Washington, D.C.) — It’s been three months since the start of fiscal 2004, and what a surprise, Congress has yet to finish the appropriations process.  Though they have missed their appropriations deadline and are faced with a $500 billion deficit, members are finding the time to pile on the pork.  The House recently passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal 2004 (H.R. 2673), which consists of seven of the thirteen spending bills.  However, the Senate is not expected to take action on the bill until January 20^th when it reconvenes after a lengthy holiday recess.    The 1,448-page bill totals $820 billion and is stuffed to the brim with parochial projects.  Here are some examples of the pork in H.R. 2673: 

-$1,000,000 added by the Senate for the Anchorage Museum in Alaska for facilities expansion;

-$700,000 added in conference for the Hobbs Industrial Air Park redevelopment project in N.M.,

-$225,000 added in conference for the Wheels Museum, Inc. in Albuquerque, N.M for planning and land acquisition;

-$225,000 added by the House for the Redwood County Agricultural Society in Minn. for fairground grandstand

 renovation and construction of facilities;

-$175,000 added in conference for the City of Raleigh, N.C., for reuse planning for the Fayetteville Street Mall and

 for streetscape improvements, pedestrian benches, street lights, tree planting, entertainment space construction, and

 water fountain construction;

-$150,000 added by the House for the Olney Theatre for the Arts in Md. for construction of a theatre;

-$100,000 added in conference for the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tenn.;

-$75,000 added in conference for East Stroudsburg University in Pa. to preserve and develop exhibits to their Vintage Radio Programs and Jazz Museum; and

-$50,000 added in conference for the Saint Tikhon’s Theological Seminary in South Canaan, Pa. for care and preservation of Russian artifacts.

CAGW will provide continuing updates on pork in the omnibus spending bill.  For more information, please visit: /site/PageServer?pagename=policy_porkbarrelreport.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.