In a break from all-Omnibus, all-the-time coverage here at TCS, here's an update on a greatest hit from yesteryear. Sen. Coburn (R-OK) is promising to hold up the technical corrections bill to the 2005 highway bill until there is a full investigation of the events that lead to the changing of an earmark from widening I-75 to putting in a Coconut Rd. Interchange after Congress had already approved the bill but before it went to the President. You may recall that we requested an ethics investigation to look into this as well (which was the first time TCS has ever done that):
http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/letterstocongress/2007-09-26ethicscmte.html
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December 18, 2007
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
361-A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator McConnell:
I write to inform you that I will object to unanimous passage of any bill providing technical corrections of the 2005 highway bill if that bill does not require a full and open investigation of the events leading up to the unauthorized revision of congressionally passed legislation during the enrollment process.
While my understanding is that the latest version of the technical corrections bill restores the original congressional intent of the “Coconut Road” provision, those who perverted and distorted the explicit will of the U.S. Congress must also be held to account. A full investigation into this matter is necessary to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.
After both Houses of Congress approved passage of the conference report on H.R. 3 (SAFETEA-LU) in the 109th Congress, a major substantive change was secretly made to the legislation during the enrollment process. Specifically, item number 462 of section 1934 of the bill was secretly changed from "Widening and Improvements for I-75 in Collier and Lee County" to “Coconut Rd. interchange I-75/Lee County[.]”
H.R. 3 (SAFETEA-LU) - Conference Report as Approved by Congress
H.R. 3 (SAFETEA-LU) - Enrolled Version
As you well know, substantive changes during the enrollment process can only be made via a concurrent resolution, which must be agreed to by both the House and Senate. According to the Congressional Research Service, only one concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res. 226) regarding the 2005 highway bill was passed by the 109th Congress, and the resolution was “silent on any other specific changes, including section 1934[.]”
Because secret, improper, and unauthorized changes to congressionally passed legislation call into question the integrity of our entire Constitutional and legislative process, I believe a full and open investigation into this matter is necessary to restore the integrity of both the U.S. Congress and the Constitution.
I thank you for protecting my rights as a U.S. Senator and I look forward to working with you to create a select committee, comprised of Members of both the House and Senate, to investigate the events that led up to the unauthorized change and to provide a full accounting of the matter to the American public.
Sincerely,
Tom Coburn, M.D.
United States Senator
