The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste castigates the House Appropriations Committee for porking up another appropriations bill

(Washington, D.C.) – In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), America’s largest taxpayer watchdog group, urged the speaker to allow members of Congress to offer amendments cutting the pork from the fiscal 2000 VA-HUD Appropriations bill.

“Although the fiscal 2000 VA-HUD Appropriations bill has yet to be marked-up by the full committee, 215 earmarks have already been slipped into the bill,” said CCAGW President Thomas A. Schatz in the letter.  “This is a discouraging beginning for a bill that traditionally wallows in bacon grease by the time it reaches the President’s desk.”

Among the unnecessary and ill-considered pork items in this year’s VA-HUD spending bill are $1 million for animal waste management research at Purdue University in Indiana, $1.2 million for repair and construction of a fire station in Tracy, Calif., and $2 million for the Center on Life in Extreme Thermal Environments at Montana State University.  There is even a $1 million earmark to Texas Tech for a garden machine to grow plants in space.  “Clearly, these parochial projects do not serve the national interest,” remarked Schatz.

In the letter, Schatz commended Speaker Hastert for his efforts to pass the 13 appropriations bills on time.  However, he noted that the interests of taxpayers should not be sacrificed to do so.  “The House should not have to resort to bribes to get reticent members to do their jobs and pass spending bills on time and within the budget caps,” Schatz wrote.

Schatz concluded the letter by imploring Speaker Hastert to give budget hawks in the House an opportunity to eliminate pork-barrel spending in the VA-HUD bill.  “I urge you to consider a rule that would allow members to offer amendments to cut the fat out of this bill when it reaches the floor.”

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