Spending Bill Reeks of Pork, Critics Charge

The federal budget deficit is soaring. Unpredictable costs loom from possible war with Iraq. Yet, Congress found $50 million to promote tourism, $10 million to market Alaskan seafood and $90,000 for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Texas.

Pork, critics decry.

“I ought to nominate some of my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, for the hall of fame for pork,” Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) griped. “But I’m afraid that they would fund it.”

The 3,000-page, $397.4-billion spending bill rushed through the House and Senate on Thursday includes money -- sought by Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike -- for hundreds of hometown projects. Taxpayer groups still poring over the measure Friday predicted the total would surpass last year’s record of $20.1 billion spent on such projects.

While Congress debates war, lawmakers haven’t forgotten an old political axiom: Bring home the bacon.

“Congress’ last-minute pork-capade reminds us that the key question of politics is always, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ ” said Donald Kettl, a University of Wisconsin political scientist.

The projects also play an important role in getting the budget passed. “A member of Congress might trade a vote for a mega-program in exchange for a mini-slice of the budget, whether it’s scientific research or a plan to promote a hometown industry,” Kettl added.

Critics of the spending bill say that with the nation struggling with a deficit and rising defense costs at home and abroad, it’s no time for business as usual.

“Our uncertain economy and our current vital national security concerns show that we need more than ever to prioritize our federal spending,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) lectured to a near-empty Senate chamber Thursday. His colleagues then swiftly approved the bill, 76 to 20 (with McCain voting for it, despite his complaints).

President Bush is expected to sign the measure, which will fund government agencies ranging from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 2003 fiscal year that began more than four months ago.

To their congressional sponsors, the money for the projects is well-spent.

“We’re investing in our nation’s economy,” said Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who secured the $50 million for travel and tourism in the United States. “If we don’t get people traveling, our economy will continue to suffer.”

A spokesman for Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who secured the $90,000 to finance an audio tour in English and Spanish at the cowgirl museum in Fort Worth, said the facility has a “unique educational mission.”

Funding for the projects represents a “very small percentage” of the bill, said John Scofield, a spokesman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.).

“We think members of Congress are uniquely positioned to make smart decisions on the expenditures of federal dollars, much better than some faceless bureaucrat here in Washington,” Scofield said.

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) secured $121,500 for the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall, which he said provides a greater understanding of “one of the most popular Western movie stars of the silent era,” and $162,000 for the Lancaster Soccer Center, a facility he said has held tournaments and contributed $2 million to the regional economy.

He also won approval for $3 million for the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada.

“Congress should provide the basic tools necessary to help our communities grow and prosper,” McKeon said.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, successfully pushed for $700,000 for a proposed project between the University of Redlands and Cal State San Bernardino to establish an Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies; $1 million for an “automated countywide gunshot detection system” in San Bernardino County; and $1.5 million to renovate an old train depot.

The list of funding also includes $1 million for a DNA bear sampling study in Montana; $750,000 for the National Baseball Hall of Fame; $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; $250,000 for research on “the interaction of grapefruit juice and drugs”; $360,000 for research into alternative uses for tobacco; and $135,000 for the Culinary and Hospitality Academy Center of Las Vegas.

Some of the projects’ sponsors sought to tie them to homeland defense.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) obtained $1 million for Auburn University’s Canine Detection Training Center to train dogs to sniff out biological and chemical threats. And Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) got $500,000 for the Cyber Protection Laboratory at Iowa State University.

An aide to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said the $10 million to promote Alaskan seafood was necessary because a flood of imports has caused sales of Alaskan salmon to plummet.