Thursday's Associated Press wire reported, "Sen. Trent Lott proposed new restraints on home-district spending projects known as earmarks Thursday, but vowed to "fight like a tiger" against eliminting a practice that has spurred calls for higher ethics in Congress. Lott, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., jointly proposed a change that would give senators the opportunity to kill special projects inserted, often without the knowledge or vote of other senators, in larger pieces of legislation.
The Lott-Feinstein measure is the latest of a number of clean-government proposals to come out of Congress as lawmakers react to scandals involving bribery and unethical or illegal lobbying practices.
Several House members have also addressed the earmark issue in ethical reform legislation.
One proposal, by Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Harold Ford, D-Tenn., would bar agencies from funding earmarks unless they are contained in the actual legislative language of a bill. Often, earmarks are written into the committee report that accompanies a bill, which can't be amended on the floor."
As you may remember, one of Congressman Ford's commitments in his Covenant with Tennesseans, it is for government to "pass a campaign ethics law that gives ordinary people equal say with special interests in Washington."
One step in achieving that commitment is to reform earmark spending. And that is just what Congressman Ford is working towards.
In an early January press release, Congressman Ford along with Republican Congressman Jeff Flake urged their colleagues to sign onto legislation they had drafted that would reform the system of earmark spending.
The release is below:
Ford And Flake Team Up To Seek Support For Pork Barrel Spending Reform Bill
U.S. Representatives Harold Ford (D-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) today urged their colleagues to sign on to legislation that will reform the system of pork barrel spending that has resulted in many of the recent congressional scandals.
In a joint letter to the entire U.S. House of Representatives, Flake and Ford urged their colleagues to cosponsor legislation that will prevent members of Congress from slipping pork barrel spending items into funding bills at the last minute or in the dead of night. The bill will force lawmakers to put pork proposals to an up or down vote, in the open, and subject to public debate in order to determine whether the program is truly in the national interest.
The letter from Ford and Flake follows:
January 19, 2006
"This is a culture problem, and both parties have been responsible for this earmark system. And people like Harold Ford and Congressman Flake have the answer." - Lanny Davis, Former Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton
Support H.R. 1642
The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Detroit Free Press, New York Sun, TIME Magazine and the New York Times have called for Earmark Reform
Dear Colleague:
We are seeking cosponsors for a bi-partisan bill to provide accountability in the earmark process. The bill would mandate that agencies cannot fund earmarks unless they are contained in the actual legislative language of the bill, regardless of whether they are listed in a committee report. This provision would force earmarks to be included in the actual text of a spending bill, so that members on the House floor could debate any egregious earmarked spending.
As you know, members on the House floor can not amend committee report language, and they can only amend the actual text of a bill. However, most earmarks are contained in the committee report or final conference report of the bill, not in the actual bill language itself.
In addition, our bill provides point-of-order protections that prevent the waiving of House rules with regard to attaching non-germane spending (i.e. earmarks not contained in either the House or Senate spending bill) in the conference report of a spending bill. This would prevent spending from being included in the conference report that the House and Senate have not seen.
Sincerely,
JEFF FLAKE Member of Congress
HAROLD FORD Member of Congress
Once again, Congressman Ford is finding real solutions to real problems, all the while working towards a government that works for everyone, not just a select few.
As Senator, he will make all Tennesseans proud!
