Votes Against Bill That Would Leave Certain Earmarks Unchecked

Washington, DC, Sep 14, 2006 - U.S. Congressman John Carter (TX-31), a member of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), is supporting efforts to promote true earmark reform that provides accountability in all spending bills. Carter voted in favor of S.2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which passed Congress yesterday. The bill provides an easily searchable website database that tracks federal grants and contracts.

S. 2590 requires that for each Federal award, a database that lists the name of the entity receiving the award; the amount of the award; the location of the entity receiving the award and the primary location of performance under the award, including the city, State, congressional district, and country; and any other relevant information specified by the Office of Management and Budget.

“I will continue to fight to make the federal government smaller and more fiscally responsible. I have fully supported House passage of three significant bills that will help eliminate wasteful spending and bring more accountability to the earmark process: the Legislative Line Item Veto; the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act; and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act,” Congressman Carter said. “I support worthy projects that are critical to communities throughout the 31^st District and the State of Texas, and I would proudly place my name next to my requests.”

Congressman Carter has been a strong supporter of comprehensive, effective earmark reform, which is why he voted against today’s legislation, H.Res. 1000. This bill would open loopholes that would allow earmarks in authorization and tax bills to go unchecked.

“I believe that bringing more transparency and accountability to the earmark process is critical to eliminating worthless pork. We must, however, demand true earmark reform that is equally applied to all spending bills,” Congressman Carter continued. “If we are going to be successful in reining in wasteful spending, we must ensure that there are no loopholes in earmarking reform. The infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ originated in an authorization bill, and would not be subject to any reform in H.Res. 1000. I simply could not support a bill that does not adequately address the issues surrounding earmark reform. Instead, we need to take swift action to pass comprehensive earmark reform that scrutinizes spending requests made in all bills.”

The RSC is a group of more than 100 House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives, including eliminating government waste, fraud, and abuse.