Earmarking, a fiscal set-aside in a federal spending bill, is a power granted to Congress by the Constitution, and it goes back to the beginning of America. It exploded during the recent time that Republicans had dominated Congress.
This year, Democrats regained control of Congress, and Republicans have spent hours decrying earmarks, while at the same time asking for them. The record shows that so far this year, more than 10,000 such requests have been made by Republicans in Congress.
The new Democratic majority has taken some noteworthy steps to clean up the earmarking process. These steps include new rules that prohibit members of Congress from using earmarks to reward or punish other members for a vote, and that require disclosure of the name and address of any intended recipient, the purpose of the earmark, and whether the member has a financial interest in the earmark recipient or would otherwise benefit personally from it.
The new rules also require that all matters before a conference committee, including earmarks, be subject to full debate, that a final conference report be voted on at a meeting open to the full conference committee, and that no item, including earmarks, be added to legislation after the conference committee adjourns.
The new Congress has also excluded all earmarks from appropriation bills enacted in January, and has agreed to cut funding for earmarks in fiscal-year 2008 appropriation bills by 50 percent below the level of appropriation bills passed by the last Congress. The new Congress has also established a policy requiring publication by the Government Printing Office of all letters requesting earmarks included in an appropriations bill prior to floor consideration.
Get the facts. Don't let your viewpoint be shaped by spin.
Grady L. Cornish
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