmark-related issue.  The objection would then be subject to a vote on the House floor – under the watchful eyes of tax-weary Americans.

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