Right Now
Sep 12 2007
Dr. Coburn Requests Oversight Report on Transportation Earmarks
Report criticizes Congress’ wasteful spending
Dr. Coburn recently received a requested report from the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General that contains the following astonishing findings. Read the full report by clicking here, and click here to read more about Dr. Coburn's amendments to the FY 2008 Transportation/HUD Appropriations bill.
REPORT FINDINGS - Brief Summary:
Earmarks in DOT have increased in number by 1,150 percent in 10 years (1996 – 2005), with the value of earmarks in the same timeframe jumping 314 percent.
Ninety-nine percent of earmarks (7,724 out of 7,760) were not subject to the transportation agencies’ review and selection processes or bypassed the states’ normal planning and programming processes.
Earmarks may not be the most effective or efficient use of funds. The IG report identifies five ways in which earmarks impact programs in the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration, as follows (see pages 11 – 14 of the full report):
Earmarks can reduce funding for the states’ core transportation programs.
Earmarks do not always coincide with DOT strategic research goals.
Many low priority, earmarked projects are being funded over higher priority, non-earmarked projects.
Earmarks provide funds for projects that would otherwise be ineligible.
Earmarks can disrupt the agency’s ability to fund programs as designated when authorized funding amounts are exceeded by “overearmarking.”
Click here to see a one-page table entitled "strategic earmarks?" which identifies a series of problematic earmarks mentioned in the report. To access the lists of specific earmarks identified in the table, browse by the type of earmark below.
FAA Congressional Earmarks 2006 - Air Traffic Control & Airport Improvement
FHWA National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement Program earmarks - 2006
FHWA Interstate Maintenance Discretionary Program earmarks - 2006
FTA National Research Program earmarks - 2006
FHWA Public Lands Highways Discretionary Program earmarks - 2006
FHWA Projects of Regional and National Significance earmarks - 2006
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/13/12 | Dr. Coburn's Amendments to the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012 |
| 9/13/12 | Social Security Disability Programs: Improving the Quality of Benefit Award Decisions |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/19/12 | Farm Bill Amendments Update |
| 6/12/12 | Dr. Coburn's Amendments to the S. 3240, Farm Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 7/27/11 | 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget |
| 7/22/11 | Dr. Coburn on C-SPAN's Washington Journal This Morning |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 4/13/11 | New Report Reveals Overbilling of Treasury Department by Law Firms, Misuse of TARP Funds |
| 4/4/11 | Dr. Coburn's amendments to cut spending by $20 billion |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/17/10 | Today, Dr. Coburn filed two amendments to the Food Safety bill |
| 11/10/10 | Earmark Myths and Realities |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 10/26/10 | What Others Are Saying About "Grim Diagnosis" |
| 10/7/10 | Dr. Coburn Not Holding Aid to Haiti |
| 10/4/10 | HHS ADMINISTRATIVE FAILURE |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/22/10 | Guns in Parks Fact Sheet |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/18/09 | Coburn's efforts to improve the Caregiver and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act |
| 11/5/09 | Facts about the Veterans Caregiver Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/6/09 | Clunkers for Charity |
| 8/4/09 | Coburn Amendments to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/16/09 | Dr. Coburn Releases Stimulus Oversight Report |
| 6/2/09 | Coburn Amendments to the Family Smoking and Prevention Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 5/12/09 | Coburn Gun Amendments 1067 and 1068 |
| 5/5/09 | Coburn Offers Amendment to Dispose of Unneeded Federal Buildings |
| 5/1/09 | OMB Responds to Coburn's Letter on Transparency |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 4/22/09 | Coburn Amendments to The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/29/09 | Senate Rejects Opportunity to Provide Health Care to Needy Children at No Additional Cost |
| 1/7/09 | Senate Leaders to Kick Off New Congress with an Earmark-Laden Omnibus Lands Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 10/16/08 | Highlights of Senator Reid's Omnibus Lands Grab and Energy Restrictions Act Scheduled for Debate Next Month |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/27/08 | Coburn Comments on the Fiscal Year 2009 Continuing Resolution |
| 9/26/08 | Reid Neglects Economy to Pursue Pet Projects |
| 9/17/08 | Reid's Monkey Business Continues |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/21/08 | Coburn Applauds HHS Action on Physician Conscience Rights |
| 8/1/08 | Democrats Hold Civil Rights and Child Pornography Legislation as a Political Hostage |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/20/08 | AMERICAN OIL REMAINS UNTOUCHED |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 3/14/08 | Dr. Coburn's Efforts Fix GINA |
| 3/11/08 | Coburn's Speech on the 2009 Budget |
| 3/3/08 | Dr. Coburn Amendment to Ensure Scientists Conduct Research, Not Politicians |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/14/08 | Dr. Coburn's amendments to fix the broken Indian Health Care system |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/29/08 | Dr. Coburn's Federal Land Bill Amendments |
| 1/24/08 | Coburn's official visit to Taiwan |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/28/07 | Dr. Coburn Explains Hold on NICS bill |
| 9/21/07 | Dr. Coburn Seeks Senate Vote on Raising the Debt Limit |
| 9/20/07 | Dr. Coburn Offers Amendments to FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill |
| 9/18/07 | Dr. Coburn's amendments to the DC College Access Act |
| 9/12/07 | Current record |
| 9/11/07 | Dr. Coburn's amendment to the FY 2008 Transportation/HUD Appropriations bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/28/07 | Congress celebrates the Year of the Golden Pig |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/14/07 | Debating the continuing resolution |
| 2/7/07 | What's next for the War in Iraq? |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/30/07 | Do we need to increase the federal mininum wage? |
| 1/12/07 | Real reform for the Senate ethics bill |
| 1/4/07 | The Coburn Principles |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 12/14/06 | 109th Congress Convenes |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/16/06 | Coburn amendments to the Agriculture Appropriations bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/26/06 | Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization |
| 9/26/06 | President Bush Signs Coburn/Obama Transparency Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/23/06 | Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act |
| 8/2/06 | Coburn amendments to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 5/2/06 | Stop the Senate from approving non-emergency projects in the emergency supplemental |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 12/14/05 | Dr. Coburn letter to HHS on Ryan White CARE Act formulas and ADAP funding |