“Rescission bill is the solution to costly pet projects,” says Schatz

(Washington, D.C.) – At a press conference hosted today by Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) applauded the Congressman for introducing legislation that would rescind earmarks included in the Fiscal Year 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act, and transfer the money to a fund for defense and homeland security.

“This bill is a great opportunity for Congress to rein in wasteful spending,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Instead of using taxpayer money for pet projects in their home districts that benefit only a few, members can use this money to protect all Americans.”

The recently passed Omnibus covers 11 of 13 appropriations bills that fund the federal government, but failed to pass last fall.  The 3,000-page document contains thousands of earmarks that CAGW’s preliminary estimates show will push total pork in the fiscal 2003 appropriations bills to $20 billion.  In FY 2002, the 13 appropriations bills contained 8,341 pork projects that totaled approximately $20.1 billion.

“The Omnibus was the porkiest bill ever,” Schatz continued.  “In a time of pending war and $300 billion budget deficits, taxpayers deserve better than a spending bill heaped with pork.  Rep. Flake’s bill provides a second chance for Congress to fix its mistake.”

An early analysis by CAGW of the Omnibus bill has turned up pork projects such as:

• $4.5 million for a Riverfront Project in Bowling Green, Kentucky;
• $1 million for the Olympic Discovery Trail in Washington;
• $1 million for a public waterfront promenade in Baltimore, Maryland;
• $500,000 for general construction at Jackson Hole, Wyoming;
• $300,000 for the Smyrna, Delaware, Opera House, and
• $200,000 for the Ogden, Utah, Union Station.

“I strongly urge Congress to pass this bill as quickly as possible,” Schatz concluded.  “In this time of war, a sagging economy, and massive new deficits, America cannot afford anything less.”

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.  For more information, please visit www.ccagw.org.