Jeff Flake

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…

My office has a timeline, actually, if anyone is interested, and when we requested the list of earmarks, when we finally got it, what we were told by which office, and I can tell you this is no way to run a process, particularly given the…

I would say if it is the case that a computer glitch led to no printing of the list, then you would think that the Rules Committee would say, okay, maybe we should move the process back and allow Members to offer amendments on specific…

I believe the requirement in the House rules is that the report be filed 72 hours before it is brought up. Actually, those of us who went up to view the classified annex, I asked for the list, if there was a list of earmarks, and I was…

I will just finish. I will say again, let's not authorize a new program when we concede that there is considerable waste in the current program. To say that we simply can't address what is in the past, these programs are continuing…

Let me close by saying we are already spending millions and millions, tens of millions of dollars on programs to make sure that bus travel and other modes of transportation travel are safe. Let's not add another program so that the Hampton…

I simply have a hard time believing that there aren't sufficient private sector contractors out there. And if the Federal Government needs to set some standards and say we will only take dogs or companies that are licensed this way or that…

I have here a list of many, many companies that perform this function already that offer canine support services in the private sector. I still don't know why the Federal Government is in the business. I haven't heard justification, and I…

I appreciate the discussion on this. As I said, nobody is questioning, certainly not me, the need to have bomb-sniffing dogs. The FAA has had programs since 1972. Those programs have continued. But in 1999 the FAA, and as later taken up by…

If we want small government and we want it to work, let's not conduct it in the middle of the night on the last day of session. Let's actually come here in January and say, should we have a different severance package? Should it be…

I thank the gentleman. We do not legislate by press release. Unfortunately, for those of us who are trying to bring some accountability or transparency, sometimes the only way we can find out who requested an earmark or specific funding is…

Congressman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, announced December 12 that the Great Lakes Maritime Institute, the joint effort of the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the University of Minnesota-Duluth, will receive $2 million in Federal…

I will do that. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

I was told that it was the Speaker who offered it. Mr. LaHOOD. And so when you were told that, did you think that maybe you might look into the earmark to see if it had merit and to see if it was a set-aside that might merit further…

I was told by a reporter this morning who it might be. That was the first time I learned it after I had already agreed to offer it. Mr. LaHOOD. And the answer to my question is?

Well, thank you, and I simply want to reiterate if I were to stand here and offer amendments that had no impact on my district at all, if I ignored those that had an impact, then I could be accused of hypocrisy and doing things that simply…

Again, I do not know what else to say on this one. I think we have spent enough time on it. This is money for an athletic facility, a HUD grant for an athletic facility in Yucaipa, California. Simply, why we are spending money on that I…

Ninety-six percent of the earmarks that we passed last year were in conference reports that were just spending construction to the agencies. The agencies have very little knowledge that the funding is even there, yes. The problem is, if…