Toomey, McCaskill Launch Latest Effort To End Earmarks

Press Release

U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) today launched their latest effort to pass their bipartisan Earmark Elimination Act to ban earmarks, announcing that they will file their legislation as an amendment to S. 1813, the highway bill expected to be considered soon on the Senate floor.

The senators' announcement comes after an explosive report in today's Washington Post showing that $300 million in taxpayer money was earmarked for projects within two miles of properties owned by the very lawmakers who inserted the earmarks into legislation.

"The front-page Washington Post story highlights the necessity of passing a legislative ban on earmarks," Sen. Toomey said. "The earmarking system wastes taxpayer dollars, creates the appearance of corruption and undermines public confidence in the legislative process. Although our amendment failed last week, nothing in Washington gets done without sustained effort, and we will not stop until we eliminate this wasteful earmarking from the halls of Congress."

"Standing against earmarks has sometimes been a lonely fight, but we're not going to quit until we're able to pass this permanent ban," said McCaskill, a consistent and vocal opponent of earmarks. "Our spending decisions must be based on merit, not on who you know and who serves on what committee. I will continue to fight this bad habit of arbitrary spending."

Sens. Toomey and McCaskill's Earmark Elimination Act is supported by Citizens Against Government Waste, the Club for Growth, Heritage Action, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, FreedomWorks, and Ending Spending, Inc.

The amendment would replace the temporary moratorium on earmarks with a legislative ban on earmarks. A vote on the amendment last week failed 40-59. Specifically, the legislation would:

* Ban all earmarks.
* Define earmarks as any congressionally directed spending item, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit.
* Create a point of order against any legislation containing an earmark.
* Require a two-thirds vote to waive the point of order.

Sens. Toomey and McCaskill are no strangers to the fight against wasteful earmarks. More than a year ago, then-Sen.-elect Toomey and Sen. McCaskill penned a joint op-ed urging Congress to end wasteful earmarks and "business as usual" in Washington. Today, they are continuing to champion this cause on behalf of American taxpayers.

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