Washington, D.C. – The House may soon vote on the fiscal 2007 Labor/Health and Human Services/Education Appropriations Act (H.R. 5647).  The bill contains $141.9 billion worth of discretionary spending, $4.1 billion more than the president’s request.  In its present form, House appropriators have gone hog wild with parochial projects, showing that members are once again more concerned with bringing home the bacon than balancing the budget.  Last year, Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) insisted on an earmark-free bill.  However, there were 51 pork-barrel projects in last year’s bill and the total amount of pork was $1.75 billion.  This year, the House has packed the bill full of pork with more than 1,800 projects covering 75 pages of the bill, including the following:

• $970,000 to the B. J. Stupak Olympic Scholarships, designed to provide assistance to U.S. athletes who are training for the Olympics and pursuing a postsecondary education.  This program was created in 1992 to provide financial assistance to Olympic athletes who wish to pursue a postsecondary education.  The massive amount of financial assistance available to students at public and private institutions across the country makes this project unnecessary. 

• $400,000 to Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho for a master’s degree program in dental hygiene, in the district of House appropriator and former Porker of the Month recipient Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).

• $300,000 to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for the Play It Smart Program, in the district of House appropriator Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.).

• $175,000 to the Charter School Development Foundation for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, in the district of Rep. Shelly Berkely (D-Nev.).

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