Political Quotes

“I rise today to fix a troubling loophole in our earmark rules. Earmarks are something I strongly oppose. I believe they breed corruption, overspending, waste, and abuse. There has been bipartisan concern about the earmarking process for decades. In 2007, the process got so out of control that even earmarking's biggest supporters decided we needed guardrails. The Senate passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. The bill created Senate standing rule 44, which requires the authors of any bill considered by the Chamber to do this: identify each earmark contained in the bill and ensure that the text is publicly available at least 48 hours prior to proceeding to the bill. These two protections helped shine light on the earmarking process. There was significant bipartisan support for the protections in rule 44. In 2007, on the Senate floor, Senator Hillary Clinton said that rule 44 would help curb wasteful spending by creating greater transparency ``in the earmark process.'' It was nearly unanimous, including the two Senators from New Hampshire. I want to read a portion of her comments. I believe we can improve accountability by mandating publication of the earmark for a minimum period of time prior to any vote on the underlying measure, ensuring that both other elected officials and the general public have the opportunity to scrutinize the sponsored outlay.…”