McCaul Blasts The Majority's Earmark Process

Press Release

McCaul Blasts The Majority's Earmark Process

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul says Majority leaders in the House are allowing tax dollars to be spent without accountability to the public.

"They're taking the hard earned money of Americans and not allowing anyone to see how they are spending it, specifically within the earmarking process," said McCaul, whose district includes Washington County. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant and there's absolutely no sunshine on any of these earmarks."

Earmarks are legislation which direct tax dollars to be spent on specific projects. Typically, Members of Congress use earmarks to direct tax dollars into their own districts, sometimes to fund questionable projects which do not benefit the nation.

The chairman of the Appropriation's Committee, David Obey, who at the start of the year promised an open and transparent earmarking process, has now come out and said he will not allow a debate on earmarks to go forward until it is too late for public and Congressional scrutiny, said McCaul.

"In this case, one man in the Congress will decide how the nation's taxes will be spent, and that sounds more like a monarchy than a democracy," said McCaul. "These earmarks will be airdropped in the darkness of night without any scrutiny and that is unacceptable."

McCaul joined fellow colleagues in calling for the House to implement the earmarking rules they put in place in 2006. Those policies, for the first time, allowed members to openly challenge earmarks on the House floor, required all earmarks be publicly disclosed and allowed the nation to see who is sponsoring the proposed earmarks.

As a former federal prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, McCaul said he has taken every opportunity to vote for a more transparent and open earmarking process and will continue to do so.

McCaul is also a member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, also known as the Ethics Committee.

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