Congressman Dave Reichert

Washington, DC, Mar 11 - Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08) today released the following statement:

“I supported today’s earmark moratorium because I have long been a vocal proponent of such reform,” Reichert said. “In fact, in November, Politico described me as an ‘outspoken transparency and ethics advocate.’ Two years ago I led by example and declared a personal moratorium on earmarks. I did this because I wanted to push the leaders in both parties to recognize we needed to come together to create an earmark system that works and that the public can trust. In the absence of broader Congressional action, I then authored my own comprehensive, bipartisan reform bill (HR 3268) with my Washington State colleague, Adam Smith, to show how this system could be cleaned up.

“To be clear: I support Member projects because I believe Congress – not unelected bureaucrats – has a Constitutional responsibility to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and dictate where those federal dollars go,” Reichert continued. “And I also believe we need a federal spending process that is fair, open, and worthy of public trust. I was sent here to represent my constituents’ priority interests, and that does include infrastructure, education, and research investments, and I do believe our internal process last year worked and is a model of earmarking done right. While I would continue with that reformed process again, it is clear that the American people, by making their voices heard, have created an opportunity to work toward Congress-wide reform and create a system worthy of public trust – that doesn’t waste hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

“My constituents have elected me to represent their priority interests, and one of those priorities is to clean up this unsustainable spending. It would be foolish to walk away from this opportunity to further reform the system – particularly when there is clearly momentum now among Democrats and Republicans to get it done.”

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