More Pork Than a Spit-Roasted Pig

The 110th Congress has been in office less than one month and the new Democratic leadership is already way off course from the views of my district. That is why I voted against yesterday’s bloated federal spending bill.

I had been hoping to receive legislation to fund federal programs consistent with the will of my constituents and the needs of the federal government. Unfortunately, this bill has more pork in it than a spit-roasted pig. I cannot imagine how Members of Congress will be able to go back to their districts and justify a $45 million Tropical Rain Forest in Iowa. This spending bill cuts DEA jobs, military construction funds, and foreign aid while giving duplicative dollars to the Department of Energy and renewing earmarks which we had once cut.

I am disappointed that we were given just one hour to debate a 135-page, $463.5 billion resolution and offered no opportunity for amendment. Without debate or amendment, I cannot tell whether all of these projects are worthy, but on first glance, I can tell that many of them are not. This is not consistent with the will of the American people and is not how our democratic process is expected to work.