Walberg Weekly Wrap Up - June 22

Op-Ed

Walberg Weekly Wrap Up - June 22

By: Rep. Walberg

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan decided to do something about excessive, pork-barrel spending by members of Congress.

President Reagan vetoed the 1987 transportation bill because it was $10 billion over the budget guideline he established and because it contained over 100 pork-barrel earmarks demanded by members of Congress.

The President's comments at the time were humorous and telling: "I haven't seen this much lard since I handed out blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair," he quipped.

Over the past twenty years, times have changed.

For example, the 2005 transportation bill signed into law by President Bush contained 6,371 earmarks and exceeded the spending limit he instituted by $12 billion.

Now, if you have read any of my previous weekly wrap-ups, you are probably aware of why I came to Washington, DC: "I came to Congress not to maintain the status quo in Washington, D.C., but to work for real, meaningful reform on how Congress spends taxpayer dollars."

This week, in an effort to bring more transparency to the appropriations process, I announced a listing of the appropriations requests from Michigan's Seventh Congressional District in 2007 on my official website.

One of the biggest issues facing Congress right now is pork-barrel earmarking and serious reform is needed to ensure pork-barrel earmarking is limited.

This year alone, 435 members of the House of Representatives combined to request over 32,000 appropriations requests. This equals approximately 75 requests per member.

By revealing the funding requests I have forwarded from communities in my district, I hope to bring greater transparency to the appropriations process and work towards restoring the confidence of the American people in government.

I am demonstrating my commitment to being part of the reform process by listing the 23 requests for federally-funded projects my office made on behalf of the Seventh District in 2007 on my official website, available here. Projects are listed according to the appropriations bill they would be included in.

It should be noted that these projects have zero budget cost and do not constitute new spending as each application seeks to be included as part of the budgeted appropriations process.

Pursuant to House rules, I have also filed certifications with the Chairman and Ranking Member of the appropriate subcommittees stating that neither I nor my wife Sue have a financial interest in the project requests.

Another important tool in the fight against wasteful spending is giving the President line-item veto authority.

I co-sponsored the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act so the President will have the ability to strike out pork-barrel spending in budget and appropriations bills on a line by line basis.

Clearly, Congress has gotten away from keeping our fiscal house in order during the past few years.

In the months ahead, Republicans and Democrats in the House must work together in a bi-partisan manner to make certain that taxpayer dollars are going to meaningful programs.

We must restore fiscal responsibility in our government, and spending taxpayer dollars in a fiscally responsible manner remains my top responsibility as a member of this Congress.

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