A Few Choice Morsels of Government Waste in the

FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

• $37.5 million for a road project, docking facilities, and a ferry in and around the 700-resident town of King Cove, Alaska.  Inserted by Alaska Republican Sens. Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski.
• A provision championed by Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) to refinance the Tennessee Valley Authority’s $3.2 billion debt, plus a $50 million subsidy.
• $27 million in subsidies for mohair, wool, and honey producers.  The mohair subsidy was zeroed out in 1993, but was resurrected by Reps. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas) and Henry Bonilla (R-Texas).
• $2 million for the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture in Leetown, W. Va.  Since 1995, this invention of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) has received $15.9 million in federal grants.
• $3.7 million for the National Agricultural Library and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Md.
• Extension of the duck hunting season by 11 days in Mississippi and five other southern states.  This provision was the brainchild of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
• $1 million for peanut quality research in Dawson, Ga. and Raleigh, N.C., the districts of Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and David Price (D-N.C.).
• $150,000 for a cooperative state research grant to Maryland for Chesapeake Bay Agroecology.
• $9.8 million to move the 128-year-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 1,600 feet inland.  Inserted by Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.).  The Army Corps of Engineers believes the lighthouse should not be moved.
• $5 million for a study of how to clean up the Salton Sea area of Southern California, in the district of freshman Republican Rep. Mary Bono.
• $750,000 for a Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program.
• $500,000 for Manure Handling and Disposal in Starkville, Miss.
• $750,000 for Grasshopper Research in Arizona.
• $200,000 for the Center for rural studies in Vermont.  A portion of this grant money is used to guide development of Vermont retail shopping areas.  No formal evaluation of this project has been undertaken by USDA.  Since 1992, $437,000 has been appropriated for this research.
• $19.6 million for the International Fund for Ireland ($39.2 million over the past two fiscal years).  Created as a going-away present for former House Speaker Tip O’Neill, the IFI tries to aid the peace process by funding golf videos, pony trekking centers, and sweater exports.
• $1 million to King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for the commercialization of pulverization technologies.
• $5.1 million for wood utilization research in Ore., Miss., N.C., Minn., Maine, Mich., Idaho, and Tenn.  Since 1985, the federal government has spent $50.1 million on wood utilization research.
• $1 million for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Ill., to restore the U-505 submarine (1.9 million over the past two fiscal years).