Congressman Flake Applauds Bush Administration for Instructing Federal Agencies to Ignore Earmarks

Congressman Flake Applauds Bush Administration for Instructing Federal Agencies to Ignore Earmarks

Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona's Sixth District, today applauded the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rob Portman, for a memo he issued regarding earmarks.

In the memo, OMB Director Portman instructs federal departments and agencies to refrain from using funds provided in the continuing resolution (CR) for earmarks that have not been included in statutory language.

The move will prevent the vast majority of fiscal year 2006 earmarks from continuing to receive funding under the CR. It also prevents earmarks from the stalled fiscal year 2007 appropriations cycle from receiving funding.

"In one fell swoop, President Bush has done more to eliminate earmarks than any of the earmark reform bills passed in Congress over the last year," said Flake.

"In the interest of transparency and accountability, President Bush needs to make this earmark policy permanent and vow to veto any spending bill that contains unauthorized earmarks."

Congressman Flake has introduced legislation (H.R. 631) that would require that earmarks be included in the legislative text of bills. This would subject earmarks to increased levels of scrutiny and accountability.

http://flake.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=58352