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Friday, April 13, 2007
DeMint & Co. to Seek UC on Senate Earmarks Rule
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and four GOP colleagues wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-TN) yesterday that they want the Senate to take up S. Res. 123, a earmarks disclosure rule. The Senate passed a statutory version of the rule unanimously as part of S. 1, the ethics and and lobbying reform bill adopted 96-2 in January. DeMint and Sens. Coburn (OK), Cornyn (TX), Enzi (WY), and Chambliss (GA) said they will seek unanimous consent next Tuesday to consider the measure. As a resolution, it would become an internal rule of the Senate and, unlike S. 1, not require House approval.
As the authors write, the resolution requires that:
information related to earmarks contained in committee-passed bills... must be made available in a searchable format on the Internet, [including] name of the senator requesting the earmark, the name and address of the intended recipient of the earmark, the purpose of the earmark, and a certification that the requesting senator and his or her spouse have no financial interest in the requested earmarks.
House Speaker Nancy's Pelosi's office has said that House leadership hopes to put S. 1 up for House floor consideration prior to Memorial Day. That timetable presents problems for the DeMint quintet, who note that specific omissions in the Fiscal Year 2008 earmark solicitation forms being circulated by Senate appropriations subcommittees "clearly demonstrate that it's time for the Senate to stop dragging its feet on this critical issue."
Appropriators are preparing to draft their FY 2008 spending bills, with budget hearings coming to a close and the budget resolution expected to go to conference next week.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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