Must Overcome Record of Pork-Barrel Spending, Watchdog Says 

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today challenged incoming House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) to follow through on his pledge to rein in federal spending.  Republican House members chose Rep. Lewis over Reps. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) and Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) to chair the committee that has enormous leverage over the federal government’s $800 billion discretionary budget.  At GOP leadership meetings on Monday, each candidate pledged to enforce fiscal discipline if elected, despite their records as pork-barrel spenders.

“Over the years, the chairmanship has morphed into a position more suited for stove-piping federal pork to the chairman’s home district than stopping the explosion of federal spending,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “The last chairman to take his role as fiscal disciplinarian halfway seriously was former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.), who brought an axe to his first meeting.  Rep. Lewis should make a similar statement in order to combat the committee’s reputation as a self-serving body that is hostile to the interests of taxpayers.”

Rep. Lewis recently circulated a flier showing a bloated Uncle Sam with a caption reading “Uncle needs a diet.”  But as chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Lewis helped procure $13,600,000 worth of pork projects for his home state in the fiscal 2004 defense spending bill.  And when questioned about an $8 million earmark for Loma Linda University in fiscal 2002, Lewis quipped, “I feel I should play a significant role in trying to get back every dollar I can for the taxpayers I represent.”  Like other appropriators, Lewis failed to mention the real cost of his “share” of the loot – a total of $20 billion in pork that went to other districts that his constituents paid for in fiscal 2002.  Two years earlier, Loma Linda received $36 million in noncompetitive federal grants.  The Press Enterprise noted “that was more than half the amount for all universities in California.”

Appropriators have consistently aided their constituents at the expense of the overall nation.  In fiscal 2004, there were 10,656 projects in the 13 appropriations bills – an increase of 13 percent over the prior year’s total of 9,362.  Between fiscal 2002 and 2004, the total number of projects increased 28 percent.  The cost of these projects in fiscal 2004 was $22.9 billion or 1.6 percent more than the 1993 total of $22.5 billion.  In fact, the total cost of pork has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2002.  Rep. Lewis could feel added pressure for pork from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has complained that the state sends more money to Washington than it gets back.

“With a reputation as a sometimes notorious appropriator, Rep. Lewis must fight the perception that his tight-spending rhetoric was simply a spin campaign for his election as chairman.  Hopefully, the gravity of the current fiscal crisis will convince him to protect the interests of taxpayers and slash the pork.  Rep. Lewis’s actions will determine whether or not CAGW ‘honors’ him with a Porker of the Month Award during his tenure as chairman,” Schatz concluded.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.