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Coalition calls for Senate to act on Coburn bill

By Aaron Sadler

Stephens Media

September 7, 2006

WASHINGTON — A coalition of government watchdog groups and a man in a bright pink pig costume united Wednesday to urge an unnamed senator to release a hold on a bill to create a database for federal spending.

The bill by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., would require a public online listing of all groups receiving federal contracts and grant money.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act is being blocked by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and an unnamed Democrat, said Coburn spokesman Aaron Cooper.

Representatives of groups like the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union said Wednesday that Americans deserved to know how their money is being spent.

They were joined at a news conference by “Porky,” a costumed pig that protested the federal government’s pork barrel spending.

Tom Schatz, president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, said he was not sure why the measure was stalled.

“Maybe one of the reasons is senators don’t like the idea of 300 million pairs of eyes watching how they spend our money,” he said.

The measure will create a Google-like search engine to track about $1 trillion in federal spending.

Any senator may request a private hold on legislation under a long-time Senate tradition. The hold may be anonymous, and Senate leaders do not allow a vote until the hold is lifted.

Coburn said last month that he knew Stevens had placed the “secret” hold on the measure. A week ago, a spokesman for Stevens said the Alaska senator wanted to delay the bill to make sure it would not create an unneeded layer of bureaucracy.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., had acknowledged he, too, placed a hold on the bill, but has since lifted it, Cooper said. Still, at least one Democrat was holding up the bill Wednesday.

Cooper said Coburn was optimistic that the Senate will adopt the measure. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., sent a letter to senators Tuesday saying he wanted the bill passed before Congress adjourns later this month.

“If (Frist) wants to see it passed, that’s a strong indication” it will happen, Cooper said, adding that “Coburn is committed to seeing this bill pass, no matter what.”

Eleven senators are co-sponsors of the bill. It would pass easily on the Senate floor, Schatz said.

National Taxpayers Union President John Berthoud and Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch — a watchdog of the federal Office of Management and Budget — wrote to Frist asking him to bring the bill to a vote.

“Citizens should no longer be forced to navigate the confusing labyrinth of bureaucracy just to find out how their tax dollars are spent,” the letter stated. “Furthermore, internal conflicts and parliamentary maneuvers should not prevent the passage of a bill with such widespread support.”

Coburn has fought against trivial spending for lawmakers’ pet projects since he took office last year.

He said creation of a searchable spending database will make the government more transparent and make government officials more accountable.

Though mostly conservative, anti-pork groups were represented at Wednesday’s news conference, a myriad of organizations have endorsed the transparency bill.

A similar bill that pertains only to federal grants has already been adopted in the House.