| TCS Releases FY07 Defense Spending Earmark Database
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the release of the FY2007 Defense Earmarks Database:
The 2007 Defense spending bill should herald an end to the go-go years of earmarking excess. Since the bill passed last fall, strong disclosure and transparency rules have been enacted to ensure that taxpayers know which member of Congress is responsible for sending their precious tax dollars back to their home districts for parochial projects. The era of earmarking funds for everything from additional aircraft to studies of hibernation genomics must come to an end. We call on Congress to make the FY08 spending process a model of transparency and restraint.
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About the FY07 Defense Spending Bill Earmark Database:
Taxpayers for Common Sense analysis of the FY07 Defense spending bill found 2646 earmarks worth $10.5B. This compares to 2835 earmarks worth $11.2B in FY06. However, since the only other appropriations earmarks for FY07 were in the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill (less than 20), the 2646 earmarks represents the high water mark for FY 2007. This is first phase of TCS's earmark database. The excel spreadsheet is compiled of the data that was in the Defense spending bill and the accompanying conference report. Phase two will provide amplifying information about the earmarks including additional project information, legislative patrons, lobbying shops and other information. TCS hopes to complete phase two over the next couple months.
The earmarks in TCS’s FY07 Defense spending bill database range from $1.2B for 20 F-22A aircraft to $65K for PACAF C-17 Beddown (preparing for delivery of additional C-17s). To whet your appetite, here is a random sample of some of the earmarks and some amplifying information on each. Again, these are in no particular order and just represent some of the earmarks in the bill.
$1.6M for the Weapons of Mass Destruction Marking Set - Rex Systems in Chippewa Falls, WI in Rep. Obey's district.
$1.95M ONYX OPTICS - Advanced Bonded Diamond for Optical Applications - Onyx Optics is located in Dublin, CA and in former Rep. Pombo's district.
$1.5M for the Revolutionary 1.5 Volt Alkaline Battery.
$1M for the Thin Lithium-Iron Disulfide Primary Batteries obtained by Rep. Graves (R-MO).
$3.2M for flight hanger/deck cleaner - a scrubber to work on flight decks.
$31.5M for the C.W. Bill Young Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment and Research Program which is operated by the Navy at the Bill Young Marrow Donor Center in Kensington, MD.
$4.5M for Golden Hour Technology Containers – these temperature-controlled devices for transporting blood products are made by Minnesota Thermal Science in Plymouth, MN.
$2 million for Alcohol breath detectors made by WNCK, Inc. of The Woodlands, TX.
$1.6M for Enhanced Situational Awareness and Analyses of Geospatial Enterprise Infrastructure.
$4.5M for RedOwl Acoustic Targeting Device/Photonics Center - an acoustic sniper sensing robot being developed at Boston University.
$2.25M for Electroconversion of Energetic Materials which is run by the Nanomaterials Discovery Corporation of Laramie, WY.
$2.6M for a grant for the Center for Applied Science and Technologies at Jordan Valley Innovation Center in Missouri. This grant was obtained by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) to renovate the MFA Mill and the center will bear Rep. Blunt's name.
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