Jeff Flake

Let me just say that the direct payments were never intended as a safety net. They were meant to wean farmers off of the dole. If our parents worked as hard as this committee in weaning their children, we would all still be living in our…

Let me simply say that it's often said through earmarking we are simply asserting our right and the responsibility we have as Members of Congress under article 1. Under article 1, we certainly have the power of the purse. The problem is, I…

I actually challenged an earmark that was going largely to my own district. Arizona is just like other States in this regard. I don't object to projects that go through the process. I assume that the Central Arizona Project had a hearing…

I just will close on this one, saying again this is one of many museums that we are funding here. We simply can't fund them all. At some point it would be nice to give the taxpayers a gift and actually say we're not going to fund a…

Here is just another example, and maybe the sponsor of the earmark can enlighten us, but as to what makes this different, what makes this deserving of Federal funds? Why are we helping to set up a local revolving loan fund for local…

The truth is we went from about, as the chairman of the Appropriations Committee often points out, from zero earmarks in Labor-HHS to some 1,400 last week. Much of that was under my party. I think Democrats are as much to blame probably as…

To end this debate tonight on these earmarks, I would just say that there has not been one earmark that has been challenged here tonight that isn't going to a valuable organization as far as I'm concerned. The question is not is there…

Again, I don't want to diminish the need that the locals feel to have this museum. People around the country have varying needs and wants for museums, whether it is a teapot museum in North Carolina or a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio…

I'd simply repeat what I said. Virtually every district in the country can accurately say that certain parts of their district are economically depressed. We simply don't have enough money in the Federal Treasury to address all those…

This amendment would strike $150,000 for the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois, for educational programming and exhibits and, as mentioned, reduces the cost of the bill by a consistent amount. Now, I don't want to take a lot of time on…

I'm wondering, in the report that accompanied the bill, it mentioned that the earmark was to go to the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure, but the certification letter says that it's going to go to that but the earmark should…

But what he missed, as the good gentleman from Indiana mentioned, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin from Illinois, not afflicted with sun spots, by the way, just yesterday said, ``It is time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine.'' So I…

This is an earmark that begets earmarks. This is going to a business organization whose job it is to receive other Federal moneys. There have been many stories written over the past several weeks about organizations like this that exist to…

If the gentleman would explain, I am still a little confused. The earmark states it is for Philadelphia Art Museum exterior facade, but then we are talking about an extension or expansion as well. Is this for the historic facade or for an…

Let me just say, again, the gentlewoman mentioned that we have this program for historic preservation, the Saving America's Treasures, and that it is tough to get on the list for that. As I understand it, grants are given out and those…

If the gentlewoman will respond, I have a question. The earmark states that it is for Firefighter's Hall in Columbus, but the certification letter says the money is to go to the firefighters' union. Why does the union get the money?

I would submit not very much. But yet the same ones who support increasing this funding by five times also will not support allowing individuals to visit their own family members in Cuba and take toothpaste or clothing items or even to…

I think earmarks are overrated. You know, whether I get a little money for a museum or a sidewalk, I think my constituents would rather have me be a little more fiscally responsible. I think that they want an end to the practice of…

But what I am saying is outside groups have come as well. They would like access. I share the gentleman's pain in trying to go through and review these. That's why it would be useful at the quickest possible time to let outside groups as…

With regard to authorization, I sent a staff member to the Armed Services Committee. The staff member could not remove the list, could not make copies, had to sit and actually just make notes of the some 680 earmarks, letter request forms…

In the same vein, we now have rules that require submission of a letter. You have them in the committee now. What assurance do we have that the letters will be released to the public? For every earmark that is in the legislation, will…

Not one. I came to the floor 39 times and was beaten like a rented mule every time.

That is correct. It would have been a very simple amendment simply to get rid of what I call the Abramoff exemption, but that amendment was rejected by the Rules Committee for no reason. Like I said, it wasn't a ``gotcha'' amendment. This…

The University of Phoenix can take me to dinner, but they can't buy even a cheeseburger. But Arizona State University right next door can buy me a seven-course meal. They can fly me wherever. There are no gift rule problems there. So…

The problem that we have pointed out over and over is that the earmark rules that have been adopted allow the majority simply to state in the Record that there are no earmarks, regardless of whether that is true or not. In this case…