CATCH THE BUZZ
It’s only bad when it’s someone else’s pet project. One person’s earmark is another’s Life Preserver.
From the
The $410 billion bill was attacked by key Republicans for containing nearly 9,000 earmarks for everything from catfish genetics research in
The earmarks, including funding for what he called a "honey bee factory" in
But Senate Democrats acquired the necessary votes for passage, sending the bill on to President Barack Obama - who signed it Wednesday - and sending more than $60 million in handpicked earmarks to the
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But the bees - and another $8.7 million for other research at
Four scientists at the bee research center are partly examining "colony collapse disorder," which has led to a decline of as much as 70 percent in the honeybee population and has no known cause, Hinojosa said. Bees play a crucial role in agriculture, pollinating more than 90 crops.
"Research on the alarming disappearance of bees may sound trite but it is absolutely necessary," Hinojosa said. "If we do not figure out why this is happening, our nation's agricultural industry and food supply will be severely impacted."
The funding included in the spending bill is enough to keep the
The center was among a dozen others targeted for closure when $84 million was slashed from the USDA's recent budget. All of the funding was restored in the spending bill signed Wednesday, meaning the research centers will continue at least through the fiscal year ending Sept. 31.
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A fiscal year 2010 budget has not been finalized.
The honey bee research funding was part of a national debate on the role of earmarks in government, sparked partly by a dramatic increase in federal spending in recent months on bailouts and the economic stimulus package.
But Hinojosa and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, both defended the use of earmarks as part of the process Congress uses to determine spending.
Hinojosa said the earmarks "enable significant projects to come to fruition" in the Valley and that shunning them would send money elsewhere.
Cuellar said it's a better spending tactic than allowing "faceless bureaucrats" in
He also said Democrats reduced earmarks by as much as 40 percent since taking control of the House in 2007. Congress has also introduced new rules governing transparency of the process.
Beginning with the 2010 budget, congressional offices will be required to post on their Web sites the earmarks they are requesting.
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The argument that earmarks are driving up the national deficit is overblown, Cuellar said. The earmarks included in the spending bill make up about 1 percent of its total costs.
"It's not going to affect the budget as much as the other 99 percent," Cuellar said. "We have to keep earmarks in perspective."
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