TCS Statement on the Passage of the Omnibus Spending Bill

Dec 8, 2003 | 4 min read | Print Article

Washington, D.C. – The following is a prepared statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog organization on the passage of the Omnibus spending bill by the House:

Members of Congress missed a golden opportunity to reign in wasteful and parochial pork barrel spending today. Despite record deficits, lawmakers have passed more special interest earmarks than ever before. The Omnibus spending bill they just passed included thousands of frivolous, bizarre and special interest earmarks for every congressional district in the nation. From making baby food out of salmon to swimming pools in Nevada and California, this spending bill has something for almost everyone. YMCAs, museums, county libraries, ballet schools – they are all getting a piece of the action.

The thousands of earmarks in this bill oiled the cogs of the legislative process. Put simply, there is more grease in this bill than all the fast food restaurants in America. The bill represents a campaign kickoff for the 2004 election year. Despite the fact they haven’t accomplished much this year, elected officials can now go back home with their pockets full of goodies for their constituents.

As the last fiscal train leaves the Capital Hill station, every piece of pork is trying to hitch a ride. Today, very few lawmakers showed the courage to stand in front of this runaway train and knock it off its tracks. With the federal treasury running on empty, this bill is a budgetary train wreck that will only deepen the nation’s fiscal woes. Let me be clear, any fiscally responsible lawmaker would not vote for this bill.

The following is Taxpayers for Common Sense’s top 10 list of the pork in the bill:

$50 million for an indoor education rainforest in Coralville, Iowa. The champion of this project is Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA).
$200,000 for the University of Hawaii to produce a documentary on the “running hunt” technique used by Kalahari Bushmen, where the hunter pursues his prey until either man or animal drops dead of exhaustion. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) is 2nd ranking Democrat on the appropriations committee.
$150,000 for a stoplight in Briarcliff Manor, NY. This is in the district of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)
$200,000 to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH for “Rockin’ the Schools” program.
$100,000 for “streetscaping” in a trendy neighborhood in Salt Lake City called Ninth and Ninth.
$225,000 for Hawaii Statehood Celebration.
$450,000 for Trout Genome Mapping. Trout genome mapping entails locating and deciphering the functions of all the genes in rainbow trout, called the trout genome. This is aquaculture research that is intended to assist in learning how to grow trout faster.
$1 million for the State Historical Society of Iowa for exhibits for the World Food Prize.
$360,000 for the study of “Citrus Waste Utilization,” which is the study of the alternatives uses of citrus byproducts. The champion of this provision is Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL).
$150,000 for the Rock School in Philadelphia, PA. This ballet school is named after its founder Shirley Rock.