[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15670]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                             EARMARK REFORM

  (Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, during the 109th Congress, 
Republicans enacted historic earmarking reforms that allowed Members to 
challenge and debate wasteful earmarks contained in spending bills on 
the House floor. This was a good step towards increased accountability 
and transparency in the earmarking process.
  Last fall, Democrats campaigned on a pledge to make this the most 
ethical Congress in history. But, as they headed into their first 
appropriations season, we're confronted with the reality of their 
reforms. It seems that instead of increasing sunshine on how Congress 
is spending the American people's money, they prefer to create massive 
secret funds for earmarks that will be inserted into the bill after the 
votes have been taken on legislation.
  And what is perhaps most egregious is the fact that they won't even 
let these earmarks, which are paid for with the American people's hard-
earned tax dollars, be debated in the people's House.
  This is not the most ethical Congress in history. This is a sham.

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