The version of the omnibus that was posted on the House Rules Committee website last night spans more than 3,400 pages. At that size, the omnibus is longer than:

• The Bible (1,208 pages)
• Webster’s Dictionary, Second Edition (3,400 pages)
• War and Peace, Original Edition (1,500 pages)
• Riddick’s Senate Procedure (1,608 pages)
  

Earmarks comprise 696 pages, or one-fifth, of the omnibus spending bill.

The omnibus contains over 9,000 special interest pork projects, including such pressing national priorities as:

• Rodent control in Alaska ($113,000)
• Olive fruit fly research in France ($213,000)
• Hunting and Fishing Museum in Pennsylvania ($200,000)
• Louis Armstrong Museum in New York ($150,000)
• A bike trail in Minnesota ($700,000)
• A river walk in Massachusetts ($1,000,000)
• A post office museum in downtown Las Vegas ($200,000); and
• The Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois ($37,000)

Dr. Coburn amendments to the omnibus:

The Safe Roads and Bridges Act— allows the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to redirect funds earmarked by Congress for pork projects to instead pay for efforts to improve roads or bridges that have been classified as “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete.'”

The Women and Children's Health Care First Act—allows the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to redirect funds earmarked by Congress for pork projects to the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant to provide health care services for women and children.