Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today applauded a decision by incoming House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairmen David Obey (D-Wis.) and Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) to pass a continuing resolution (CR) for the remainder of fiscal 2007.  The CR will keep most agencies running at fiscal 2006 funding levels and will stave off the estimated 10,000 earmarks costing approximately $17 billion in the nine unfinished appropriations bills.  The duo also announced a “moratorium” on earmarks until budget reforms are passed.

“Today’s announcement is a huge victory for taxpayers,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “A CR pre-empts funding increases for bloated federal agencies and thousands of pork-barrel projects.  However, Congress must pass earmark reforms during its ‘pork diet’ or it will gain back the weight it loses.’”    

The 109^th Congress passed only the Defense and Homeland Security Appropriations bills for fiscal 2007.  Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) were instrumental in blocking an omnibus package containing the remaining appropriations bills.  A continuing resolution is in effect until February 15, 2007.  Today’s announcement means the Democratic-led 110^th Congress will opt to extend the CR until the end of the year instead of belatedly passing the remaining appropriations bills. 

“Together with the promise to forgo next year’s congressional pay raise, Democrats are taking important steps toward changing business-as-usual in Washington,” Schatz continued.   

Many of the projects left out of the budget for fiscal 2007 will likely be considered under the new budget rules for fiscal 2008; Democratic leadership has promised to make budget reform a top priority.  Earmark reforms favored by CAGW include:  Requiring disclosure of earmark sponsors and recipients; limiting the number of earmarks each member can request; prohibiting earmarks that have not been the subject of a congressional hearing; prohibiting earmarks from being “airdropped” into bills during conference negotiations; and making conference reports available 48 hours prior to floor consideration.  These proposals are discussed in greater detail in CAGW’s report, All About Pork: The Abuse of Earmarks and the Needed Reforms, available at www.cagw.org.   Pork-barrel spending has grown from 546 projects costing $3.1 billion in fiscal 1991 to 9,963 projects costing $29 billion in fiscal 2006, as documented CAGW’s annual Congressional Pig Book. 

“An interesting test will be to see how the country endures under a CR.  If the sky does not fall, if flat budgets make no difference in the lives of everyday citizens, it explodes the myth that congressional pork and spending increases are truly necessary,” Schatz concluded. 

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