Illegal Immigration: Lately, our Republican leadership has been offering amendments on the floor to a number of bills that were clearly going to pass on the subject of illegal immigration. This is not surprising. What is surprising is that they almost always pass. Last week, an amendment to a Section 8 (government) subsidized housing bill would require that applicants for such housing show some proof of citizenship before they can obtain a subsidy. This clearly makes sense as we should not be giving such benefits to those who are here illegally. This amendment passed by a vote of 233-186 because virtually all Republicans and nearly 50 Democrats voted for it. We’ll see whether this amendment remains in the bill through the Senate and a conference committee. 

But, if there is a majority in the House for such measures, might there not be that same majority for a broader enforcement-first immigration bill? The problem is that no bill even gets a vote unless the Speaker allows it to. It appears that Speaker Pelosi really wants an amnesty bill. But an amnesty bill would put many freshman Democrats in a very tough position. So, will the Speaker allow an enforcement bill to even get a vote? A group of us will be pushing for such a vote. We’ll see. 

Earmarks: Much of my activity this week has been fighting bad earmarks. Two spending bills were passed this week. One of them had about 800 earmarks totaling $1.1 Billion. The other had 1300 earmarks. I have watched and participated in this whole earmark process during the time I have been in Congress. Frankly, the process stinks. It allows members of Congress to hand out your money to virtually any charity or company or organization we want to and receive adulation for the contribution as though it were our own money. But it’s not. Listed below are the 5 worst earmarks that I have seen so far this year. There is a caveat in that neither I nor my staff can have possibly reviewed all of the thousands of earmarks that have been included in bills. So there may be worse ones that we have not yet ferreted out. But suffice it to say that this will give you some idea of what is out there: 

Charlie Rangel’s Earmark for the Rangel Center – Ways and Mean Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has requested a $2 million earmark in the Labor/HHS appropriations Bill to establish the “ Rangel Center for Public Service.”  The funds can be used for an endowment, a library, and archives, and “a well-furnished office for Congressman Rangel.”  The Chairman will use taxpayer dollars to build a library (or public service center) in his own name, establishing a location for his future papers.  

John Murtha’s Mysterious Million Dollar Earmark – U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is requesting $1 million in taxpayer funding for the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure (CICI) in Pennsylvania .  After Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) noticed that the center doesn’t have a website, he asked Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) the Chairman of the spending subcommittee responsible for the project whether the center even exists. Visclosky’s response?  “At this time, I do not know.”  Flake introduced an amendment to strip the funding, but it failed 98-326. 

Jesse Jackson Jr’s Invisible Airport – Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill) requested $231,000 for an organization called “The Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission.” The organization was created by Congressman Jackson and its executive director is on his district staff.  The request states that the money is for "minority and small business development opportunities." The problem is that no such airport exists.  How do you have job opportunities for an airport that isn’t there? 

Nancy Boyda’s Pokey Museum – Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-KS) is requesting $1.2 million for a proposed prison museum in Lansing, Kansas .  According to local leaders, the museum would serve as a place to satiate the appetite of “curious tourists who are hoping to spot an inmate or go behind the barbed wire fences.”  That’s great, but if people want to tour a prison museum, why should the federal government pay for it?

Don Young’s Duplicative Education Earmark – U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is requesting $34 million to strengthen “Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions.”  Yesterday, when U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) challenged Congressman Young on this earmark, Young said (about taxpayer dollars), “you want my money — my money!”  He also said Republicans lost the majority because we challenged spending during our tenure.  I beg to differ with my esteemed colleague.  We did not lose our majority challenging spending, but for doing the spending. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.