Claire McCaskill Opinion: Ending Pork-Barrel Spending, Once and for all

by Senator Claire McCaskill

When I arrived in the Senate six years ago, I said no to earmarks, and began the fight to end them. There weren’t many of us who held that position then, but over the last several years, we’ve made a lot of progress. Slowly but surely, we’re changing the culture of Congress to one where members are not judged based on how much taxpayer money they spend, but rather on how much they can save.

Now is the time, while we’re focused on cutting wasteful spending, to make our temporary ban on earmarks a permanent one. Last week, I reintroduced legislation with my Republican colleague Pat Toomey that I know Missourians support: a bill that ends the earmarking practice once and for all.

When rallying support against earmarked spending, I’ve often found allies across party lines. In 2009, I teamed up with South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint to fight for a moratorium on earmarks. That year I also worked with Senator John McCain to make it easier to remove earmarks from existing legislation. In the last Congress, Senator  Toomey and I proposed the Earmark Elimination Act—which we’re reintroducing this week—to permanently ban pet projects. I’ve also called on my own party's leaders to remove earmarks from Congressional legislation.

All along, my message to my colleagues was simple—when we’re talking about investments in America’s infrastructure, resources need to be awarded based on merit and competition, not based on who you are and who you know.

It’s clear that our message has broken through, as Congress placed a moratorium on Congressional earmarks in 2010. After years of hard work, the multi-billion dollar gravy train had finally stopped.

But predictably, some in Congress have had a hard time staying away from this process.

In 2011, we found that while many members of the U.S. House came to Congress promising fiscal discipline, they had inserted 115 earmarks into the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have cost taxpayers a staggering $854 million. After I rallied public pressure against this outrageous, wasteful hypocrisy, they retreated and stripped the earmarks out of the legislation.

More than once over the past five years I have been advised by colleagues and supporters to focus my attention elsewhere—to accept the ways of Washington and go along to get along. But during my time as Jackson County Prosecutor, Missouri State Auditor, and U.S. Senator, I’ve fought for change without backing down. I’ve fought to strengthen transparency, and raise the level of accountability in Washington.

Missourians didn’t send me to the Senate to tackle the easy stuff. They want their elected leaders to work day and night on the tough issues. I’ve never sought an earmark and I’ll stay devoted to permanently ending the earmarking practice until it is completely abolished.

Claire McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor, was reelected to a second term in the U.S. Senate in November.