Murtha Sparks Pork Envy
By Alexander Bolton
The Hill
May 17, 2006
Republican members of the Pennsylvania delegation are irritated that they’re not getting what they view as their proper share of earmarked funding allotted to the Keystone State because of what several of them believe is the disproportionate influence of Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), the second-most-senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
Traditionally, members of the majority party receive a significantly greater share of the funding for home-district projects contained in the annual spending bills, lawmakers say. But that trend has been countered in Pennsylvania by Murtha, who outranks all but three members of the Appropriations Committee in congressional seniority. Murtha also has a strong relationship with the panel’s professional staff and has been known to deliver Democratic support to Republican leaders on close votes.
Lawmakers recently discussed the number of projects being allocated to rank-and-file Pennsylvania Democrats at a private breakfast meeting of the Pennsylvania GOP delegation, according to participants.
The subject is sensitive because several Pennsylvania Republicans are facing tough reelection races and incumbents often point to how much money they bring home when stumping for votes. Pennsylvania Reps. Jim Gerlach, Curt Weldon, Tim Murphy and Mike Fitzpatrick are expected to have challenging races.
The Republican view that a Democrat with more than 30 years of seniority has an outsized influence in the clubby world of House appropriators may be strengthening the desire for even greater earmark reform than what House GOP leaders agreed to earlier this year.
Nearly 30 Republicans have signed a “Dear Colleague” letter drafted by Weldon, the Republican dean of the Pennsylvania delegation, calling for a moratorium on earmarks for the rest of this Congress so that lawmakers can study further ways to reform the appropriations process. The letter also calls for a moratorium on targeted tax provisions, which are tax-related versions of pet projects.
The legislators are calling for a panel to study ways to reform the earmark process during the moratorium.
Weldon’s colleagues in the GOP conference have argued against a moratorium on earmarks during an election year, saying that they are politically helpful and generate campaign contributions. But Weldon has rebutted that argument by sharing data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks fundraising.
The group’s research shows that four of the five lawmakers who have received the most political contributions from the defense industry are Democrats: Reps. Murtha, Ike Skelton (Mo.) and Jim Moran (Va.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.). Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (Calif.) is the only Republican among the top five.
Weldon and other Republicans seeking further reform say that the data show the earmark-laden annual defense spending bill is not as politically helpful to Republicans as believed.
Gerlach, a second-term member who is considered to have one of the toughest races in Pennsylvania, said that he supports calls for further earmark reform and that he would like to see a system of allocation less based on seniority.
“I think the earmark process does need to be reformed substantially,” Gerlach said. “There needs to be more transparency and more balance and equity in terms of what various members of Congress get.”
Weldon raised the issue at a recent Pennsylvania delegation breakfast, Gerlach said. He said that at the meeting lawmakers also discussed Murtha but added that how many projects Pennsylvania Democrats receive is less important than institutional change.
“I don’t know that you need to focus on Murtha getting too much. We need fundamental earmark reform,” he said. Gerlach added that the earmark reforms the House passed as part of a larger lobbying reform bill are good but that “we need to go further.”
Weldon, who is by far the most senior Republican from Pennsylvania, with nearly 20 years of service in the House, said he has avoided speaking publicly about the need for greater earmark reform because it is a sensitive subject for many lawmakers.
He said he has tried to keep the push for more reform an “internal thing.”
Weldon said he has, however, spoken about reform twice before meetings of the House Republican Conference.
Weldon said that he does not have a fully thought-out plan for how to reform the process but that he has called for the moratorium so that lawmakers have an opportunity to weigh proposals. He also made clear that he believes Congress should have a role in deciding how funds are specifically allocated and that the details should not be left entirely to the executive branch.
But when asked whether Pennsylvania projects are being fairly allocated, Weldon said his colleagues do not think so.
“If you listen to the Republicans, they’ll tell you no,” he said. “I know because they tell me.”
“All of them have concerns,” he added. “I’ve heard from every one of them at some point that they have a problem with the process.”
One such lawmaker is Murphy, a second-term lawmaker who represents a Pittsburgh-area district.
Murphy said that project funding should be more determined by equality and need and less by seniority.
“Otherwise you have to be here 30 years before you get something,” he said with a wink.
Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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