Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released its preliminary analysis of the House version of the Fiscal 2009 Military Construction Appropriations Act.  The bill contains 102 projects for a total of $621.3 million.  The enacted version of the fiscal 2008 Military Construction Appropriations Act included 191 projects worth $1.2 billion, so Congress is well on its way to equaling or exceeding last year’s totals.

It should come as no surprise that the House bill is bursting at the seams with wasteful pet projects.  Consider the following examples of pork that members of the House jammed into the Military Construction bill:

• $18.4 million added by House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Tex.), including $17.5 million for a chapel and education center at Fort Hood.

• $11.58 million for a fitness center in Kingsville, Texas, added by Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Tex.).  There is a private gym four miles away that costs $30 per month, with a $35 initiation fee.  This $11.58 million could pay for the gym memberships of 29,300 service men and women for one year.

• $9.9 million added by Rep. John Spratt, Jr. (D-S.C.) for a physical fitness center at Shaw Air Force Base.  There is a gym four miles away that charges $25 per month, with a $75 down payment.  This $9.9 million could pay for the gym memberships of 26,400 service men and women for one year.

• $6.8 million added by Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.) for a chapel center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, which already has two separate chapels on its campus.

• $3.9 million added by Reps. Robert Scott (D-Va.) and Robert Wittman (R-Va.) for a vehicle paint facility at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

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