March 13, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after the Senate voted 29-71 against his year-long earmark moratorium to combat wasteful Washington spending.
“Tonight, too many in Congress embraced the earmark favor factory and proved why we have the lowest approval rating in history,” said Senator DeMint. “Earmarks represent the worst of wasteful Washington spending. The big spenders in Congress may still desperately cling to their pork, but our presidential candidates have made it clear the current system is unacceptable. Americans want the bridges to nowhere and earmark scandals to stop.”
“I’m proud of the twenty-nine brave senators who stood up for Americans and against pork-barrel politics. Taxpayer dollars should be spent based on merit, not political influence.”
The bipartisan amendment would have forced an earmark moratorium for Fiscal Year 2009. The amendment was sponsored by Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and cosponsored by Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Barack Obama (D-Illinois), Hillary Clinton (D-New York), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), Mel Martinez (R-Florida), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) and Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma).
The amendment was also supported by:• Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
• National Taxpayers Union
• Americans for Prosperity
• FreedomWorks
• Americans for Tax Reform
• American Conservative Union
• Club for Growth
• Grassfire Alliance
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