(Washington, D.C.) -- The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today criticized Congress for exploiting the War Supplemental Spending bill in order to waste taxpayer money.  Members of Congress are loading up the bill with unrelated pet projects, including funds to build an agricultural research station and another airline bailout.

"This bill was designed to pay for the War with Iraq and protect the homeland, not to fund congressional pork projects," CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "Unfortunately, in considering this supplemental spending legislation, members have been unable and unwilling to restrain themselves.  The country is at war and facing a $300 billion deficit, which will increase once this supplemental bill takes effect.  We cannot afford to waste money."

The President's request for $74.7 billion in funding covers the cost of the War with Iraq, post-war reconstruction, International Assistance Programs for countries aiding in the war, homeland security, and the legislative branch.  Members of Congress have since attempted to amend the bill to repeal organic farming regulations and build an animal-borne disease research station.  There are dozens more pork-barrel amendments lined up for votes in the Senate.  In addition, the appropriations committees in both chambers agreed to add $3.5 billion to prop up the airline industry.

"The war should be the sole focus of this bill,” Schatz continued.  “Every dollar spent on pork is a dollar that does not go to protect the nation.  This is not the time to bail out the airline industry or spend money on pork projects.  The President originally intended for the money to go to fighting the war abroad and protecting the homeland.  Congress should keep it that way.”

This spending bill comes just two months after Congress passed the pork-laden fiscal 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill in February.  Citizens Against Government Waste is scheduled to release its 2003 Congressional Pig Book on April 9, which will reveal a record amount of pork projects and spending in fiscal 2003. 

"The amount of pork in the Omnibus Spending bill passed last month the largest in any single bill in history," Schatz concluded.  "Now, members of Congress are using the war as an excuse to fund additional pet projects.  It is shameful that a national crisis does not even stop them from wasting money.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.