[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H10514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARKING THE SWAMP

  (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, after we Republicans lost the majority in 
last year's elections, the new majority promised that they would 
``drain the swamp.'' The new majority seemed to recognize that the 
political cost of earmarks far outweighed the benefits, and modest 
reforms were instituted to make the process more transparent.
  However, it soon became clear that the earmark reform rhetoric was 
not matched by reality. The old majority seems just as mired in the mud 
as the old.
  Still, it was with some excitement that I recently discovered in the 
House-passed Interior appropriations bill a $750,000 earmark for the 
Great Swamp National Wildlife Preserve in New Jersey. Predictably, this 
earmark was not to drain the swamp, but to preserve it.
  This begs the question: If we can't stop passing earmarks to preserve 
swamps, how will we ever drain the earmark swamp?
  Mr. Speaker, our constituents and this institution deserve far 
better. Let's follow up on our promises for earmark reform with actual 
reform.

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