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House Republicans Adopt Moratorium On Earmarks
House Republicans Thursday adopted a moratorium on earmarks that Central Texas Congressman John Carter called an “historic milestone.”
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Rep. John Carter (file photo)
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WASHINGTON (March 11, 2010)—Republicans seeking to regain control of the U.S. House said Thursday they will stop stuffing spending bills with pet projects for their districts.
The move is an election-year appeal to voters frustrated with Washington's free-spending ways, but it is a one-year pause, not a permanent ban.
Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, called it a stunning blow in the fight to control government spending.
“Today is a historic milestone in moving towards eliminating the pork-barrel spending that is destroying our children’s economic future,” Carter said.
“It is not without cost to House Republicans, as we are voluntarily giving up our ability to impact federal spending priorities, while Democrats will continue designating funds for projects in their districts. But it is worth it to give the American people a clear-cut choice in November to shut down the insane levels of federal deficit spending of this Congress and Administration,” he said.
GOP Leader John Boehner said Thursday that suspending earmarks shows Republicans are serious about fixing Washington.
Republicans are promising new reforms to make the process more public, but they offered no specifics in a news conference announcing the moratorium.
The step comes in advance of a deadline for lawmakers to submit their earmarks.
Thousands of GOP requests that were sent already will now be withdrawn.
Latest Comments
Hmmm, so no one wants to reward their constituents? I say instead of Republicans moratorium on earmarks you instead show some transparency as to where these earmarks are going and for how much. Why is it that earmarks only become a big deal when Republicans became the minority. I didn't hear Republicans making such a big deal about it when they were the majority.
