“I believe the House should simply take up consideration of the Senate-passed bill and pass it if they can.”
“It’s a bad, bad bill. No earmarks can cure this legislation.”
Other
“Earmarks that are requested only by two or more local governments, and are prohibited if any contributor would benefit, would make sense.”
In light of the difficulty moving a transportation bill through Congress, should the ban on earmarks be reconsidered?
Republicans (23 votes)
Yes: 4%
No: 96%
No
“Earmarks were a distraction, and we haven’t regained the public’s trust enough to show we can be trusted again.”
“The ban on earmarks is achieving exactly what Americans want—less spending in Washington.”
“We are finally debating transportation policy and reform rather than merely rubber-stamping a project-driven bill. Can’t go back to bad ol’ days.”
“The ban forces good bills to come to the House floor and makes for better laws for the American people.”
“The earmark ban is an important reform in the effort to restore the public’s trust in Congress.”
“Drive on.”
“The American people won’t stand for it.”
“Although it would be fun to see how pure the most self-righteous among us would be.”
“The public just doesn’t like earmarks, period. The House should just take the Senate bill, amend it, but vote on it. Our NO caucus is never going to vote for anything. We need to govern. This is a jobs issue.”
“Not this year. But it should not be renewed in the next Congress. Banning earmarks may be good politics, but it is bad policy and it inhibits a smooth legislative process.”
“Money should be block-granted to states for them to spend on local projects.”
“We do not need earmarks because Congress people abuse them. There needs to be a process where local needs can compete fairly against other local needs, as the legislative branch has the purse strings and the president should not be the only one to make those decisions.”
“Earmarks should not be brought back for political expediency; they should be brought back because it is the role of Congress to direct federal spending to the districts its members know best and work to represent.”
____
Democratic Congressional Insiders Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher A. Coons, Mark Pryor, Tom Udall; Reps. Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Tammy Baldwin, Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Lois Capps, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, James Clyburn, Gerry Connolly, Joseph Crowley, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Elliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Marcy Kaptur, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Ed Markey, Jim McGovern, Jim Moran, Gary Peters, Collin Peterson, David Price, Linda Sanchez, Kurt Schrader, Allyson Schwartz, Jose Serrano, Bennie Thompson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, Peter Welch, and Frederica Wilson.
GOP Congressional Insiders Sens. Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, David Vitter; Reps. John Boehner, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, Jeff Denham, David Dreier, Sean Duffy, Jo Ann Emerson, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Trey Gowdy, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Nan Hayworth, Tim Huelskamp, Mike Kelly, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Adam Kinzinger, John Kline, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Patrick McHenry, Candice Miller, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Tom Price, Dave Reichert, Reed Ribble, Phil Roe, Paul Ryan, Aaron Schock, David Schweikert, Austin Scott, Adrian Smith, Steve Stivers, Lee Terry, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, Daniel Webster, and Joe Wilson.
This article appears in the March 24, 2012, edition of National Journal.
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