CAGW Pork Alert:  Senate Transportation Appropriations Bill

(Washington, D.C.) — Members of the Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations subcommittee paved the way for another year of reckless spending by adding 874 pork projects totaling $1.28 billion in the fiscal 2006 Senate Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act.  Not satisfied with grabbing money for parochial projects, the appropriators also included $5 billion for 18 programs that the president suggested eliminating or reducing.  Programs resurrected from the scrap pile of presidential cuts include $150 million for the Revitalization of Severely Distressed Public Housing account (the HOPE VI Program), $25 million for the National Defense Tank Vessel Construction Program, and $24 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development. 

Perhaps the most egregious provision in the transportation appropriations bill is language to revise campaign finance laws.  A spending bill is not the proper place to legislate.

Here is a sampling of the wasteful items included in the fiscal 2006 Transportation/Treasury Appropriations Act:

Gravy Train.  The Senate added $1.45 billion for operation costs and capital requirements for Amtrak, a $1.09 billion increase over the president’s request of  $360 million.  The committee allotted the additional funds even though it noted that “Amtrak has operated at a deficit every single year since its inception in 1971,” and the railroad has received roughly $28 billion in federal subsidies over the past 34 years.  Amtrak continues to run largely due to government subsidies. 

Joint Efforts.  In an attempt to streamline drug control programs, the president suggested transferring the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and cutting its budget to $100 million.  Senate (and House) appropriators refused to shift HIDTA to DOJ and funded the program at $227 million.  A joint effort should be made to reduce funds for wasteful and inefficient drug control programs.

Pork in the Fast Lane.  There was no budget request to fund the Appalachian Development Highway System, but the Senate threw in $80 million for the corridor.  Congress began funding the 13-state, 3,025-mile road system with the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.  Even though the highway system is supposed to help boost the economy and tourism industry of those 13 states, Mississippi has the lowest per capita income in the U.S., and West Virginia ranks third from the bottom.  The highway system passes through the states of seven appropriators:  Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va), and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).  The senators comprise 25 percent of the entire Senate Appropriations Committee.   

Honorary Pork.  Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations subcommittee member Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) added $62.7 million for projects in his home state, including $500,000 for the University of Missouri for Hickman House preservation, renovation, and improvements; and $250,000 for the Winston Churchill Memorial in Fulton for construction and renovation. 

Beans, Beans, the Magical Pork.  Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations subcommittee member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has plunged his hands into taxpayers’ wallets for $63.5 million in projects, including $20 million for rail safety and infrastructure improvements befitting passenger and freight operations of the Alaska Railroad, $14.2 million for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and $450,000 for Bean’s Café in Anchorage for the expansion of its kitchen.  Maybe Sen. Stevens wants beans, beans, for every meal!

The Artful Porker.  Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) carved out $57.3 million for Washington state, including $500,000 for the Seattle Art Museum for construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park, $325,000 for the Urban League in Seattle for construction of the Northwest African American Museum, and $325,000 for the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle for an expansion project. 

Lone Star Pork.  Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations subcommittee member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) roped in $54.2 million for Texas, including $628,266 for Standard Terminal Automation Replacement (STARS) facility upgrades and design:  $109,266 for Midland; $80,425 for Grand Prairie; $78,250 for Dallas Love Field; $78,250 for Fort Worth Alliance; $70,854 for Forth Worth Meachum; $70,407 for Dallas Fort Worth Center; $70,407 for Dallas Fort Worth East; and $70,407 for Dallas Fort Worth West.

If you’re going to San Francisco…  Be sure to see all the items paid for by your tax dollars, including $10 million for the San Francisco Muni Third Street light rail project, $200,000 for the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum for the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum construction, and $200,000 for the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society Old Mint Restoration Project.  Senate appropriator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) transported $37.7 million for projects in California.

Emancipate Taxpayers.  Senate Transportation/Treasury Appropriations subcommittee member Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) grabbed $36.7 million for Illinois pork projects, including $500,000 for the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition in Springfield for the Looking for Lincoln economic development and tourism initiative.  Sen. Durbin is looking for too many of your tax dollars.

No Ifs, Ands, or Butts.  The Senate Appropriations Committee added $18,800 to install a smoking booth at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey, one of the nation’s most exclusive regional airports serving numerous private, corporate, and personal planes.

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