[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 23 (Monday, February 6, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE LINE-ITEM VETO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Knollenberg] is 
recognized during morning business for 1\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of the 
line-item veto which will effectively give the President the ability to 
strike out pork-barrel projects from otherwise good legislation.
  The line-item veto will end the ``Christmas Tree'' practice of 
tacking on pet projects to wholly unrelated legislation--burying the 
details away from the public's eye.
  Last year and in 1993 we saw this practice expand to an unprecedented 
level. The most flagrant abuse was after the city of Los Angeles was 
devastated by the earthquake. Congress eventually passed the emergency 
supplemental earthquake assistance bill, but not before slipping in $10 
million for a train station in New York, $1.3 million for Hawaiian 
sugar cane mills, and $20 million to add employees to the FBI in West 
Virginia.
  This list of abuses goes on and on and the taxpayers are stuck with 
the bill and asked to pay more of their fair share. I don't think they 
would think that their share should include $1.1 million for a national 
pig research facility in Iowa or $35 million to eradicate screw worms 
in Mexico.
  Mr. Speaker, tacking on these types of pet projects has become a 
runaway train and the American taxpayers are getting taken for a ride 
toward economic disaster. Let us keep the train on the tracks.
  I urge all of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to support 
this critical piece of legislation.

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