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Dr. Coburn Commends Senate for Accepting Stronger Earmark Reform
January 16, 2007
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today hailed Senate passage of the DeMint amendment to S. 1 the “Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007.” The DeMint amendment, which is nearly identical to earmark reform language authored by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and passed by the House, greatly strengthens the Senate bill by including in its definition of earmarks projects that are inserted into committee reports. The original Senate bill did not contain this definition and therefore excluded 95 percent of all earmarks.
“Passage of the DeMint amendment is a significant step toward honesty and transparency in government. I applaud my colleagues for accepting a measure that will show the American people that we are serious about changing the culture in Washington,” Dr. Coburn said.
“I also applaud the Senate Democrats who broke with their leadership last week and supported the Pelosi language,” Dr. Coburn added. Democrats who voted for the Pelosi language in the DeMint amendment included Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Kerry (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Barack Obama (D-IL), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Jim Webb (D-VA).
“I would also like to applaud Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) for his statement during last week’s floor debate that earmarks contained in report language do not have the force of law and should presumably be ignored by federal agencies. I agree with Senator Durbin’s statement that backdoor earmarks in report language have no more legal authority than ‘a note to your sister,’ and I would therefore encourage all agencies to consider earmarks in report language as such,” said Dr. Coburn, who has urged the Bush administration to not enact earmark requests that do not have the force of law.
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