[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 5577]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CHANGE OUR PRACTICES ON EARMARKS

  (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, it was recently reported by Politico that 
``FBI agents have spent months laying the groundwork for their current 
investigation, including conducting research on earmarks and campaign 
contributions.''
  With this as a backdrop, today we will consider a privileged 
resolution asking the Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation. 
This is not a partisan resolution. It mentions no individual Member of 
Congress. It mentions no political party.
  Over the past few years, we have seen outside investigations lead to 
indictments and convictions related to earmarks, yet we have done 
little to change our practices.
  Today we will consider an omnibus spending bill containing nearly 
9,000 earmarks, many of which are no-bid contracts to private 
companies, companies whose executives have, in addition to their 
lobbyists, contributed millions of dollars to Members who secured those 
earmarks. This simply isn't right.
  Mr. Speaker, we owe this institution far more than we are giving it. 
Let's vote for this privileged resolution and give it the respect and 
dignity it deserves.

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