Earmark the earmarks for debt reduction

February 3, 2011 -- Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson introduced a sense of the Senate resolution calling on Congress to take a step toward reducing the national debt by using funds saved from a recently announced earmark moratorium to cut federal spending.

"Nebraskans have repeatedly told me they want Washington to stop the spending. My resolution will do that by steering the savings from the new earmark moratorium to cut federal spending," said Senator Nelson.

"We should earmark the earmarks for spending cuts and debt reduction, and make sure the money isn't just spent with little transparency by Washington bureaucrats. This is one among a number of steps I will seek, and Congress should take, toward reducing the national debt," Nelson added.

"The national debt is now above $14 trillion and Congress should do all it can to address the debt before it unfolds into the kinds of crises we've seen overseas. If we're going to ban congressional earmarks, we should make sure the ban helps reduce the debt."

Nelson is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee that oversees federal spending. Recently, the committee's Chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii announced that he would not accept requests for congressional earmarks for the next two years.

The text of Nelson's resolution follows:

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should reduce spending by the amount resulting from the recently announced earmark moratorium.

* Whereas the debt of the United States exceeds $14 trillion

* Whereas it is important for Congress to use all tools at its disposal to address the national debt crisis

* Whereas Congress will not earmark funds for projects requested by Members of Congress

* Whereas the earmark ban should be utilized to realize actual savings

It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should reduce spending by the amount resulting from the recently announced earmark moratorium.