David Minge: “as a cochair of the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition and a Member interested in improving the integrity of Congress…”

“as a cochair of the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition and a Member interested in improving the integrity of Congress, I am strongly opposed to the method by which earmarked water projects were included in the Safe Drinking Water Act. Most, if not all, of these projects circumvented established congressional procedures and were inserted into the bill by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Congressional districts benefiting because a Representative holds a position of influence on a committee or has made a special arrangements with a member of the committee is simply wrong. The American people are fed up with the backroom dealing and horse trading that has characterized congressional politics to this day. The time has come to bring fairness and objectivity to the authorization and appropriation processes. If a Member of Congress believes that a project should be funded in their district, then let us hold open, public hearings on that project. We can hear about the merits of the project and why American taxpayers should shell out their hard-earned dollars to pay for it. Let us apply objective criteria to the numerous projects that seek funding in order to create a prioritized list. We then can match our priorities against our limited Federal resources and make fair, impartial decisions as to which projects should be funded. Mr. Speaker, I share your concern for eliminating the deficit and balancing the budget.”