Washington, Jul 26 -  

Today, Congressman Scott Garrett applauded House Leadership’s decision to heed his call to begin implementing the reforms called for in the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act, which passed the House in May but still awaits action by the Senate. In a letter Garrett authored earlier this month, which was signed by 44 Congressmen, he called on House leadership to unilaterally institute the earmark transparency required by that bill immediately, regardless of Senate action.

"This truly is a victory for all taxpayers," stated Garrett, "and I am pleased that House leadership is eager to begin these necessary reforms and to end the Inside the Beltway practice of slipping pet spending projects into bills in the dark of night. It’s time Congress was accountable to the American people."

The Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act included provisions requiring that the Appropriations Committee provide a list of earmarks in each spending bill accompanied by the name of the requesting Member.

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