Pork Alert: Agriculture; CAGW's Pork Patrol Takes Closer Look at Fiscal 2004 Agriculture Pork

7/31/2003

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

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Following is a "Pork Alert" report released today by Citizens Against Government Waste:

It's summertime and members of Congress have headed home to rest from their exhausting work of racking up a $455 billion deficit. As they work on their tans and sip pina coladas, taxpayers should beware what awaits them in September: a mad flurry of appropriations bills that could bust the bank. For example, appropriators beefed up the fiscal 2004 Agriculture Appropriations Act with 413 projects that were not requested by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Senate bill contained 208 pork projects costing taxpayers $228 million, while the House bill contained 205 projects costing $164 million.

-- Badgering the Taxpayers. Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) secured $16.7 million in pork for the Badger State, including: $5,118,000 to study chronic wasting disease; $300,000 for potato storage research at the Agricultural Research Service facility in Madison; and $120,000 for the Conservation Land Internship Program.

-- Byrd, Byrd, Byrd; Byrd is the Word, for Pork. Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) grabbed $11.6 million in pork projects for his state, including: $2,200,000 for the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory in Kearnysville; $750,000 for aquaculture product and marketing development; $690,000 for agriculture waste utilization; $500,000 for trout genome mapping for the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture in collaboration with West Virginia University; and $160,000 for feed efficiency.

-- My Money Lies Over the Tundra. $8.9 million in pork projects in the state of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), including: $1,192,000 for seafood harvesting, processing and marketing; $631,000 for alternative salmon products; $400,000 for seed research; $200,000 for berry research; $200,000 for seafood waste in collaboration with the University of Alaska; and $150,000 for salmon quality standards.

-- Give in to the Urge to Pork. $6.9 million in pork projects in the state of Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Bennett (R-Utah), including: $1,000,000 for air quality research at Utah State University's Space Dynamics laboratory; $886,000 for botanical research; and $300,000 for the Forage and Range Research Laboratory in Logan.

-- Nethercutt or Nevercut? House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member George Nethercutt (R-Wash.), added $4.9 million in pork projects for his district, including: $4,400,000 for the Agriculture Research Service laboratory in Pullman; $250,000 for air quality in Pullman; and $200,000 for regional molecular genotyping research at the Western Wheat Quality Laboratory in Pullman.

-- The Empire State Strikes Back. $4.6 million in pork projects in the district of House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), including: $4,300,000 for the Center for Crop-Based Health Genomics and $300,000 for genetic diversity of major crops.

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