[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                EARMARKS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the President is expected to sign the omnibus 
appropriations bill this week, once the Senate acts on the bill.
  Since the President made numerous promises to reduce earmarks during 
his campaign, the American people should know what is in the bill that 
he will be signing, another 1,100-plus page bill. This is a $410 
billion spending bill which contains 8,500 earmarks, including $300,000 
for migrating loons in Nevada, $900,000 for planetarium equipment in 
Chicago, $190,000 for trolleys in Puerto Rico, $3 million for a foot 
bridge in St. Louis, $380,000 for a lighthouse in Maine, $1 million for 
red snappers in Florida, $7 million for sea turtles in Hawaii, and on 
and on.
  Migratory loons in Nevada? Red snappers in Florida? Trolleys in 
Puerto Rico? In a time of trillion dollar deficits, enough is enough!

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