The Republican Policy Committee
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Earmark Moratorium

Last Friday, House Republican leaders sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a letter calling on her to join House Republicans in endorsing an immediate moratorium on earmarks and to appoint a bipartisan, bicameral joint committee to reform the earmark process and eliminate wasteful spending. The GOP leaders asked Speaker Pelosi to respond to the request by February 1, 2008 – the end of the House Democratic Caucus retreat. In the letter, House Republicans also outlined a series of earmark reform standards they will adopt immediately, including:

 

  • No more “monuments to me.” Lawmakers should not use taxpayer money to fund projects named after themselves.
  • No more “airdrops.” The process by which Congress spends the American people's money should be completely transparent. Members of Congress should not circumvent transparency by airdropping earmarks into bills in conference at the last minute.
  • No “fronts” (no pass-through entities). Taxpayer funds should not be laundered through “front” operations that mask their true recipients. Members of Congress who request earmarks should put forth a plan detailing exactly how the money will be spent and why they believe the use of taxpayer funding is justified.
  • Members of Congress who “secure” earmarks should place these plans in the Congressional Record well in advance of floor votes on those earmarks.
  • To improve accountability, Members of Congress should require outside earmark recipients to put up “matching funds” where applicable so that American taxpayers do not bear all the risk for such expenditures.
  • The Executive Branch should be held accountable for its own earmark practices. The Executive Branch asks for earmarks, too, and has done so under administrations Democratic and Republican alike. Members of Congress should hold present and future Administrations accountable for the way in which taxpayer-funded earmarks are used.

January 25, 2008

 
 
    The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
    Speaker of the House
    H-132, the Capitol
    Washington, D.C. 20515
 
 
    Dear Speaker Pelosi:
 
    The earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken
Washington. Wasteful pork-barrel spending has outraged American families
and eroded public confidence in our institution. Both of our parties bear
responsibility for this failure.
 
    We write tonight to notify you that House Republicans believe that the
earmark system should be brought to an immediate halt, and a bipartisan
select committee should immediately be established for the purpose of
identifying ways to bring fundamental change to the way in which Washington
spends taxpayers' money.
 
    In the spirit of bipartisan cooperation fostered by our recent
cooperation on a short-term economic growth package, we offer our hope that
you and the members of the House Democratic Caucus will join House
Republicans in supporting these steps, which are urgently needed to begin
the process of fixing Washington's broken spending practices and restoring
trust between the American people and their elected leaders. We
respectfully ask that you and your Caucus consider these urgently-needed
actions and join us in supporting them by the conclusion of your Caucus
retreat next week.
 
    In the interim, until a complete earmark moratorium is in place and a
bipartisan panel is formed to identify ways to fix Washington's wasteful
pork-barrel spending habits, House Republicans will proceed with the
adoption of a series of earmark reform standards we will insist that all
House Republican members honor. These earmark reform standards include:
 
    -- No more "monuments to me." Lawmakers should not use taxpayer money
to fund projects named after themselves.
 
    -- No more "airdrops." The process by which Congress spends the
American people's money should be completely transparent. Members of
Congress should not circumvent transparency by airdropping earmarks into
bills in conference at the last minute.
 
    -- No more "fronts" or "pass-through" entities. Taxpayer funds should
not be laundered through "front" operations that mask their true
recipients.
 
    -- Members of Congress who request earmarks should put forth a plan
detailing exactly how the money will be spent and why they believe the use
of taxpayer funding is justified. Members of Congress who "secure" earmarks
should place these plans in the Congressional Record well in advance of
floor votes on those earmarks.
 
    -- To improve accountability, Members of Congress should require
outside earmark recipients to put up "matching funds" where applicable so
that American taxpayers do not bear all the risk for such expenditures.
 
    -- The Executive Branch should be held accountable for its own earmark
practices. The Executive Branch asks for earmarks, too, and has done so
under administrations Democratic and Republican alike. Members of Congress
should hold present and future Administrations accountable for the way in
which taxpayer-funded earmarks are used.
 
    It is our hope that you and your members will discuss and move quickly
to adopt similar standards during your Caucus retreat.
 
    The American people believe Washington is broken. Bold action must be
taken to show them we can fix it. We believe the actions House Republicans
are taking today can be a starting point for this kind of change. We hope
that by the end of your own Caucus retreat next week, you and all House
Democrats will join us in supporting an immediate moratorium on all
earmarks and the immediate formation of a bipartisan panel for the purpose
of identifying ways to end wasteful pork-barrel spending in Washington and
bring needed change to the way in which Congress spends taxpayers'
hard-earned money.
 
 
    Sincerely,
 
    John A. Boehner
    Republican Leader
 
    Roy Blunt
    Republican Whip
 
    Adam Putnam
    Chairman, Republican Conference
 
    Kay Granger
    Vice-Chair, Republican Conference
 
    Tom Cole
    Chairman, National Republican Congressional Committee
 
    David Dreier
    Ranking Republican, Committee on Rules
 
    Thaddeus McCotter
    Chairman, Republican Policy Committee
 
    John Carter
    Secretary, Republican Conference
 
    Eric Cantor
    Chief Deputy Whip
 

Posted by Policy Committee Staff (01-29-2008, 05:18 PM) filed under Announcements

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