Jeff Flake: “the day after the House passed the Labor- HHS spending bill containing more than 2,000 earmarks, we got a look at the…”

“the day after the House passed the Labor- HHS spending bill containing more than 2,000 earmarks, we got a look at the Defense bill. What we're finding is troubling to say the least. Again, there are more than 2,000 earmarks in this bill, a bill that is intended for the military. Now, we all know that earmarks draw funds away from more urgent priorities. Nowhere is this more clear than with the military spending bill. Simply put, every dollar that Congress has earmarked in the Defense bill is a dollar that troops won't have for critical equipment. What's so important that it diverts money away from soldiers? Well, air-dropped into this conference report and this Defense appropriation bill, $3 million for a golf program for kids. This earmark might be par for the course in any other bill, but in the Defense bill, it's clearly indefensible. I don't believe that earmarks like this represent the sentiments of the country when it comes to military spending, and I urge my colleagues to reject the bill until the earmarks are removed.”