Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released its preliminary analysis of the Senate version of the fiscal year 2010 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act.  The number of projects decreased by 79.6 percent, from 113 in fiscal year 2009 to 23 in fiscal year 2010, while the dollar amount dropped by 31.9 percent, from $229.6 million in fiscal year 2009 to $156.2 million in fiscal year 2010.

The following are some outrageous examples of pork in the Homeland Security bill:

• $50,500,000 by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Senate DHS Appropriations Subcommittee member Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Senate appropriator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) in their states.  The Senate bill appropriates $132 million to the NDPC without the earmark; Nev., N.M. and Texas already have $23 million for NDPC programs.
• $43,300,000 by Senate DHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.):  $39.7 million to construct the Advanced Training Center (ATC) and $3.6 million for an Operations Systems Center’s operating expenses; both are located in West Virginia.  The Civil War Librarian blog reported that on May 31, 2008, Sen. Byrd visited the ATC’s new firing range, and told a crowd of more than 300 that “Today, the efforts of hundreds of people are spread before us like a blessing.”  The blog noted that Sen. Byrd was “proud” that he secured $123 million in design and construction funds for the ATC since 1999, as well as $26 million from Customs and Border Protection.  Byrd received one of “many rounds of applause” when he said “That ain’t chicken feed.”
• $20,865,000 by Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) for the Southeast Region Research Initiative in Tennessee.
• $900,000 by Senate DHS Appropriations Committee member Jon Tester (D-Mont.) for an Emergency Operations Center in the city of Whitefish, Montana.  In 2007 Whitefish had a population of 5,849; the earmark equals $153.87 for every resident.

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