The Senate will consider this week a bill to make technical corrections to the 2005 transportation authorization law which, according to the Washington Post, contained a “record 6,371 pet projects,” commonly known as earmarks. One of these earmarks was added to a bill after it had been approved by both chambers of Congress. The earmark provides $10 million for an interchange to connect Coconut Road to an interstate in Lee County, Florida, a project long sought by a large developer but rejected by the community. Senator Coburn will offer an amendment this week to investigate how this earmark was mysteriously inserted into the bill.

This amendment creates a bicameral, bipartisan special committee to investigate how the 2005 highway bill was secretly changed after it was approved by Congress. This legislation charges the special committee with determining “when, how, why, and by whom such improper revisions were made.”

The special joint committee would consist of eight lawmakers – two Members each would be chosen by the Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, House Speaker, and House minority leader. This ensures that the committee will be bipartisan and bicameral.

The committee would be charged with producing two reports about its findings – an interim report to be publicly released on August 1, 2008 and a final report to be released on October 1, 2008. In addition, the committee would have the authority to refer its findings to the House and Senate ethics committees and appropriate law enforcement agencies.

Finally, the committee would have the authority to require testimony and preservation of relevant documents and records and to compel their production via subpoena, if necessary.

2005 Highway Bill That Passed Congress Did Not Include Funding for Coconut Road

On March 10, 2005, the House passed its version of the 2005 highway bill. That bill did not include funding to create an interchange at Coconut Road and Interstate 75 near Fort Myers, Florida.

On May 17, 2005, the Senate passed its own version of the same bill. It did not include funding to create an interchange at Coconut Road and Interstate 75.

On July 29, 2005, both the Senate and Housed passed an identical version of the conference report for H.R.3, the 2005 highway bill. The conference report approved by Congress did not include funding to create an interchange at Coconut Road and Interstate 75. It did, however, include $10 million in taxpayer funding for “Widening and Improvements for I-75 in Collier and Lee County[.]”

But the “enrolled” version of the highway bill – the version signed into law by the president – somehow eliminated funding for widening and improvements for I-75 and re-directed it to “Coconut Rd. interchange I-75/Lee County[.]” That language was secretly inserted into the bill after it passed Congress