Jeff Flake: “I thank the gentlelady for accepting the amendment. Some have asked, Why do this if there's no intention to earmark the…”

“I thank the gentlelady for accepting the amendment. Some have asked, Why do this if there's no intention to earmark the program? Why do we need this language? Unfortunately, in the past, with programs that have been adopted like this, competitive grant programs, we have said and promised in Congress that we won't earmark those funds, and we've come and earmarked them. A good example is FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program that was put in place. It was not to be earmarked. It was a grant program like this one. Yet in 2007, nearly half of the funds for the program were earmarked. I just want to make sure that they aren't in this program as well. So I thank the gentlelady for accepting the amendment. I urge its adoption. I yield back the balance of my time.”