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STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FISCAL DISCIPLINE, EARMARK REFORM, AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
January 6, 2009
MR.McCAIN. Mr. President, I am proud to again be joining forces with my good friend and colleague from Wisconsin, Senator Feingold, to introduce a comprehensive earmark reform measure. We are also pleased to be joined by Senators McCaskill, Graham, and Coburn as cosponsors in this effort. The measure we are introducing today is designed to eliminate unauthorized earmarks and wasteful spending in Appropriations Bills and Conference Reports and help restore fiscal discipline to Washington. Specifically, this bill would allow any member to raise a point of order in an effort to extract objectionable unauthorized provisions. Additionally, it contains a requirement that all appropriations and authorization conference reports to be electronically searchable at least 48 hours before full Senate consideration, and a requirement that the recipients of federal dollars disclose any amounts that they spend on registered lobbyists. These are reasonable, responsible reform measures that deserve consideration by the full Senate.
Mr. President, our current economic situation and our vital national security concerns require that now, more than ever, we prioritize our federal spending. But our appropriations bills do not always put our national priorities first. The process is broken and it needs to be fixed. As we enter the second year of a recession, the economy is in shambles. Record numbers of homeowners face foreclosure, our financial markets have nearly collapsed, and the U.S. automobile manufacturers are near ruin. The national unemployment rate stands at 6.7% - the highest in 15 years – with over 1.9 million people having lost their jobs last year.
In the last year alone, due to the mortgage crisis, the government has seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congress passed a massive $700 billion rescue of the financial markets, and we’ve debated giving the big-three auto manufacturers tens of billions in taxpayer dollars – just as a “short-term” infusion of cash – knowing that they’d be back for more. Additionally, we’re getting ready to consider an economic stimulus package which is estimated to cost as much as $850 billion to a trillion dollars. With all of this spending, we can no longer afford to waste even a single dime of taxpayer money.
It is abundantly clear that the time has come for us to eliminate the corrupt, wasteful practice of earmarking. We have made some progress on the issue in the past couple of years, but we have not gone far enough. Legislation we passed in 2007 provided for greater disclosure of earmarks. While that was a good step forward, the bottom line is that we don’t simply need more disclosure of earmarks – we need to eliminate them.
As my colleagues are well aware, for years I have been coming to the Senate floor to read list after list of the ridiculous items we’ve spent money on - hoping enough embarrassment might spur some change. And year after year I would offer amendment after amendment to strip pork barrel projects from spending bills - usually only getting a handful of votes each time.
Finally, I was encouraged in January 2007 when this body passed, by a vote of 96-2, an ethics and lobbying reform package which contained real, meaningful earmark reform. I thought that, at last, we would finally enact some effective reforms. Unfortunately, that victory was short lived. In August 2007, we were presented with a bill containing very watered down earmark provisions. Not only did that bill, S. 1, do far too little to reign in wasteful spending - it completely gutted the earmark reform provisions we passed overwhelmingly the previous January.
Earmarks, Mr. President, are like a cancer. Left unchecked, they have grown out of control - increasing by nearly 400% since 1994. And just as cancer destroys tissue and vital organs, the corruption associated with the process of earmarking is destroying what is vital to our strength as a nation - that is the faith and trust of the American people in their elected representatives and in the institutions of their government.
Not long ago, in the House of Representatives, when another member questioned the necessity of one of his earmarked projects, a Congressman raged at the idea of someone challenging what he described as “my money, my money.” Therein lies the problem, Mr. President. Too many Members of Congress view taxpayers funds as their own. And they feel free to spend it as they see fit, with no oversight and, often, no shame. Look at some of the things we’ve funded over the years:
$225,000 for an Historic Wagon Museum in Utah
$1 million for a DNA study of bears in Montana
$200,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio
$220,000 for blueberry research at the University of Maine
$3 million for an animal waste management research facility in Kentucky
$170,000 for blackbird management in Kansas
$196,000 for geese control in New York
$50,000 for feral hog control in Missouri
$90,000 for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas
$200,000 for an American White Pelican survey
$6 million for sugarcane growers in Hawaii
$13 million for a ewe lamb retention program
$500,000 to study flight attendant fatigue
$200,000 for a deer avoidance system in Pennsylvania and New York
$3 million for the production of a documentary about Alaska.
$1 million for a waterless urinal initiative
$500,000 for a Teapot museum in North Carolina
$1.1 million to research the use of Alaskan salmon in baby food
$25 million for a fish hatchery in Montana
$37 million over four years to the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board to “promote and develop fishery products and research pertaining to American fisheries.” So how exactly does this Board spend the money Congress so generously earmarks every year? Well, they spent $500,000 of it to paint a giant salmon on the side of an Alaska Airlines 747 - and nicknamed it the “Salmon Forty Salmon.”
Unfortunately, I could go on and on with examples of wasteful earmarks that have been approved by Congress. And we wonder why our approval rating stands at 20%.
The corruption which stems from the practice of earmarking has resulted in current and former Members of both the House and Senate either under investigation, under indictment, or in prison. Let’s be clear - it wasn’t inadequate lobbyist disclosure requirements which led Duke Cunningham to violate his oath of office and take $2.5 million in bribes in exchange for doling out $70 - $80 million of the taxpayer’s funds to a defense contractor. It was his ability to freely earmark taxpayer funds without question.
We cannot allow this to continue. Now is the time to put a stop to this corrupt practice. The bill we are introducing today seeks to reform the current system by empowering all members with a tool to rid appropriations bills of unauthorized funds, pork barrel projects, and legislative policy riders and to provide greater public disclosure of the legislative process.
Mr. President, we, as Members, owe it to the American people to conduct ourselves in a way that reinforces, rather than diminishes, the public’s faith and confidence in Congress. An informed citizenry is essential to a thriving democracy. And, a democratic government operates best in the disinfecting light of the public eye. By seriously addressing the corrupting influence of earmarks, we will allow Members to legislate with the imperative that our government must be free from corrupting influences, both real and perceived. We must act now to ensure that the erosion we see today in the public’s confidence in Congress does not become a collapse of confidence. We can, and we must, end the practice of earmarking.
Again, I thank my friend and colleague from Wisconsin for his strong leadership on this issue, and I encourage the Senate act quickly to approve this measure.
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