Duckworth Opposes Pork-Stuffed Senate Spending Bill

Duckworth Opposes Pork-Stuffed Senate Spending Bill
Calls for Future Iraq War Spending to be Part of Regular Budget Process

Tammy Duckworth took aim today at a supplemental spending bill passed late last week by the U.S. Senate, calling it "a load of political pork conveniently packaged alongside truly urgent needs."

"If we're ever going to get the federal deficit under control, we have to limit emergency spending bills to true emergencies," Duckworth said.

She also called for including all future costs of the Iraq War in the regular budgetary process, rather than funding it through a series of supplemental spending bills as the Bush Administration has done for years.

"The American people ought to know the true cost of the Iraq War, and our government should be forced to budget for it," she said. "Coming back to Congress again and again for supplemental funding is a fundamentally untruthful way for the Administration to fund this war."

Initially, the supplemental budget bill was intended to cover "emergency" funding needed to support the war in Iraq and provide relief to areas devastated by last year's hurricanes. By the time the Senate approved it this week, however, the bill's price-tag had expanded by an extra $14 billion, with money added for such items as upgrades to hurricane barriers in Providence, R.I. and flood levees in California, compensation to shell fisherman in New England, reimbursing a giant corporation for uninsured hurricane losses, and more than $4 billion in additional agricultural spending.

"The Senate has passed a bill that drives up our deficit and drives up the anger of taxpayers who want members of both parties to tackle an out-of-control deficit rather than endlessly adding new spending," Duckworth said. In her opposition to the Senate bill, Duckworth agreed with Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) who has declared the Senate bill "dead on arrival" in the House. The House has passed a supplemental spending bill largely free of expensive add-ons, and costing approximately $17 billion less than the Senate version.

In her campaign for Congress, Duckworth has spoken out strongly on behalf of returning to a balanced federal budget. To help achieve that goal, Duckworth has proposed:

* a return to "pay-as-you-go" budgeting, so every increase in spending is matched by a commensurate cut;

* eliminating special project "earmarks" that don't go through the normal budget process;

* lifting the prohibition in the new Medicare prescription drug plan that bars the government from negotiating for lower drug prices; * capping agricultural support programs to benefit family farmers rather than corporate agribusinesses;

* banning no-bid contracts to companies, such as Halliburton-subsidiary KBR, doing business in Iraq and the Gulf Coast.

"I believe it's incumbent on all members of Congress - Democrats and Republicans - to put a lid on our exploding federal debt," Duckworth said.

"Although I've been critical of the House Republican leadership on ethics reform and energy independence, on this one they've got it right," Duckwroth said. "Emergency spending bills should be limited to true emergencies, and not just an opportunity for more pork."

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