Defense Bill Has $744 Million in Undisclosed Pork

Despite new rules requiring Congressmen to publish lists of the pet projects they've inserted into legislation, the new defense bill has three-quarters of a billion dollars in undisclosed "earmarks."

These pet projects have been a traditional means for lawmakers to lard up spending legislation with pork. At first glance, many of these projects, uncovered by Taxpayers for Common Sense, seem downright swine-like. They include $23 million for an "Undistributed National Guard Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program," $3 million for a "Program to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Vietnam War," $3.5 million for a "National Guard Youth Challenge."

Together, these 53 projects, totaling $744 million, represent nearly nine percent of the $8.4 billion in earmarks found in the House's version of the defense authorization bill. Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) has assembled an exhaustive spreadsheet, covering every one of those earmarks.

The House Armed Services Committee was one of the first to implement fresh rules, put in place by the new Democratic majority in Congress, that mandated lawmakers to disclose the earmarks they've wiggled into bills.

"The Committee add[ed] a 13-page chart in the report accompanying the FY 2008 defense authorization bill (National Defense Authorization
Act) that listed each earmark along with the requesting member, dollar amount and beneficiary," the budget-watchers at TCS note.

• Despite visual quality that would strain the eyes of Superman, much less daylight-deprived budget watchdogs, the chart did lay out 449 earmarks for all to see (anyone who wanted a better look could stop by the Committee office and leaf through three huge binders of request letters).

However, within the 600-odd pages of the bill and accompanying report, TCS found 53 earmarks that were somehow never disclosed.

That includes more than $127 million for the troubled SBIRS-High series of missile-watching satellites -- a program which has seen costs triple, and launch dates pushed back seven years, or more. $100 million will go to the Advanced EHF communication satellite system, which has seen its price tag inflate by more than 50%. Another $62 million is earmarked for undisclosed "Air Force Depot Purchased Equipment Maintenance."

As usual, TCS notes, "the biggest earmarks" -- disclosed and not --
"tended to go to weapons procurement systems and their sponsors were the biggest spenders."

For example, Louisiana benefited the most of all the states, due primarily to the $1.7 billion added by four local representatives for an additional LPD 17 Class Expeditionary Warfare Ship. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
garnered the highest amount of earmarks ($374 million), thanks to his joining seven other legislators in adding $2.4 billion for 10 new C-17
Globemaster aircraft. Rounding out the top five earmarked projects were
$588 million for a new Virginia-class submarine, $500 million by G.K.
Butterfield for alternative F-16 engines, and $294 million for Stryker vehicles.