Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released a list of the most egregious pork-barrel projects in the House version of the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Act.  The cost of the 1,305 projects is a whopping $277.9 million.  Both sides of the aisle stuck their greedy hands into the Labor/HSS Education pot to bring home cash to their districts. 

Here are some outrageous examples of pork that members of the House added to the Labor/HHS bill:

• $725,000 requested by Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.): $500,000 for facilities and equipment at the Bridge Community Health Clinic in Wausau and $225,000 for the Cooperative Education Service Agency 11 Rural Health Dental Clinic in Turtle Lake;
• $500,000 requested by Labor/HHS Subcommitee Ranking Member James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.):  $250,000 for the Girl Scouts of the USA, for the Fair Play initiative to engage girls in science, technology, engineering, and math; and $250,000 for technology upgrades at the Onondaga County Public Library in Syracuse;
• $500,000 for the Our Piece of the Pie in Hartford for education and employment services for out-of-school youth in Hartford in the district of Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.);
• $450,000 for the In Tune Foundation Group in Washington, D.C., for education through the arts and music, requested by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.);
• $350,000 for the Museum of Aviation Foundation in Warner Robins, in the district of Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.);
• $150,000 for Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association for birds, requested by Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.);
• $150,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center, N.Y., requested by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.); and
• $100,000 for the Canton Symphony Orchestra Association for the Northeast Ohio Arts Education Collaborative, in the district of House Labor/HHS Subcommittee member Ralph Regula (R-Ohio).

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