HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Jan 6 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on earmark rules changes announced by the Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees:

“I commend the majority for taking steps to increase the transparency of members’ individual earmark requests in appropriations bills, but the changes announced today by Chairmen Obey and Inouye fall short of the reform standards House Republicans have unilaterally adopted.  There should be no more taxpayer-funded ‘monuments-to-me,’ in which members earmark taxpayer funds for projects named after themselves.  There should be no more ‘airdropping,’ in which taxpayer-funded earmarks are dropped into House-Senate conference reports at the last possible minute to avoid public scrutiny and debate.  House Republicans unilaterally banned these practices nearly a year ago, while the majority has declined to follow suit.

“I’m also disappointed House Democratic leaders declined to appoint members to the Select Committee on Earmark Reform established by House Republicans, which will begin its work shortly – sadly, without the participation of any members of the majority party.

“My hope and expectation is that the standards for early public disclosure outlined by the majority today will apply to the 2009 omnibus spending bill the Democratic leadership intends to bring to the floor.  And I again urge the Democratic leadership to follow Republicans in banning outdated practices such as airdropping and constructing ‘monuments-to-me’ that abuse taxpayers’ hard-earned money for the purpose of protecting incumbent politicians.” 

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