Lummis: Earmark Reform Needed Now

Press Release

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., a member of the House Budget Committee, is calling for dramatic earmark reform to begin restoring fiscal discipline to Congress's reckless runaway spending habits.

"Earmarks may only add up to a small percentage of our discretionary spending, but they add up," Lummis told Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Dr. Peter Orszag, during a Budget hearing. "The billions spent on earmarks mean something to American families struggling to make ends meet. People in Wyoming have completely lost faith with the ability of the federal government to manage their tax dollars, and earmarking is emblematic of this lack of restraint."

"Earlier this year, the President signed a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill with nearly 9,000 earmarks. Last week, the House passed the Commerce, Science and Justice Appropriations bill which contained roughly 1,100 earmarks. I ran for Congress to end this type of self-serving legislating. The American people are sick and tired of business as usual in Washington. The President promised to change the process. He promised he would not sign bills containing earmarks. Yet, it is apparent that promise was merely lip-service during an election year."

"I am unconvinced at this point that the President, or congressional leaders, will live up to their campaign promises to make tough choices and reduce pork-barrel spending."

"Just two weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress about the dangers of our enormous borrowing rate and the need to plan for long-term fiscal sustainability."

"We need fiscal discipline to solve our fiscal problems and pay down the debt. We need to make some tough choices."

Lummis has kept her promise to Wyoming taxpayers by not requesting earmarks. She will soon introduce her plan to restore fiscal sanity to government spending by drastically reforming the earmarking process to make it more predictable, equitable and transparent.

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