2012 pig book

21
2012 Congressional Pig Book Summary ® “The Book Washington Doesn’t Want You to Read”

Upload: cbs-news

Post on 05-Apr-2018

219 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 1/20

2012 Congressional Pig Book Summary®

“The Book Washington Doesn’t Want You to Read”

Page 2: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 2/20

Praise or CAGW and the Pig Book  “Citizens Against Government Waste is Washington’s leading opponent o pork-barrel spend-ing. Its annual Pig Book , which lists the government’s narrow giveaways, is used by newsoutlets worldwide to ridicule ederal earmarks.”

 Jef Birnbaum, Te Washington Post, February 20, 2007“Every taxpayer should read the Pig Book … Congress won’t stop picking our pockets or

 wasteul pork projects in which the ederal government has no business unless they are orcedto by taxpayers. Read the Pig Book and weep. Ten, get angry and do something.”

Syndicated Columnist Cal Tomas, March 29, 2005

“Neither rain, nor sleet or snow, or war or a bumpy economy, it seems, can stop the pork train rom pulling out o the congressional station. Citizens Against Government Wastehas issued its annual Congressional Pig Book Summary … Tis year’s budget may nally slay the myth that there is anyone who can credibly claim to be a scal conservative inside the

 Washington beltway.”  Asheville Citizen imes, April 17, 2004

“Citizens Against Government Waste is a watchdog group that keeps track o which politi-cians squander the most ederal money on ‘pork’ – those expenditures that are added ater thenormal budget process to help a particular group instead o the nation as a whole.”

 John Stossell, 20/20 

“I believe that this book should be read by every citizen in America…What is being donehere by CAGW, in my view, is o the greatest importance. [M]y constituents…need to havethese concrete examples o the way that business is done here in Washington, D.C., unortu-

nately, and the only way it’s going to stop is when it’s exposed.”Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)

“I commend Citizens Against Government Waste or trying to shame Congress into scalresponsibility, although one has to wonder i Congress has any shame. You certainly don’t getthat impression by ipping through the Pig Book .”

Representative Jef Flake (R-Ariz.)

“We can, with the assistance o an organization like CAGW , say in one year this [publication]is not needed.”

Former Representative David Minge (D-Minn.)

“Tose peckerwoods don’t know what they’re doing. Tey don’t. Tey’re not being realistic.”“Te King o Pork” Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.)

 National Public Radio, July 19, 2001

“All they are is a bunch o psychopaths.”CAGW “Oinker” Senator ed Stevens (R-Alaska)

 Associated Press, December 26, 1999

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, nonprot, nonpartisan organizationrepresenting more than 1.2 million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW’s mission is toeliminate waste, mismanagement, and ineciency at all levels o government.

Page 3: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 3/20

Moratorium:  A suspension o activity.One: Te number o actions required to violate a moratorium (also called the 

loneliest number that you’ll ever know).

 While any earmark would have been enough to prove that Congressviolated the earmark moratorium that was established in the House andSenate at the beginning o the 112th Congress, there are many suchexamples in the 2012 Congressional Pig Book. Te good news is that thenumber and cost o earmarks have decreased dramatically since scal year(FY) 2010, when the last Pig Book was published. Te number has dropped

by 98.3 percent, rom 9,129 in FY 2010 to 152 in FY 2012. Te cost hasdecreased by 80 percent, rom $16.5 billion in FY 2010 to $3.3 billion inFY 2012, which is the lowest amount since 1992.

Each appropriations bill was certied as “earmark-ree,” according toCongress’s earmark denition. Members o Congress will argue that theirstandards dier rom the earmark criteria used in the Pig Book, but that

has been true since the rst Pig Book in 1991. Te pork-ree claim can alsobe dismissed based on the inclusion o projects that have appeared in pastappropriations bills as earmarks. In act, on top o CAGW ’s long-standingseven-point criteria, to qualiy or inclusion in the 2012 Pig Book, a projector program also had to appear in prior years as an earmark. Te totalnumber and cost o earmarks are, thereore, quite conservative.

Te earmarks in FY 2012 involve larger amounts o money and include

ewer details than in prior years. For example, a $50 million earmark orthe National Guard Counter-Drug Program appearing in the Departmento Deense (DOD) Appropriations Act or FY 2012 corresponds to nineearmarks totaling $22.9 million in the FY 2010 DOD bill. Te FY 2010projects appeared in the “Congressionally Directed Spending” section at theend o the bill, and contained the names o the members requesting eachproject and its location, as required by the transparency rules. In addition,

members created new categories o earmarks, such as “additional undingor ongoing work” and “continuing authorities program,” both o whichappear in the Army Corps o Engineers section o the Energy and Water Appropriations Act.

INTRODUCTION

1

Page 4: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 4/20

Te supposed lack o earmarks resulted in a completely opaque process.Since earmarks were deemed to be non-existent, there were no names o 

legislators, no inormation on where and why the money will be spent, andno list or chart o earmarks in the appropriations bills or reports. Earmarks were scattered throughout the legislative and report language, requiringsubstantial detective work to unearth each project. While the lower numberand cost o earmarks is a vast improvement over prior years, transparency and accountability have regressed immeasurably.

In act, the next step in tracking earmarks is to enorce the requirement

in President Bush’s January 29, 2008, Executive Order that each ederalagency release all communications rom members o Congress regarding any earmark. It is not a coincidence that past earmarked programs are beingaggregated into a single sum that is in some cases tens o millions o dollarshigher than the amount requested in the president’s budget. In November2011, President Obama circulated a memo that reiterated the need oragencies to release letters rom members o Congress that direct agency sta 

to und particular projects.

Because a moratorium is not a permanent ban on earmarks, senatorsrom both sides o the aisle are proposing such a ban as an amendment tolegislation moving through the Senate. One reason or this eort is theact that several members o Congress have called or the moratorium tobe lited at the end o this Congress. For example, Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel

Inouye (D-Hawaii), Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking MemberTad Cochran (R-Miss.), Senate appropriator Lamar Alexander (R-enn.),Sen. James Inhoe (R-Okla.), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Reps. RonPaul (R-exas), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), and Don Young (R-Alaska) have allbeen critical o the continuation o the earmark moratorium. Until a banis established, taxpayers will be justied in their belie that members o Congress are being creative and deceptive in skirting the moratorium and

continuing to obtain earmarks.

INTRODUCTION (continued)

2

Page 5: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 5/20

Page 6: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 6/20

Te Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act has always tempted members o Congress 

to eed themselves at the trough. However, earmarks were drastically reduced inthe FY 2012 appropriations bill. Tere were only two earmarks, a 99.6 percent decrease rom the 475 in FY 2010, which cost $10.3 million, a 97.4 percent decrease rom the $396.5 million in FY 2010. Both earmarks were directed tothe Rural Utilities Service (RUS).

$9,500,000 or high energy cost grants. Such grants are available or“improving and providing energy generation, transmission and distribution

acilities serving communities with average home energy costs exceeding275% o the national average.” Both the Bush and Obama administrationstargeted high energy cost grants, which are duplicative o the Department o  Agriculture’s Electric Loan Program, or elimination. Apparently memberso Congress did not get the memo.

$810,000 or a guaranteed subsidy. Te U.S. government occasionally 

guarantees loans taken out in the private sector, which means thegovernment assumes all risk or its part o the transaction. Tis resultsin lower interest rates or borrowers. In eect, this earmark is meant toaccount or expected losses rom loans handed out by the RUS.

I. AGRICULTURE

4

Page 7: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 7/20

Te budget or the DOD Appropriations Act usually contains the most earmarks each year, and the FY 2012 bill did not break this tradition. While the amount and cost 

o earmarks was substantially reduced rom FY 2010, the legislation still contained 68 earmarks costing taxpayers $2 billion. Tis represents a 96.1 percent decrease inearmarks rom the 1,752 in FY 2010 and an 80.6 percent decrease in cost rom the $10.3 billion in FY  2010. Te $2 billion in earmarks represents 60.6 percent o the $3.3 billion contained in the 12 appropriations bills or FY 2012.

$255,000,000 or continued upgrade o the M1 Abrams tank to the M1A2SEP

variant, despite DOD’s proposal to suspend tank production until 2017 in order

to achieve savings. According to a December 16, 2011, article in the Daily ribune, supporters o the upgrade warned that “idling the program as the Iraqand Aghanistan wars wind down would jeopardize tens o thousands o jobsat more than 560 businesses across the nation.” Te article reported that Rep.Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said the continued unding or the M1 “is an importantvictory or Michigan and the nation. Te tank upgrade program is criticalto ensuring our troops are protected on the battleeld and vital to southeast

Michigan’s deense corridor.” Rep. Levin’s December 16, 2011, press releaseboasted o the benet to local contractor General Dynamics Land Systems, basedin Sterling Heights, and to more than 200 Michigan businesses that supply partsand services or the program.

Rep. Levin and House Armed Services Committee member Mike Rogers(R-Ala.) spearheaded a letter on May 6, 2011, signed by 135 representatives, to Army Secretary John McHugh arguing or continued unding or the M1 tank.

 While cooperation between Republicans and Democrats is a rare occurrence,pork remains the last bastion o bipartisan politics. Reps. Levin and Rogers may not have their names attached to this earmark, but their ngerprints are all overit. Since FY 1994, there have been 31 earmarks costing taxpayers $519.2 millionor the M1 Abrams tank program.

$239,000,000 or ve earmarks unding peer-reviewed cancer research,

including studies on breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostatecancer. Funding research on endemic cancers is a responsible use o taxpayermoney. However, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education andRelated Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations Act o 2012 provided $5.1billion or the National Cancer Institute, making the earmarks in this bill

II. DEFENSE

5

Page 8: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 8/20

redundant. According to a March 14, 2012, Washington Post article, DeenseComptroller Robert Hale proposed decreasing the DOD health budget in FY 

2013 in part by eliminating “one-time congressional adds” in which members o Congress appropriate unding or research on specic diseases. Tis apparently had no impact on Congress’ spending addiction.

$120,000,000 or three earmarks o $40,000,000 each or alternative energy research within the Air Force, Army, and Navy. On March 13, 2012, Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) assertedthat the Navy’s eorts to develop biouels to power its planes and ships could

devolve into a “Solyndra situation,” citing the solar panel manuacturer thatreceived a $535 million loan guarantee through the Department o Energy beoreling or bankruptcy in September 2011. According to Sen. McCain, the Navy has spent in excess o $400 per gallon or approximately 20,000 gallons o algae-based biouel. In a February 2011 hearing, House Armed Services ReadinessSubcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes (R-Va.) red a shot across the Navy’sbow, telling Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, “You’re not the secretary o Energy.

 You’re the secretary o the Navy.” Te FY 2012 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act supplies $3.2 billion or alternative energy research. Whilesearching or alternative energy options, Congress must ensure that taxpayers donot get burned.

$50,000,000 or the National Guard or Counter-Drug Program state plans.Formerly earmarked to individual states, the program, which allows or the useo military personnel in drug enorcement operations within the states, is now 

unded in one bundle as a work-around to the earmark moratorium. Te DrugEnorcement Administration, with a budget o $2 billion, is already responsibleor these activities. Since FY 2001, there have been 63 earmarks costing taxpayers$281.1 million or the National Guard Counter-Drug Program. Memberso Congress who have inserted earmarks or this program in the past includeperennial porkers such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Senate

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Appropriations CommitteeChairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), and ormer senator ed Stevens (R-Alaska).

II. DEFENSE (continued)

6

Page 9: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 9/20

$8,000,000 or Global HIV/AIDS prevention. Te Labor/HHS Appropriations Act o 2012 provided $2.3 billion or the HIV/AIDS Bureau or various

assistance, treatment, and prevention programs. Te Department o State,Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act provided anadditional $5.5 billion to the State Department or HIV/AIDS programs, makingthis earmark duplicative.

$5,100,000 or peer-reviewed autism research. Within the FY 2012 Labor/HHS appropriations bill, $69.1 million is already set aside or research on autism.

$5,000,000 or the Starbase Youth Program, which teaches science, technology,engineering, and math (SEM) to at-risk youth in multiple locations at or nearmilitary bases around the country. A February 7, 2012, Washington Post articlecriticized the role o Senate Deense Appropriations Subcommittee memberim Johnson (D-S.D.), along with seven other senators, in directing $4 millionto the Starbase program in 2008. During this timerame, Sen. Johnson’s wie worked or the Spectrum Group; she was tasked with evaluating Starbase as

 well as managing its website. Ater hiring Mrs. Johnson, the Spectrum Groupsubmitted a lobbying registration orm listing Mrs. Johnson as a lobbyist,although the company later claimed the orm was submitted in error. SinceFY 2001, six earmarks costing taxpayers $19 million have been directed towardStarbase, including an earmark worth $1.9 million in FY 2010 added by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

 A February 2012 GAO report on program duplication, overlap and

ragmentation ound that $3 billion was spent in FY 2010 across 13 agencies or209 SEM programs, 83 percent o which overlapped with at least one otherprogram. Eliminating the Starbase Youth Program would reduce that number toonly 208.

$3,200,000 or peer-reviewed bone marrow ailure disease research. Tisunding is redundant, since there is $23.4 million or research on bone marrow 

disease in the FY 2012 Labor/HHS appropriations bill.

II. DEFENSE (continued)

7

Page 10: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 10/20

Te Energy and Water appropriations bill has always been ooded with pork.Te Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Army Corps o Engineers 

have received many o these earmarks. Te  ARC was not the recipient o any earmarks in FY 2012, but money is still owing to the Corps o Engineers.While the number o Corps o Engineers earmarks dropped rom 482 in FY   2010 to 36 in FY 2012, a decrease o 93 percent, the average dollar value swelled rom $1.1 million to $14.7 million, an increase o 1,236 percent.

On the bright side, earmarks in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill are on the decline. Ater climbing to a total o 929 projects at a cost to taxpayers 

o $1.2 billion in FY 2010, the number o projects dropped by 95.1 percent to46 in FY  2012, and spending dropped by 44.4 percent to $667.6 million in FY   2012.

$111,099,000 or ood control by the Army Corps o Engineers, $9million o which will go to “ongoing projects.” Since 1996, CAGW hasunveiled 320 Corps o Engineers ood control earmarks worth a total

o $523.4 million. In FY 2010, porkers in this category included Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) andSenate appropriators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Frank Lautenberg(D-N.J.).

$74,145,000 or navigation construction, which has received 41 earmarks worth a total o $117.7 million since 1999, including $50,000 in 2005 orthe Cleveland Lakeront State Park.

$35,031,000 or National Energy echnology Laboratory (NEL) coalresearch and development. Te NEL, headquartered in Pittsburgh,“supports the Department o Energy’s mission to advance the national,economic, and energy security o the United States.” Tere were threeNEL earmarks worth a total o $19.5 million in 2005, when ormer Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) secured $10.5 million or NEL’s acility in

Morgantown and other members anonymously added $9 million.

III. ENERGY AND WATER 

8

Page 11: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 11/20

$34,000,000 or navigation maintenance, which has received 14 earmarks worth a total o $70.4 million since 1999.

$13,840,000 or hydropower construction. New York seems likely tobenet rom this earmark. Since 2008, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) andRep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) have teamed up on our hydropower earmarks worth a total o $7.7 million.

$10,084,000 or the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Dispersal Barrier, whichhas received a total o $14.2 million rom nine earmarks since FY 1998.

$3,000,000 in additional unding or ongoing shore protection, which hasreceived $21.9 million in earmarks since 1998. In FY 2010, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) secured $4.9 million or New Jersey shore protection, which may be a good Situation or Snooki, but not or taxpayers.

$3,000,000 or aquatic plant control. Since 1994, there have been 15

earmarks worth a total o $17.9 million or aquatic plant control projects,including two by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and one each by Sens.Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Je Sessions (R-Ala.).

III. ENERGY AND WATER (continued)

9

Page 12: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 12/20

Te amount o earmarks in the Financial Services and General Government  Appropriations Act decreased by 99.6 percent rom 270 in FY 2010 to just one 

in FY 2012. Te cost o earmarks declined by 40.8 percent rom $65 millionin FY 2010 to $38.5 million in FY 2012. Members o Congress should be congratulated or eliminating the numerous earmarks or the Small Business  Administration, long a prime repository or pork. However, the lone earmark inthe bill is a stain on an otherwise pork-ree piece o legislation.

$38,522,000 or the high intensity drug trafcking areas program (HIDA)

at the Ofce o National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Ater 40 years

and $1 trillion spent, drug use among Americans has not changed much, while some reports suggest drug use among teenagers has increased in thelast three years. ONDCP Director Richard Kerlikowske has admitted theshortcomings o the War on Drugs, stating in May 2010, “In the grandscheme, it has not been successul. Forty years later, the concern aboutdrugs and drug problems is, i anything, magnied, intensied.”

O course, this lack o progress has not stopped taxpayer money romowing to the ONDCP, which received a $27.1 million appropriation inFY 2011. In addition to its regular budgetary allowance, the ONDCP has received 16 earmarks worth $118.5 million since FY 1997. In FY s2008-2009, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers(R-Ky.) and Senate Financial Services Appropriations SubcommitteeChairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) earmarked $4.8 million or the ONDCP. Since FY 1997, 28 earmarks costing taxpayers $117.5 million have been

directed or HIDA programs in 10 states. Originally meant or borderstates, members o Congress have used earmarks to expand the programto non-border states. For example, three earmarks or HIDA programsin ennessee, totaling $12 million between FY 2008 and FY 2010, were added by both o the state’s senators, along with three Democraticrepresentatives in various years.

IV. FINANCIAL SERVICES

10

Page 13: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 13/20

 Ater a steady decline rom FY  2007 to FY 2009 rom its peak o $2.7 billionin FY  2006, Homeland Security pork rose again in FY 2010. Fortunately, the 

downward trend in earmarks is back or FY 2012. Te number o projects inthe FY 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations Act decreased by 96.5 percent, rom 173 in FY 2010 to six in FY 2012, while the dollar amount decreased by 63.8 percent, rom $242.8 million in FY 2010 to $87.9 million in FY 2012.

$48,500,000 or the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), which is 109 percent more than the President’s $44.5 million budgetrequest. Te NDCP has received six earmarks worth a total o $197.4

million since FY 2005, including $105 million in that year. Past NDCPearmarks have been added by House Appropriations Committee ChairmanHarold Rogers (R-Ky.) and Sens. om Udall (D-N.M.) and Je Bingaman(D-N.M.). One o the NDPC’s members is the Energetic Materials Researchand esting Center in Socorro, New Mexico, which, thanks to Sen.Bingaman, received a $10.2 million earmark in FY 2010.

$6,900,000 or UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter conversions. On its website,Sikorsky, the Connecticut-based manuacturer, describes the Black Hawk as“versatile, dependable, and rugged.” While those characteristics may be trueo the aircrat, they also apply to Congress’s penchant or earmarking undsor Black Hawks. Since 1996, there have been 18 earmarks totaling $571.7million or Black Hawk upgrades, modications, and purchases.

 V. HOMELAND SECURITY 

11

Page 14: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 14/20

Te number o earmarks in the Department o the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is down by 97.4 percent, rom 548 in FY 

 2010 to 14 in FY 2012, while the total dollar amount dropped by 74.4 percent, rom $361.1 million in FY  2010 to $92.3 million in FY  2012. Most notable among the missing earmarks this year is the Save America’s reasures program,which was recommended or the chopping block in President Obama’s FY 2010 erminations, Reductions, and Savings, and eliminated by Congress in March 2011.

$8,408,000 or Heritage Partnership Programs through the National

Park Service. Since 2001, Heritage Partnership Programs have received48 earmarks worth a total o $28.7 million or a wide array o initiativesincluding park improvements, sports complexes, health centers, waterquality monitoring, bike paths, sustainable agriculture, and agriculturaltourism. President Obama’s FY 2012 erminations, Reductions, andSavings recommended halving this program’s unding, citing that criteria“have not been established to evaluate potentially qualied NHS sites,”

adding that “sites have been authorized that do not necessarily warrantdesignation.” It would be ar better or the country’s nancial heritage toterminate this program.

$3,432,000 or Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico. Since2001, Valles Caldera has received six earmarks worth $13.7 million, duein large part to the eorts o Sens. om Udall (D-N.M.) and Je Bingaman(D-N.M.) along with ormer Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who collectively 

requested earmarks or the preserve in 2008 and 2009. On December 17,2011, Sen. Bingaman boasted on his website that he and Sen. Udall hadvoted or the FY 2012 Omnibus Spending Bill, and that its approval wouldsecure unds or Valles Caldera. An earmark by any other name, evenduring a moratorium, is still an earmark.

 VI. INTERIOR 

12

Page 15: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 15/20

$3,388,000 or national sh hatchery system operations. axpayers havelong been swimming upstream against the river o cash owing to various

sh hatcheries across the country, which have received 64 earmarks worth atotal o $81.7 million since 1991.

$1,000,000 or an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) geographicprogram in the San Francisco Bay, which has received past earmarks. Inboth FY s 2008 and 2009, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cali.) snagged$5 million in earmarks or EPA “restoration” in the Bay. Since the SanFrancisco Bay lies within the state o Caliornia, it seems reasonable to

leave unding or these projects up to Golden State taxpayers, not theircounterparts across the country.

$1,000,000 or an EPA geographic program on Lake Champlain. Since FY  2001, there have been 11 earmarks worth a total o $5.8 million or projectson Lake Champlain, including a $650,000 trail construction project. SinceFY 2008, Senate appropriator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has requested our

earmarks worth a total o $3 million or Lake Champlain (which he oncetried to designate as the sixth Great Lake). One o those earmarks was a $1.8million increase above the President’s budget or the EPA ’s Lake Champlainprogram in FY 2008, which looks very similar to this year’s earmark.

 VI. INTERIOR (continued)

13

Page 16: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 16/20

axpayers received a much-needed break rom earmarks in the FY 2012 Labor/ HHS Appropriations Act due to dramatic declines in projects and cost compared to FY 2010. Projects declined by 99.8 percent, rom 1,789 in FY 2010 tothree in FY  2012, while their total cost declined by 97.2 percent, rom $813.8 million in FY  2010 to $22.4 million in FY  2012.

$14,918,000 or Rural Hospital Flexibility Grants (Flex) through theDepartment o Health and Human Services. Flex grants were alsoearmarked in FY 2006 to the tune o $64.2 million.

$5,000,000 or abstinence education. Since FY 2001, members o Congresshave directed 126 earmarks or abstinence education, costing taxpayers $8.2million. In FY s 2008 and 2009, ormer Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) managedto steer $1.4 million to a total o 47 abstinence education earmarks acrossPennsylvania. Rumor has it that he still thinks o earmarking dozens o times each day.

 VII. LABOR, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, & EDUCATION (LABOR/HHS)

14

Page 17: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 17/20

 Members o Congress have a history o raiding the Military Construction,Department o Veterans Afairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 

(MilCon) or rivolous projects. Tere have been 51 earmarks worth $310.9 million since FY 1991 or tness centers on or near Army, Air Force, and Navy bases, along with 19 earmarks worth a total o $126.9 million or military chapels across the country. Fortunately or taxpayers, the number o MilConearmarks is down by 98.4 percent, rom 182 in FY 2010 to three in FY 2012,and their cost is down by 91.9 percent, rom $1.1 billion in FY 2010 to $89 million in FY 2012.

$14,630,000 or repairs to the Scott building at the Armed ForcesRetirement Home (AFRH).  AFRH also received a $5,000,000 earmark in FY 2000.

 VIII. MILITARY CONSTRUCTION

15

Page 18: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 18/20

 Although Congress nally eliminated unding or the International Fund or Ireland, earmarks still exist in the Department o State, Foreign Operations, and 

Related Programs Appropriations Act. Te number declined by 42.9 percent, rom seven in FY 2010 to our in FY  2012. Te cost decreased by 39 percent, rom $209.4 million in FY 2010 to $127.7 million in FY 2012.

$114,770,000 or the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), which supports global democratization eorts. Since FY 2001, UNDEF

has received three earmarks totaling $351.8 million. Te Obamaadministration has never requested unding or UNDEF.

$5,870,000 or the East-West Center in Hawaii. Meant to promoteimproved relations among Pacic nations, the East-West Center hasreceived 10 earmarks worth a total o $103.8 million since FY 1997. Ina moment o rare candor, Senate Appropriations Committee ChairmanDaniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) admitted in 2007, ater receiving an award romthe center, that it was created in 1960 without congressional hearings and

over State Department opposition. Te State Department has tried to killthe organization or years by not requesting any money in the department’sbudget request. Funding or the East-West Center might have gone southby now i it were not located in the chairman’s home state.

$5,009,000 or the International Fisheries Commission (IFC). Madeup o various marine conservation organizations and commissions, theIFC has received seven earmarks totaling $29.1 million since FY 1997.

Congress should let taxpayers o the hook and tell the IFC to go sh ormoney elsewhere.

$2,094,000 or the Asia Foundation, which is “committed to thedevelopment o a peaceul, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacic region.”Since FY 1997, members o Congress have directed eight earmarks totaling$49.6 million to the Asia Foundation.

IX. STATE & FOREIGN OPERATIONS

16 

Page 19: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 19/20

Like most other bills this year, the FY 2012 ransportation, Housing and UrbanDevelopment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act experienced a steep

decline in earmarks. Only ve earmarks were inserted into the bill, a decrease o 99.7 percent rom the 1,483 in FY 2010. Te FY 2012 earmarks cost taxpayers $115.5 million, a decrease o 90.4 percent rom the $1.2 billion in FY 2010.

$44,000,000 or research and university research centers. From FY 1994to FY 2010, 42 earmarks worth a total o $66.9 million were directed touniversity research; the FY 2012 total represents 65.8 percent o the totalamount earmarked in all previous years. Prior earmarks were spread among

12 states and were requested by leading porkers such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R -Ky.), Senate appropriator Richard Shelby (R -Ala.), and 2007 Porker o the Year, ormer Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W .V a.).

$9,980,000 or assistance to small shipyards, awarded or “capitalimprovements and related inrastructure improvements at qualiiedshipyards that will acilitate the eiciency, cost eectiveness, and

quality o domestic ship construction or commercial and FederalGovernment use.” Appropriators in the House o Representatives didnot add unding or this program.

$6,000,000 or a small community air service development program, whichprovides “nancial assistance to small communities to improve their airservice.” Communities with airports that have been classied as “small hub”or a lesser size by the Department o ransportation are eligible to apply 

or the program, which is eerily similar to, and just as non-essential as, theEssential Air Service.

Tis booklet was written by Sean Kennedy, Manager o Research, and Luke Gelber, Media/Policy Associate. It was edited by Tomas A. Schatz, President.

 X. TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT

17

Page 20: 2012 Pig Book

8/2/2019 2012 Pig Book

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2012-pig-book 20/20

1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Suite 1075

Washington, D.C. 20004

1.800.Be.Angry

www.cagw.org