[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5997 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5997

      To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives and the 
  Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require 
that public hearings be held on all earmark requests in the district of 
the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner making the request, and 
      to further increase earmark transparency and accountability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2010

  Mr. Turner (for himself and Mr. Reichert) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives and the 
  Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require 
that public hearings be held on all earmark requests in the district of 
the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner making the request, and 
      to further increase earmark transparency and accountability.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Anti-Pork Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEARINGS ON EARMARK REQUESTS.

    (a) Certification by Members, Delegates, and the Resident 
Commissioner.--Clause 17 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(c) A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who requests a 
congressional earmark in any bill or joint resolution (or an 
accompanying report) shall provide a written statement to the chair and 
ranking minority member of the committee of jurisdiction certifying the 
following:
            ``(1) A governmental entity or nonprofit, noncongressional 
        earmark recipient within the district of, and designated by, 
        such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner has held a 
        public hearing on such congressional earmark at least 30 days 
        before the date of submission of the congressional earmark 
        request to the committee.
            ``(2) Notice of such public hearing was printed in the 
        appropriate local newspaper at least 15 days before the hearing 
        and such notice included the following information:
                    ``(A) The name of the applicable governmental 
                entity or nonprofit, noncongressional earmark 
                recipient.
                    ``(B) The time, date, place, and purpose of the 
                meeting.
                    ``(C) A summary of the agenda and topics to be 
                discussed.
            ``(3) If the congressional earmark request is for public 
        improvement purposes, the local government entity having 
        jurisdiction over the requested public improvement has passed a 
        resolution in support of the earmark request or written an 
        official communication binding to that governmental entity in 
        support of the earmark request.
            ``(4) Not more than 50 percent of the total cost of the 
        project being funded by the congressional earmark shall be 
        appropriated funds.
            ``(5) The congressional earmark does not fund any 
        administrative costs.
            ``(6) The Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner has 
        posted the congressional earmark request on the public Web site 
        of such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner providing 
        the information described in subparagraphs (2) and (4) of 
        paragraph (a) and a notice of the hearing referred to in 
        subparagraph (1) (including the date, time, place, and entity 
        convening the hearing).''.
    (b) Hearings on Earmarks by Subcommittees of the House Committee on 
Appropriations.--Clause 4(a) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
    ``(6)(A) Before any subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations 
may approve any bill or joint resolution (or any accompanying report) 
containing a congressional earmark, that subcommittee shall hold a 
hearing on all congressional earmarks requested to be included in that 
measure or any accompanying report. The chair of that subcommittee 
shall provide at least 14 days notice to the public on the Web site of 
the committee before the date of any such hearing and such notice shall 
include the time, place, and entity convening the hearing. As used in 
this subparagraph, the term `congressional earmark' has the meaning 
given to such term in clause 9 of rule XXI.
    ``(B) The Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who requests 
any congressional earmark referred to in subdivsion (A) shall testify 
in support of that earmark at the applicable subcommittee hearing.''.
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