have two senators from one state scored zero in the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CCAGW) Congressional Ratings.  The Hawaiians’ ten-year reign comes to an end as Senators Kent Conrad (D-N.Dak.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.Dak.) have earned goose eggs in the 2001 Congressional Ratings.  For this and their continued porkiness, Citizens Against Government Waste names Senators Conrad and Dorgan its June 2002 Porkers of the Month.

During the first session of the 107^th Congress, Senators Conrad and Dorgan voted against eliminating the marriage penalty, against creating a Social Security lockbox, and against eliminating sugar subsidies.  The pair could not even stomach eliminating $2 million from the Fiscal 2002 Veterans Affairs/Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act for Birmingham, Ala.’s Vulcan Statue. 

The pair managed to give themselves a raise by voting against Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-Wisc.) motion to eliminate the fiscal 2002 congressional cost-of-living adjustment.

The duo pigged out in committee too.  From his perch upon the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Dorgan helped secure $59.7 million, or $94.02 per North Dakotan, in pork barrel projects for fiscal 2002.  No doubt Sen. Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, helped with this haul.  Earmarks include:

• $1 million for the Grand Forks Greenway trail system;
• $1 million for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Roadway project;
• $720,000 for cereal crops research;
• $250,000 for a virtual archive storage terminal at North Dakota State University;
• $175,000 for graduate retention at Mayville State University; and
• $100,000 for Lewis and Clark exhibits at the Confluence Visitors Center and the North Dakota State Historical Society.

North Dakota finished seventh in pork per capita for fiscal 2002, up four spots from fiscal 2001. 

If their actions this spring are any indication, Senators Conrad and Dorgan are on the road to zero ratings for 2002.  Both supported passage of the pork-laden Farm Security Act, which will cost taxpayers $170 billion over the next 10 years (the bill will cost consumers an additional $270 billion over the same period). 

A Conrad press release boasts, “The farm bill makes a strong commitment to the vitality of rural communities.”  Really?  More than two-thirds of the benefits will go to farmers and agri-businesses that earn more than $250,000 per year.  Beneficiaries include ABC newsman Sam Donaldson and NBA basketball star (and Nike spokesman) Scottie Pippen. 

According to the Tax Foundation, in fiscal 2000, for every dollar North Dakotans poured into the federal Treasury, they received $1.86 back.  Only New Mexicans received a better return.  In contrast, Connecticut received $.62 for every dollar paid in taxes.

For expecting other states to support their porcine habits, for breaking an infamous ten-year record, and for attempting to disguise farm subsidies as a national security matter, Citizens Against Government Waste names Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan its June 2002 Porkers of the Month.