[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[January 29, 2008]
[Page 128]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Executive Order on Protecting American Taxpayers 
From Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks
January 29, 2008

    Director Nussle, thank you. Before I 
sign the Executive order on earmarks, I do want to congratulate the 
House of Representatives for overwhelmingly passing a economic growth 
package that will help our economy. The temptation is going to be for 
the Senate to load it up. My concerns is that we need to get this bill 
out of the Senate and on my desk so the checks can get in the hands of 
our consumers and our businesses can be assured of the incentives 
necessary to make investments.
    Anyway, I do want to thank the Speaker and 
Leader Boehner for working quickly and 
working in a bipartisan fashion. This is a very good start.
    And now I'm going to sign this Executive order. Last night I said 
that it's very important for Congress to earn the trust of the American 
taxpayer, and one way they should do so is to end the practice of 
earmarks. Now, I said last year that they should voluntarily cut the 
number in half--not only the number but the amount of earmarks in half. 
They chose not to do so. So last night I told the Congress that I would 
veto any bill, appropriations bill, that does not cut the number and the 
amount of earmarks in half.
    Secondly, there's a practice here in Washington--and I'm not sure 
many of our citizens understand it takes place--where Members just put 
in special spending projects into what's called report language. That 
means that these projects never were voted on, never really saw the 
light of day. And this Executive order says that any such earmarks this 
year and into the future will be ignored by this administration and, 
hopefully, future administrations, unless those spending projects were 
voted on by the Congress.
    The American people expect there to be transparency in the process. 
They expect the people to be--here in Washington to be wise about how 
they spend their money. And this Executive order will go a long way 
toward sending that signal to the Congress and, at the same time, 
earning the trust of the American people.
    So, Mr. Director, thank you for your 
leadership on the issue. It was the right course of action to take, and 
I am proud to have signed the Executive order. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 3:38 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Office of Management and Budget 
Director James A. Nussle. He also referred to Executive Order 13457, 
which is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.