FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11/30/10

Landrieu Stands Up for La., Opposes Earmark Ban

WASHINGTON — United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today opposed an attempt by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to place a mandatory three year ban on earmarks in the Senate.  The motion failed by a vote of 39-56.

"Eliminating earmarks, the right of an individual member of Congress to direct funding to a particular project, will not save a dime," said Sen. Landrieu, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "As a deficit fixer it is a pure gimmick.  I have and will continue to support earmark reform that includes full transparency, fair distribution to states and limited to public entities only.  But a ban on earmarks is bad for Louisiana and not something I can support." 

Sen. Landrieu continues to make it a priority that the process of earmark requests be open and transparent, so that only the most worthy and meritorious projects are awarded federal dollars. 

Every funding request made by Sen. Landrieu is a specific ask on behalf of local governments, non-profit organizations and community groups.   Each of these requests is posted on her official Senate website with information about the amount requested, the requesting entity and the purpose of the project.

To see the list of Sen. Landrieu's appropriations requests, please visit: http://landrieu.senate.gov/appropriations/