FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Sept. 14, 2006

WASHINGTON – The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity today hailed U.S. House passage of legislation that will end the often-anonymous nature of pork-barrel earmarks, and urged the U.S. Senate to approve similar reforms. The House approved the earmark rules changes, 245-171, and they go into effect immediately.

“Too many in Washington are hooked on pork-barrel politics, and these reforms represent the acknowledgment of a problem and an important first step toward recovery,” said Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips. “While there is certainly more that needs to be done, these reforms will provide taxpayers, bloggers, and grassroots organizations like ours with more transparency so we can work together to fight waste, fraud and abuse. In the past year, we’ve been able to block pork-barrel earmarks for Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska, a Railroad to Nowhere in Mississippi and other boondoggles, and with these reforms, we’re going to be able to fight even more wasteful projects like these in the future.

“Congressman Jeff Flake and his conservative colleagues deserve a great deal of credit for fighting so hard to shine a spotlight on the problem of pork-barrel politics,” Phillips said. “Taxpayers also owe a debt of gratitude to House leaders like Majority Leader John Boehner, Majority Whip Roy Blunt and Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, who worked tirelessly to build support for these reforms and get them passed.”

In response to the growing problem of earmarks, Americans for Prosperity Foundation in April launched the Ending Earmarks Express, a nationwide road tour of lawmakers’ wasteful pet projects. Since then, the road tour has educated taxpayers from coast to coast about earmarks and called for reform. The Ending Earmarks Express has visited the sites of notable earmarks such as the infamous $223 million “Bridge to Nowhere” in Ketchikan, Alaska, the $700 million “Railroad to Nowhere” in Gulfport, Miss., and the San Diego, Calif., headquarters of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who raked in $95 million in earmarks and was named as “co-conspirator No. 1” in the earmark-related corruption case that sent Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham to jail.

The number of earmarks has skyrocketed from 958 in 1996 to 15,877 last year, tallying up to $47.4 billion in the 2005 budget, according to the Congressional Research Service. Phillips said reforming the practice of earmarking would also build momentum for the group’s larger goal of reining in all forms of wasteful spending in the federal budget.

NOTE: To view video of Americans for Prosperity's Wednesday earmark-reform rally and news conference on Capitol Hill, click here.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

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