citizens against

government waste
nd

22

2014 Congressional

Pig Book Summary

The Book Washington Doesnt Want You to Read

INTRODUCTION

Praise for CAGW and the Pig Book

Citizens Against Government Waste is Washingtons leading opponent of pork-barrel spending. Its annual Pig Book, which lists the governments narrow giveaways, is
used by news outlets worldwide to ridicule federal earmarks.
Jeff Birnbaum, The Washington Post, February 20, 2007

Every taxpayer should read the Pig Book Congress wont stop picking our pockets for
wasteful pork projects in which the federal government has no business unless they are
forced to by taxpayers. Read the Pig Book and weep. Then, get angry and do something.
Syndicated Columnist Cal Thomas, March 29, 2005

Neither rain, nor sleet or snow, or war or a bumpy economy, it seems, can stop
the pork train from pulling out of the congressional station. Citizens Against Government Waste has issued its annual Congressional Pig Book Summary This years
budget may finally slay the myth that there is anyone who can credibly claim to be a
fiscal conservative inside the Washington beltway.
Asheville Citizen Times, April 17, 2004

Citizens Against Government Waste is a watchdog group that keeps track of which
politicians squander the most federal money on pork those expenditures that are
added after the normal budget process to help a particular group instead of the nation as a whole.
John Stossell, 20/20

I believe that this book should be read by every citizen in AmericaWhat is being
done here by CAGW, in my view, is of the greatest importance. [M]y constituents
need to have these concrete examples of the way that business is done here in Washington, D.C., unfortunately, and the only way its going to stop is when its exposed.
Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)

I commend Citizens Against Government Waste for trying to shame Congress into
fiscal responsibility, although one has to wonder if Congress has any shame. You certainly dont get that impression by flipping through the Pig Book.
Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)

We can, with the assistance of an organization like CAGW, say in one year this
[publication] is not needed.
Former Representative David Minge (D-Minn.)

Those peckerwoods dont know what theyre doing. They dont. Theyre not being realistic.
The King of Pork Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.)
National Public Radio, July 19, 2001

All they are is a bunch of psychopaths.

CAGW Oinker Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska),
Associated Press, December 26, 1999
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGWs mission is to
eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency at all levels of government.

For the second time since Congress enacted an earmark moratorium

beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2011, Citizens Against Government Waste
(CAGW) has found earmarks in the 12 appropriations bills funding the
federal government.
While a single earmark violates the moratorium, at least the number
and cost of the earmarks contained in H.R. 3547, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2014, decreased from FY 2012, the last time Congress
passed the spending bills. Earmark totals dropped by 28.3 percent, from
152 in FY 2012 to 109 in FY 2014, while the cost declined by 18.2
percent, from $3.3 billion in FY 2012 to $2.7 billion in FY 2014, the
lowest amount since 1992. The costs in both 2012 and 2014 are significant
reductions from the record $29 billion in earmarks set in FY 2006.
The 2012 Pig Book noted that although there were fewer earmarks than in
prior years, the projects involved larger amounts of money and included
fewer details. This is also true in 2014. For instance, a $25 million earmark
for the National Predisaster Mitigation Fund appearing in the FY 2014
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act corresponds
to 58 earmarks totaling $24.6 million for the same program in the FY 2010
DHS bill. The 2010 earmarks appeared in the Congressionally Directed
Spending section at the end of the bill, which contained the names of the
members of Congress requesting each project and its location, as required
by the pertinent transparency rules. This is in stark contrast to the FY 2014
earmark, which contains no such information.
The 2014 omnibus package was certified as earmark-free by Senate
Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Speaker
of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio). Members of Congress will argue
that their standards differ from the earmark criteria used in the Pig Book,
but that has been true since the first Pig Book in 1991. The pork-free claim
can also be challenged based on the inclusion of projects that have appeared
in past appropriations bills as earmarks. In addition to meeting CAGWs
long-standing seven-point criteria, to qualify for inclusion in the 2014 Pig
Book a project or program must have appeared in prior years as an earmark.
The total number and cost of earmarks are, therefore, quite conservative.

INTRODUCTION (continued)

INTRODUCTION (continued)

The question for Senate and House leaders and the few individual members
who can be directly identified as having requested earmarks in FY 2014 is:
why were these projects previously considered earmarks, but not in 2014?

The projects in this years Congressional Pig Book Summary symbolize the
most blatant examples of pork. As in previous years, all the items in the
Congressional Pig Book meet at least one of CAGWs seven criteria, but most
satisfy at least two:

Unfortunately, the earmark moratorium has not only failed to eliminate

earmarks, but also made the process patently less transparent. Since
earmarks were deemed to be non-existent in the FY 2014 omnibus bill,
there are no names of legislators, no list or chart of earmarks, and limited
information on where and why the money will be spent. Earmarks
were scattered throughout the legislative and report language, requiring
substantial detective work to unearth each project. While the lower number
and cost of earmarks are an improvement over prior years, transparency and
accountability have regressed immeasurably.
The earmarks in FYs 2012 and 2014 raise disturbing questions for the
future, particularly since representatives and senators from both sides of the
aisle continue to clamor for their revival. One of the most frequently-used
arguments in favor of earmarks is that they would help pass certain spending
bills. In the past, however, members have voted for excessively expensive
legislation because they have received a few earmarks, which means the
moratorium has helped restrain spending. Should Congress get back on the
pork-barrel track, there will be an increased risk of corruption, the potential
for an explosion in earmarks, and the enactment of more costly legislation.

Requested by only one chamber of Congress;

Not specifically authorized;

Not competitively awarded;

Not requested by the President;

Greatly exceeds the Presidents budget request or the

previous years funding;

Not the subject of congressional hearings; or

Serves only a local or special interest.

The latest installment of CAGWs 22-year expos of pork-barrel spending

includes $90 million to upgrade the M1 Abrams tank, which is opposed
by the Pentagon; $15 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery
Fund, secured by Senate Appropriations Committee member Patty Murray
(D-Wash.); $5.9 million for the East-West Center, a victory for Sen.
Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii); and $150,000 for the Christopher Columbus
Fellowship Foundation, a pet project of Senate Appropriations Committee
member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

I. AGRICULTURE

II. COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE

Members of Congress have long used the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food
and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to feed
at the trough. The number of earmarks rose by 400 percent, from two in FY
2012 to 10 in FY 2014, while the cost increased by 657.3 percent, from $10.3
million in FY 2012 to $78 million in FY 2014. The Rural Utilities Service
(RUS) and the Rural Business Cooperative Service received $60.7 million, or
77.8 percent of the total cost of the earmarks.

While there were no earmarks in the FY 2012 version of the Commerce, Justice,
Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, one earmark worth $15
million sneaked its way into the FY 2014 version. Members of Congress should be
congratulated for eliminating the plethora of earmarks that previously appeared in
such programs as Community Oriented Policing Services, but the lone earmark in this
bill is a stain on an otherwise pork-free piece of legislation.

$10,000,000 for high energy cost grants through the Department

of Agriculture. The grants are intended to assist communities whose
energy costs exceed 275 percent of the national average by funding the
construction, installation, and repair of energy distribution facilities.
This may sound like a bright idea, but the RUS Electric Loan program is
intended to achieve the same objective. Both the George W. Bush and
Obama administrations have attempted to eliminate the high energy cost
program. President Obamas FY 2013 version of Cuts, Consolidations, and
Savings noted that low-interest electric loans are available through the RUS
to residents of rural areas served by the high energy cost program. The
grants are available in Alaska, Hawaii, several communities in certain other
states, and in U.S. territories. Since FY 2002, high energy cost grants have
received five earmarks totaling $103.5 million.
$3,000,000 for the Delta Regional Authority (DRA). Established in
2000, the DRA is supposed to provide economic development assistance
to support the creation of jobs and improve local conditions for the 10
million people who reside in 252 counties and parishes throughout the
Mississippi Delta states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. These efforts are duplicative of other
federal programs and support mostly local projects. Since FY 2003, the
DRA has received five earmarks totaling $14.8 million.

$15,000,000 for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF).

A January 14, 2014 press release by Senate Appropriations Committee
member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) stated that she secured $65 million for
the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, representing an increase of $15
million about [sic] President Obamas proposed FY14 budget request in
order to support state, local, and tribal programs that help improve salmon
habitat. PCSRF was established by Congress in fiscal year 2000 to protect,
restore and conserve Pacific salmon populations and their habitats and
supports conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon species across the
rivers, watersheds, and coastal habitats of Washington, Oregon, Alaska,
Idaho, Nevada, and California. Since FY 2000, 19 earmarks costing
taxpayers $134.5 million have been added for the PCSRF. From FYs
2008-2010, the three years in which members of Congress were required to
identify their earmark requests, Sen. Murray added 575 earmarks costing
taxpayers $779.5 million.

III. DEFENSE

III. DEFENSE (continued)

The Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act usually contains the

most earmarks each year, and the FY 2014 bill did not break this tradition.
The 58 earmarks contained in the bill represent a 14.7 percent drop from the
68 in the FY 2012 version, while the $1.6 billion in earmarks is down by
20 percent from the $2 billion in the FY 2012 bill. The cost of the earmarks
in this bill represents 59.3 percent of the $2.7 billion contained in the 12
appropriations bills for FY 2014.

than enough tanks, including 2,000 sitting idle in the California desert.
The Army has proposed delaying the M1 upgrade program until 2017,
saving taxpayers $3 billion. During this timeframe, the DOD would focus
on designing the next generation of tanks, which would be better equipped
for the changing nature of warfare. Intended to take on other tanks, the
M1 Abrams proved susceptible to asymmetric tactics, such as improvised
explosive devices employed by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

$866,400,000 for 26 earmarks for health and disease research under the
Defense Health Program, including five earmarks worth $255.5 million
for cancer-related research. The Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2014 provided
$4.9 billion for the National Cancer Institute, making the defense cancer
research redundant. Sen. Tom Coburns (R-Okla.) November 2012 report,
The Department of Everything, pointed out that the DOD disease earmarks
added by Congress mean that fewer resources are available for DOD to
address those specific health challenges facing members of the armed forces
for which no other agencies are focused. According to the report, in 2010
the Pentagon withheld more than $45 million for overhead related to
earmarks, which means those funds were unavailable for national security
needs or medical research specifically affecting those serving in the military.

Congress continues to disagree with General Odiernos assessment because

the tank has suppliers spread across numerous congressional districts. An
April 2012 letter arguing for continuation of the upgrade program was cosigned by 173 representatives. The 2014 omnibus bill hints at a parochial
incentive for continuing the program, stating that the funding will be used
for maintaining critical industrial base capability. Theres nothing like a
good old-fashioned jobs program disguised as national security. Since FY
1994, there have been 37 earmarks for the M1 Abrams program, requested
by at least 13 members of Congress, costing taxpayers $788.6 million.

A March 14, 2012 Washington Post article stated that DOD Comptroller
Robert Hale proposed decreasing the DOD health budget in part by
eliminating one-time congressional adds, which totaled $603.6 million
in FY 2012 for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
On March 23, 2013, Sen. Coburn offered an amendment to the FY 2013
Budget Resolution that would have eliminated programs at the DOD that
were not related to defense, which would include such unnecessary health
and disease research. Sen. Coburns amendment was defeated by a vote of
56-43.

$60,000,000 for alternative energy research, spread across three programs.

Since FY 2004, Congress has used the defense appropriations bill as a
vehicle to insert 24 earmarks worth $234.9 million for this purpose, despite
the fact that the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act
supplies billions for alternative energy research every year.

$90,000,000 for continued upgrade of the M1 Abrams tank to the

M1A2SEP variant. Congress thereby maintained its longstanding tradition
of jamming through unwanted funding for the M1 Abrams tank program
in FY 2014. This earmark was added despite the repeated protests of Army
Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno, who has stated that the Army has more

On March 13, 2012, Senate Armed Services Committee member John

McCain (R-Ariz.) asserted that the Navys efforts to develop biofuels to
power its planes and ships could turn into another Solyndra situation,
citing the solar panel manufacturer that received a $535 million loan
guarantee through the Department of Energy before filing for bankruptcy
in September 2011. According to Sen. McCain, the Navy spent in
excess of $400 per gallon for approximately 20,000 gallons of algae-based
biofuel. In a February 2011 hearing, House Armed Services Committee
member Randy Forbes (R-Va.) fired a shot across the Navys bow, telling
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Youre not the secretary of Energy. Youre the
secretary of the Navy. While members of Congress took a positive step in
reducing the amount earmarked for alternative energy research in the DOD
bill by 50 percent from $120 million in FY 2012, this funding should be

III. DEFENSE (continued)

zeroed out in FY 2015.
$25,000,000 ffor the Starbase Youth Program, which teaches science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to at-risk youth in multiple
locations at or near military bases around the country. Since FY 2001, seven
earmarks costing taxpayers $44 million have been directed toward Starbase,
including an earmark worth $1.9 million in FY 2010 added by Sen. Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).
A February 2012 Government Accountability Office (GAO) annual report
on program duplication, overlap, and fragmentation found that $3 billion
was spent in FY 2010 across 13 agencies for 209 STEM programs, 83
percent of which overlapped with at least one other program. President
Obamas FY 2015 budget proposed the consolidation or elimination of 31
STEM programs across the federal government, although no savings were
included in the proposal.
$7,000,000 for the Rand Arroyo Center. Located in the district of Rep.
Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the facility has received four earmarks costing
$15.4 million since FY 2005. In FY 2010, Senate Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee member Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and House Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee member James Moran (D-Va.) requested
a $1.6 million earmark for the center, and Sen. Feinstein also added a $4
million earmark in FY 2009.

IV. ENERGY
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is not
as flooded with pork as it has been in the past. The number of earmarks declined by
67.4 percent, from 46 in FY 2012 to 15 in FY 2014, while the cost went down by
48.1 percent, from $667.6 million in FY 2012 to $346.7 million in FY 2014. The
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was not the recipient of any earmarks in
FY 2012, but funding trickled back in for FY 2014. While the number of Army
Corps of Engineers earmarks dropped by 69.4 percent, from 36 in FY 2012 to 11 in
FY 2014, the average dollar value swelled by 83 percent, from $14.7 million in FY
2012 to $26.9 million in FY 2014.
$15,699,000 for the ARC, a regional economic development agency
established by Congress in 1965. Of the amount earmarked, $10 million
will fund a high-speed broadband deployment program to diversify and
enhance regional business development. However, three federal agencies,
the Federal Communications Commission, the National Information
and Telecommunications Administration and the RUS already spend the
taxpayers money to bring broadband to underserved areas. The ARC itself
duplicates the mission of other federal economic development programs.
On July 10, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) offered an amendment to
the FY 2014 Energy and Water appropriations bill that would eliminate
all funding for the ARC, the Delta Regional Authority, the Denali
Commission, and two other regional commissions. The amendment was
defeated by a vote of 147-273. Since FY 1995, the ARC has received six
earmarks totaling $148.7 million for projects in Alabama, Kentucky, North
Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

IV. ENERGY (continued)

V. FINANCIAL SERVICES

$2,604,000 for the Denali Commission, which was established in 1998.

The commissions inspector general, Mike Marsh, stated in September 2013
that I have concluded that [my agency] is a congressional experiment that
hasnt worked out in practiceI recommend that Congress put its money
elsewhere. President Obama targeted the commission for elimination
in his FY 2012 budget, arguing that its projects are not funded through
a competitive or merit-based system and that at least 29 other federal
programs could fulfill the commissions mandate. Since FY 2000, 25
projects costing taxpayers $293.2 million have been earmarked for the
Denali Commission, most of which were requested by former Sen. Ted
Stevens (R-Alaska). His legacy of Denali pork has been carried on by
the Alaska delegation. Senate appropriator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
requested six earmarks costing taxpayers a total of $51 million in FYs 2009
and 2010; Senate appropriator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) requested two
earmarks jointly with Sen. Murkowski in FY 2010, costing taxpayers $12.3
million; and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) also requested one of the FY 2010
earmarks, costing $10 million.

The number of earmarks in the Financial Services and General Government

Appropriations Act tripled to three in FY 2014 from one in FY 2012, while the cost
increased by 21.6 percent, from $38.5 million in FY 2012 to $46.8 million in FY
2014. Members of Congress should be congratulated for eliminating the numerous
earmarks for the Small Business Administration that have plagued previous bills, but
an earmark-free bill would have been a better result.

$1,280,000 for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) through

the Army Corps of Engineers. A March 6, 2014 letter to Office of
Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell from all 16 members
of the Georgia congressional delegation expressed support for SHEP.
In addition, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Subcommittee member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is in favor of more federal
funding for SHEP because he believes it will help the Port of Charleston.
Since FY 1995, SHEP has received 11 earmarks totaling $33 million.

10

$45,122,000 for the high intensity drug trafficking areas program

(HIDTA) at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Originally
intended for border states, members of Congress have used earmarks to
expand HIDTA to non-border states. Since FY 1997, 28 earmarks costing
taxpayers $161.6 million have been provided for HIDTA programs;
16 of the earmarks were directed to programs in 10 states, only two of
which, Arizona and New Mexico, are border states. The other eight states
that received HIDTA earmarks were Alabama, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana,
Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
The Presidents FY 2015 version of Cuts, Consolidations, and Savings
recommended trimming the HIDTA program by $46 million, or 19.2
percent, from the $239 million spent in FY 2014. Unfortunately, the
proposed reduction is almost the same as the $45.1 million earmarked in FY
2014, so taxpayers should expect to see more HIDTA earmarking in the FY
2015 appropriations bill.

11

V. FINANCIAL SERVICES (continued)

$150,000 for the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, a
20-year-old program that gives prizes for achievements in agricultural and
life sciences as well as homeland security research. Since its creation, no
administration has ever requested funding for the foundation. President
Obama has labeled the program inefficient and redundant, cited its high
overhead costs, and has included it in each of the administrations annual
submissions of spending cuts, consolidations, and savings. Members of
Congress have attempted to cut funding, including Sen. Coburn, who
in 2011 introduced S. 475, which would have enacted the Presidents
suggestion to eliminate the foundation along with several other proposals
from the administrations FY 2011 Terminations, Reductions, and Savings.
In 2013, House Republicans targeted the foundation in an initiative
entitled YouCut, which allowed online voters to choose potential spending
reductions.
A January 22, 2013 Washington Post article explained how the program has
been so resilient: it has a very powerful patron on the Senate Appropriations
Committee. Each time the program has been threatened by the President
or budget hawks in Congress, Senate Appropriations Committee member
(and former chairman) Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) has swooped in to restore
funding, including in FY 2008 when Sen. Cochran requested a $600,000
earmark for the foundation. While this years earmark cannot be positively
attributed to Sen. Cochran, given his past support for the program, it seems
highly likely that his fingerprints are on the earmark.
As the preeminent congressional porker, Sen. Cochran requested 709
earmarks costing taxpayers $1.9 billion between FYs 2008-2010, the three
years in which members were required to identify their earmark requests.
He requested both the highest number and dollar amount of earmarks in
each of those years.

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VI. HOMELAND SECURITY

The dollar amount of earmarks in the FY 2014 Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) Appropriations Act skyrocketed by 261.5 percent, from $87.9 million in FY
2012 to $317.8 million. The number of earmarks remained at six in FY 2014,
meaning each earmark cost taxpayers substantially more than in FY 2012. None of
the earmarks in the DHS bill received a budget request from the President.
$100,000,000 for the Port Security Grant Program (PSGP), which has
received four earmarks totaling $589 million since FY 2005. A November
2011 GAO report found that DHS port vulnerability funding formula
did not take into account the implementation of PSGP-funded security
projects. The GAO recommended that the PSGP could strengthen its
vulnerability measure by accounting for the results of previously-funded
projects.
$98,000,000 for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC),
which strives to increase the preparedness of first responders to the threats of
terrorism. Since FY 2005, the NDPC has received four earmarks worth $261.6
million.
$64,991,000 for the Center for Domestic Preparedness, which received a $13
million earmark in FY 2000.
$25,000,000 for the National Predisaster Mitigation Fund (NPMF). The
Obama administration first proposed eliminating the NPMF in its FY 2013
budget, yet Congress continues to earmark funding. Since FY 2008, there
have been 205 NPMF earmarks, requested by more than 100 members of
Congress, costing taxpayers $125.6 million.
$21,094,000 for the National Exercise Program, which aims to assess and
improve the countrys preparedness and resiliency. This program also received a
$50 million earmark in FY 2004.

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VII. INTERIOR
To the relief of taxpayers, the number of earmarks in the FY 2014 Department
of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act decreased
by 78.6 percent, from 14 in FY 2012 to three in FY 2014. The dollar amount
dropped by 80.8 percent, from $92.3 million in FY 2012 to $17.7 million in
FY 2014.
$9,285,000 for the Heritage Partnership Program (HPP) through the
National Park Service. Since 2001, HPP, which supports the 49 National
Heritage Areas (NHAs) created by Congress, has received 48 earmarks
worth a total of $45.2 million for projects that include park improvements,
sports complexes, health centers, water quality monitoring, bike paths,
sustainable agriculture, and agricultural tourism. President Obamas FY
2014 version of Terminations, Reductions, and Savings recommended cutting
the programs funding from $17 million to $9 million. A 2009 assessment
of the HPP found that the program lacks a systematic process to identify
and designate NHAs. Funding for individual areas is not allocated through
a competitive process, and there are no national performance measures to
hold the NHAs accountable for the use of federal funds.
$3,364,000 for the Valles Caldera National Preserve, an 89,000-acre ranch
located in New Mexicos Jemez Mountains that the federal government
purchased in 2000 for $101 million. It was scheduled to no longer drink
from the trough of federal funds by 2015, and the Forest Service was
supposed to take over operations from the Valles Caldera Trust in 2020
if the facility could not meet the self-funding directive. Senate Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee member Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and former
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) were responsible for two earmarks for Valles
Caldera in FYs 2008 and 2009 worth a total of $6.9 million. Since FY
2001, the preserve has received seven earmarks worth a total of $17.1
million.

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VIII. LABOR, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, & EDUCATION

(LABOR/HHS)
Much to the dismay of taxpayers, earmarks in the FY 2014 Labor/HHS
Appropriations Act increased by 166.7 percent, from three in FY 2012 to eight in FY
2014, while their total cost skyrocketed by 473.7 percent, from $22.4 million in FY
2012 to $128.5 million in FY 2014. The Fund for the Improvement of Education
(FIE), which made a less than triumphant return after a six-year earmark hiatus,
received $21.1 million, or 16.4 percent of the earmarked funds in the FY 2014 bill.
$21,100,000 for FIE, which provides grants to state and local education
agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations and other public
and private entities to improve the quality of elementary and secondary
education at the state and local levels. In his FY 2011 and FY 2012
budgets, President Obama did not request funding for FIE. Since FY 2001,
FIE has received 2,570 earmarks costing taxpayers $1.3 billion.
$14,409,000 for Rural Hospital Flexibility Grants (Flex) through the
Department of Health and Human Services. Flex grants were created to
improve access to hospitals and other health services for families that live
in rural communities. In his FY 2015 version of Cuts, Consolidations, and
Savings, President Obama requested that the Flex program be cut by $14
million, or $409,000 less than the amount that was earmarked in FY 2014.
Since FY 2006, Flex grants have received three earmarks totaling $93.5
million.
$5,000,000 for abstinence education. Since 1996, the United States has spent
more than $1.8 billion for abstinence education programs. In FYs 2008 and
2009, former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) was responsible for 47 abstinence
education earmarks in Pennsylvania worth a total of $1.4 million. Since FY
2001, 128 earmarks worth $18.2 million have been provided for abstinence
education programs. The earmark in FY 2014 (among others) demonstrates that
Congress cannot abstain from pork.

15

IX. STATE & FOREIGN OPERATIONS

IX. STATE AND FOREIGN OPERATIONS (continued)

The number of earmarks in the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations

Act remained consistent from FY 2012 to FY 2014, with four appearing in
each bill. However, the cost increased by 35 percent, from $127.7 million in FY
2012 to $172.4 million in FY 2014.

$4,400,000 for the Inter-American Foundation (IAF). IAF is an

independent U.S. foreign assistance agency that promotes and invests
in citizen-led grassroots initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean.
President Obama proposed a reduction in funding for IAF in each of his
proposed budgets, including a cut of 19.6 percent, from $22.5 million to
$18.1 million in FY 2015, and has recommended that IAF continue to seek
partnerships with corporate foundations to leverage additional funding.
Since FY 2001, IAF has received two earmarks totaling $16.4 million.

$130,500,000 for the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).

Created in 2005 by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan,
UNDEF supports global democratization efforts and has funded more than
400 projects in more than 100 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe,
Latin America and the Middle East. Since FY 2009, UNDEF has received
four earmarks totaling $481.3 million. The Obama administration has
never requested funding for UNDEF.
$31,550,000 for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a
private, nonprofit foundation that aims to help grow and strengthen
democratic institutions around the world. Since FY 1997, NED has
received four earmarks worth a total of $114.6 million.
$5,900,000 for the East-West Center in Hawaii, which is intended to
promote better relations with Pacific and Asian nations. The center was
established by Congress in 1960 with no congressional hearings, and over
the State Departments opposition. For years, the State Department tried to
eliminate the center by not requesting funding in the departments annual
budget requests. After Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) passed away in
2013, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) willingly stepped up to the plate to
defend the center. In a January 16, 2014 press release, Sen. Schatz claimed
an appropriations victory for adding the $5.9 million to the FY 2014
omnibus appropriations bill, making it clear that he is responsible for this
earmark. Since FY 1997, the East-West Center has received 11 earmarks
totaling $109.7 million.

This booklet was written by Sean Kennedy, Director of Research, and Alexandra
Booze, Manager of Media/Policy. It was edited by Thomas A. Schatz, President.

16

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1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Suite 1075
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