Shelby, Milkulski Secure 25% of Earmarks on CJS Spending Bill

Jul 7, 2008 | 4 min read | Print Article

The FY 2009 Senate Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill contains 552 earmarks worth $471.4 million, according to an analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog organization. While the final numbers are what matters, the Senate’s bill is sizably smaller than their bill last year, which had 617 earmarks worth $689.8 million. ( Click here for the database)

Commerce Justice Science Subcommittee Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) are the biggest beneficiaries of the committee’s largess. Their states benefit from two of the largest earmarks in the legislation, including $30 million to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for an interdisciplinary science and engineering teaching and research corridor and $20 million for Maryland and Virginia, to aid watermen in the Chesapeake Bay with new work opportunities, including but not limited to aquaculture, restoration and research.

The Chairperson and Ranking Member collectively brought in $122 million in earmarks, which is well over a quarter of the committee’s earmark pie.

Here are other highlights:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) secured $500,000 for museum exhibits at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville, aka “Rocket City”, got its nickname in the 1960's because President Kennedy's emphasis on the space industry made Huntsville the fastest growing city in the U.S. at the time. The earmark would go to exhibits at the center, which is the home to Space Camp. In all Sen. Shelby obtained 72 earmarks worth $73.5 million, including eight earmarks to the Marshall Space Flight Center worth $4.5 million

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) secured $3,750,000 for the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward for marine mammal and salmon enhancement research. Federal law enforcement are examining whether the senator steered funds to benefit his longtime former staffer Trevor McCabe. The SeaLife Center has received over $50 million in federal money since the late 1990s. McCabe’s land was purchased with $558,000 of a FY 2005 earmark. As appropriations subcommittee members, Sen. Stevens obtained 17 earmarks worth $15.8 million.

Sens Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Mel Martinez secured $200,000 for the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, Orange County, FL, to research the diminished domestic fish stock. The Sea World Institute is a non-profit charity with laboratories in Mission Bay and Carlsbad, California and Orlando, Florida. Its Florida regional offices at SeaWorld Orlando received this earmark. According to its website, these “facilities include a small laboratory, office space, and limited storage capacity for the Institute's world-class collection of cetacean (whale and dolphin) skulls.”

$1,000,000 for the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, Baltimore, MD, for youth mentoring programs for at-risk children was obtained by the Subcommittee Chairman, Sen. Barbara Mikulski along with Ranking Member Sen. Shelby. It was founded in 2001 by baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken and other Ripken family members. The Foundation honors the legend and spirit of Cal Ripken, Sr. who succumbed to cancer in 1999. As head of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee, Sen. Mikulski obtained 25 earmarks worth $48.7 million.

Senior appropriator and CJS Subcommittee Member Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) obtained $2,000,000 for the Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii. In all, the senator obtained 16 earmarks for $32.7 million.

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