Issa Urges Members to Voluntarily Disclose All Appropriations Earmark Requests
Press Release
Issa Urges Members to Voluntarily Disclose All Appropriations Earmark Requests
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), today in a letter to all Members of the House of Representatives, urged his colleagues on an individual and voluntary basis to publicly disclose their FY 2008 Appropriations project requests.
"While the leadership of the Appropriations Committee forges a procedural shield to protect wasteful spending and thwart public scrutiny of projects, I urge you to counter this wrong-headed approach and join the handful of Members who have made a voluntary public disclosure on their websites of all FY 2008 project requests made to the Appropriations Committee," wrote Issa who in March, for the second year in a row, posted his annual appropriations project requests on his Congressional website.
"The Duke' Cunningham earmark-bribery scandal brought new scrutiny to Members of Congress and, specifically, to the Appropriations process," continued Issa in his letter to colleagues. "Constituents want to know that the project requests we make benefit our communities, our country, and don't line our own pockets."
Rep. Issa's call for all Members to publicly disclose their Appropriations project requests comes just days after Rep. William Jefferson was indicted for allegedly masterminding a bribery scheme.
According to the Associated Press, while Democrats pledged to make the Appropriations process more transparent, "Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify earmarks' -- lawmakers' requests for specific projects and contracts for their states -- in documents that accompany spending bills. Rather than including specific pet projects, grants and contracts in legislation as it is being written, Democrats are following an order by the House Appropriations Committee chairman to keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them."
Rep. Issa's letter to colleagues follows below:
June 6, 2007
Dear Colleague:
I urge you to better Congressional transparency by joining a handful of Members who have publicly disclosed their Appropriations project requests.
An effort is reportedly underway on the Appropriations Committee to hide Member "earmark" requests from public scrutiny. According to the Associated Press, "Democrats are following an order by the House Appropriations Committee chairman to keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them."
While the leadership of the Appropriations Committee forges a procedural shield to protect wasteful spending and thwart public scrutiny of projects, I urge you to counter this wrong-headed approach and join the handful of Members who have made a voluntary public disclosure on their websites of all FY 2008 project requests made to the Appropriations Committee. The "Duke" Cunningham earmark-bribery scandal brought new scrutiny to Members of Congress and, specifically, to the Appropriations process. Constituents want to know that the project requests we make benefit our communities, our country, and don't line our own pockets.
As a San Diego editorial page recently wrote, "pork is in the eye of the beholder, and any reasonable requests that are going to improve infrastructure, beaches, law enforcement and water supply and quality for San Diego and Riverside counties sound good to us. What's important is that voters know just who their congressmen are lobbying for, whether it's local concerns or defense contractors. No more Duke Stirs.'"
While the Appropriations Committee may continue to protect the secrecy of Member project requests, the voluntary disclosure of project requests by Members increases transparency and is a step toward restoring public confidence in the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
Darrell Issa
Member of Congress
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