Political Quotes

“I come to the floor today to speak in support of legislation reforming the MTB, or the miscellaneous tariff benefit process. I am pleased to help this legislation advance. It is my hope that this bill will soon be on the President's desk. As many will remember, a dark cloud hung over the Congress with regard to the practice of earmarking in early 2009. The feeding at the earmark trough had long since expanded to the point of ridiculousness. Earmarks exploded to their annual record of $29 billion in 2006. They were long a problem before that, but it had become much, much worse at that time. Congress had become accustomed to powerful Members getting a large chunk of the earmark pie, and rank-and-file Members would fight over the scraps. We saw less and less true oversight as more and more spending was doled out in congressional back rooms. It wasn't just spending on earmarks that we didn't have good oversight on. It was the entire Federal budget. It was largely a problem because so much of our time in Congress was spent doling out earmarks and making sure that every Member got a few and that they were scattered around. We really gave up on the oversight that we should have been conducting. At the same time, earmarks opponents had ample opportunity to shame the process by highlighting bridges to nowhere, teapot museums, and the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, for example, receiving these earmarks.…”