Senator Arlen Specter is Porker of the Year for 2003, Says Citizens Against Government Waste

2/5/2004

From: Mark Carpenter or Tom Finnigan, 202-467-5300, both of Citizens Against Government Waste; http://www.cagw.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 -- Citizens Against Government Waste announced today the final results of its online poll for Porker of the Year for 2003. Senator Arlen Specter (R- Pa.) finished first with a whopping 51 percent of the vote, outdistancing his "porky" competitors by a 2 to 1 margin. The other finalists, in order of votes received, were: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) (25 percent), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) (14 percent), Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) (6 percent), and Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.) (4 percent).

The five finalists were chosen by CAGW staff from among the 11 Porker of the Month winners throughout 2003, and voted on by more than 3,300 participants. Several people wrote in other responses, such as "the entire Congress," but were too few to factor into the final tally.

Senator Specter was selected as the October Porker of the Month for including language in the fiscal 2003 Emergency Supplemental portion of the fiscal 2004 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act that provided $1.4 million for three pork- barrel projects in Pennsylvania. He also added several provisions to last April's War Supplemental Appropriations bill including language that removes wording limiting the number of mailings senators can send to their constituents in counties of less than 250,000 people. While Sen. Specter claimed that such a move was vital to the war effort, it is an obvious benefit to incumbent senators, like Sen. Specter, who are up for re-election this fall.

Senator Stevens finished a strong, but distant second. Named Porker of the Month in July for vowing to filibuster a resolution proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would make it more difficult to insert pork projects into appropriations bills, Sen. Stevens has a long-standing reputation of bringing home the bacon. Sen. Stevens' powerful position as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee has allowed Alaska to lead the nation in pork per capita year after year. In fiscal 2003, Alaska received $610.99 in pork per person, compared to a national average of $34.33.

Finishing third was Sen. Tom Harkin. The April Porker of the Month was "honored" for securing $98 million for an agriculture research station in Ames, Iowa in the War Supplemental Appropriations bill. Sen. Harkin defended his actions by claiming the funds were crucial in an effort to combat bioterrorism in the form of animal disease. The facility had previously received $33 million two months earlier in the fiscal 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act and $50 million in a supplemental the year before through earmarks obtained by Sen. Harkin.

More information on all the finalists, along with the remaining six Porker of the Month winners for 2003, can be found at The Porker of the Month Hall of Shame at http://www.cagw.org.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.