GOP senators slam $1.1T spending bill over earmarks

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blasted a $1.1 trillion Democratic spending bill unveiled Tuesday to fund the government next year, arguing that the earmark-laden measure flies in the face of the message voters sent in last month's midterm election.The 1,924-page proposal includes about $8 billion worth of lawmaker-directed spending items known as earmarks. The projects became an issue in some races during the November election, prompting House and Senate Republicans to ban them when Congress returns next year.

"This is exactly what the American people said ... they did not want us to do," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, adding that he will fight the measure in the year-end session of Congress. "I am actively working to defeat it."

But the proposed projects included in the bill were not requested only by Democrats. McConnell, in fact, included several items for his state, such as a $1.5 million wastewater project. Asked about his own projects, McConnell said they were requested before the GOP voted to ban them.

To keep the government running, Congress must pass a catchall spending bill by midnight Saturday. The House passed a slightly less expensive bill Dec. 8 that includes no earmarks. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said the House bill would put the government on "autopilot" next year by freezing spending at current levels.

"Who among us believes we should base our spending recommendations for defense, homeland security and veterans on whatever level was needed last year?" Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, said it had identified 6,600 earmarks in the bill. Among the projects: $6 million for parkland acquisition in Hawaii, $2.9 million for an expansion of the Grand Forks International Airport and $3.5 million for termite research in Louisiana.

Senate Appropriations Committee spokesman John Bray said that earmarks make up less than 1% of the bill and that that spending is far less than what Republicans passed when they last controlled the Senate in 2006.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the measure "a very good piece of legislation" and said he hoped the chamber could move to the bill, along with a new nuclear arms treaty, later this week.

Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman, argued that the spending bill had been put together with bipartisan support and fired back at Republicans for attacking the measure.

"They won't hesitate to claim credit for earmarks in their own states, attending as many groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies as they can," he said in a statement.

Congress is scheduled to adjourn Friday, but is poised to continue work next week.

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