Updated: September 28, 2005

Are you aware of wasteful spending with the government's hurricane recovery efforts? Tell us.

The cost of hurricane recovery efforts is threatening to explode the federal deficit back to record levels. Congress has already appropriated $62.3 billion toward disaster relief and the Louisiana delegation is asking for $250 billion more.  While a federal response is warranted by the magnitude of destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is crucial that Congress responds in a fiscally responsible manner so that future generations do not bear an undue burden for recent calamites. Toward that end, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) supports three guidelines for hurricane recovery:

1)  Oppose efforts to add unrelated spending to the emergency supplemental bills.

2)  Offset the cost of recovery efforts by cutting pork and wasteful programs from the federal budget.

3)  Ensure proper oversight and accountability to prevent the waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

Oppose Unrelated Spending

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is urging members of Congress to sign the Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge.  By signing the pledge, members vow to oppose any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of the hurricanes in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides funds for hurricane relief.

Offset Recovery Costs

Contrary to Rep. Tom DeLay's (R-Tex.) assessment that the federal government is running at peak efficiency, the federal budget is fraught with wasteful, ineffective, and duplicative programs that can be trimmed or eliminated altogether. Congress has numerous resources at its disposal for cutting pork and wasteful programs:

President Bush's proposed budget cuts for fiscal 2006.  CAGW recently launched its Budget Cut Tracker to hold Congress accountable for the spending cuts requested by the administration. President Bush recommended cutting or eliminating 154 programs saving taxpayers about $15 billion in fiscal 2006. The House has achieved only $9.21 billion of savings from the targeted programs and the Senate is on track to smash all barriers of fiscal restraint.

Prime Cuts 2005:  CAGW's blueprint for a smaller, more efficient and stronger government that can protect Americans and their wallets.  Prime Cuts 2005 catalogues 600 recommendations throughout the government that if enacted, could save taxpayers $232 billion in fiscal 2006 and $2 trillion over the next five years.

Cut the pork.  CAGW’s 2005 Congressional Pig Book identified 13,997 projects costing $27.3 billion in the fiscal 2005 federal budget.  However, most of this money could not be realistically rescinded because it has already been appropriated and spent.  There are three main areas where Congress could cut rescind pork projects to pay for hurricane relief: The recently-passed six-year highway bill; the fiscal 2005 war supplemental bill; and the fiscal 2006 appropriations bills.

• Highway bill.  The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) contains nearly 6,500 parochial projects totaling more than $24 billion, including: 
• $231.425 million for "Don Young's Way," formerly known as the Knik Arm Bridge.
• $223 million for the Gravina Island bridge in Alaska (a.k.a. "Bridge to Nowhere")
• $16 million for the Briggs-Delaine-Pearson Connector (a.k.a. another "Bridge to Nowhere")
• The war supplemental. In the May 2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, members of Congress added $1.13 billion in pork projects, including: 

• $103 million for the Emergency Watershed Program;
• $55 million on top of the $53.4 million budget request for refugee and migration aid; and
• $25 million for the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery in Montana.

• Fiscal 2006 appropriations bills.  CAGW has so far identified $16 billion of pork in the 12 appropriations bills that will fund the federal government in fiscal 2006.  The items below contain links and highlights from CAGW’s Pork Alerts. 

Pork Alert:   Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill.  Total pork: $208.7 million.  Highlights:  

• $34.3 million for the home state of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), including $26 million for the development of water systems for rural communities and native villages in Alaska and $500,000 for fruit and berry crop trials for rural villages; 
• $23 million in the state of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)
• $1 million for multiflora rose control in the state of Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.); and
• $1.5 million for the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Iowa State University

Pork Alert:  Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.  Total pork: $1.5 billion.  Highlights:

o       $500,000 for the Louisiana Immersive Tech Enterprise Program at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the state of Senate Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee member Mary Landrieu (D-La.)

Pork Alert:  Senate Interior Appropriations Bill.  Total pork: $926 million.  Highlights: 

o       $3.65 million for projects at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

o       $790,000 for the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, $150,000 for the Alaska Whaling Commission, and $98,000 for the Alaska Sea Otter Commission

o       $400,000 for a bear DNA sampling study in the state of Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-Mont.)

Pork Alert:  Senate Transportation Appropriations Bill.  Total pork:  $1.28 billion.  Highlights:

o       There was no budget request to fund the Appalachian Development Highway System, but the Senate threw in $80 million for the corridor. Congress began funding the 13-state, 3,025-mile road system with the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965. Even though the highway system is supposed to help boost the economy and tourism industry of those 13 states, Mississippi has the lowest per capita income in the U.S., and West Virginia ranks third from the bottom. The highway system passes through the states of seven appropriators: Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.), and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). The senators comprise 25 percent of the entire Senate Appropriations Committee. 

                           Oversight and Accountability