Jay Rockefeller: “in January the Senate took an important step toward improving congressional accountability by passing the Legislative…”

“in January the Senate took an important step toward improving congressional accountability by passing the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act as part of S. 1. One of the key provisions of this legislation attempts to shine light on the process by which Members request the inclusion of specific projects in legislation--in other words, earmarks. That provision includes a requirement that each Senate committee make public all congressional earmarks included in bills reported by the committee. We normally think of earmarks as part of the appropriations process, but the requirement in S. 1 applies to all bills and makes it clear that the term ``congressional earmark'' includes language authorizing funds, not just appropriations language. The legislation includes a specific requirement to disclose earmarks contained in classified portions of reports ``to the extent practicable, consistent with the need to protect national security.'' With that in mind, I rise today to formally describe for the Senate the earmarks included in S. 1538, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, a bill reported by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on May 31, 2007.”