Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the following letter from President Tom Schatz to members of the House, calling for full transparency of earmark requests:

On Friday, April 27, all representatives were required to submit their final requests for earmarks to the House Appropriations Committee. On behalf of all taxpayers who will pay for these projects, we are asking you to make your requests available to the public.

While the rules of the House do not require such transparency, some members of Congress have voluntarily published their lists, and they should be applauded. If you have not done so, we encourage you to follow their lead.

Members have made various excuses for not publishing their lists, claiming that they have to “manage expectations,” they don’t want to “offend local officials,” and that requests are “confidential.” Some members have been publishing their lists for many years; others are doing so this year for the first time. They have apparently not suffered the supposed adverse consequences of publishing such “private” or “confidential” information.

Providing the request after the appropriation is approved is not sufficient information for taxpayers who deserve a more open and transparent appropriations process.

“We hope taxpayers, like-minded organizations, bloggers, and others in the media concerned about transparency and accountability will join us in the demand for earmark request lists,” concluded Schatz.

The senate’s deadline is May 15 and CAGW will be sending a similar letter to all senators at that time.  A list of who has and has not released earmark requests is available here.

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