Letter to Leader Reid

Letter

Dear Leader Reid,

I write today to request that the Senate consider a bipartisan earmark transparency bill before the end of this Congressional session. Providing more openness and transparency to the earmark process will create greater accountability and more effectively engage our constituents in our efforts to create jobs and invest in our communities.

I, along with 27 of our colleagues, recently cosponsored the Earmark Transparency Act, S. 3335. This bill requires that all earmark requests made by Senators be listed in an easily searchable, public, database. Specifically, the legislation requires the database to include the following information about each federal funding request:

* Amount of initial request made by requestor;
* Amount approved by the Committee of jurisdiction;
* Amount approved in final legislation (if approved);
* Type of organization receiving the request (public, non-profit, or private for-profit entity);
* Project name, description and estimated completion date;
* Justification explaining how the spending item would benefit taxpayers;
* Description, if applicable, of all non-federal sources of funding for the Congressionally directed spending item;
* Requests and supplemental documents submitted to a committee of Congress.

This legislation has broad bipartisan support and it is my firm belief that more openness and transparency will improve the earmark process.

For the last three years, I have listed my earmark requests on my website and I have received positive feedback from my constituents. By providing my constituents with all the information about the requests I make, I've empowered citizens in New York to play a role in the process, articulating what projects they think are smart investments and areas where taxpayer money could be better invested.

As you know, President Obama has called for a single Web site to track all earmark requests and it is my hope that we may be able to create something that can be used during the appropriations process next year.

I realize the Senate schedule will be very busy this year, but I hope that I may work with you to carve out just a small amount of time to consider this important issue.effect unless (1) Congress statutorily prohibits the adjustment; (2) Congress statutorily revises the adjustment; or (3) the annual base pay adjustment of General Schedule (GS) federal employees is established at a rate less than the scheduled increase for Members, in which case Members are paid the lower rate. Members may not receive an annual pay adjustment greater than 5 percent. This adjustment formula was established by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989.

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