An e-mail from Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry was in my box this morning informing me of a bold move he has taken regarding earmarked legislation. I print an excerpt of that e-mail below as well as the Congressman's contact information if you'd like to send him a quick thank-you for this good move....The secretive, mysterious nature of the "earmark process," which has led to corruption and personal gain by a few, has come under appropriate criticism.
I believe in transparency. Therefore, I will post on my congressional website any and all earmarks I request.
I will comply with the new House rules on the disclosure of earmarking of federal funds in legislation. I will also post on www.house.gov/terry the funding requests that I submit. To my knowledge, I am the first Member of Congress to take this step.
The earmark reforms contained in the new rules package adopted in January by the U.S. House of Representative require that all bills or joint resolutions (not just appropriations bills) considered in the House include either a list of earmarks in the text or committee report and the name of the Member requesting each earmark or a statement that no such earmarks are included. The rules also require every Member requesting an earmark to provide a written explanation of the request and "publicly" certify that the Member or spouse has no financial interest in the earmark. The earmark lists are to be made available to the public electronically through committee publications or in the Congressional Record , the publication of statements on the House floor and recorded votes...
I hope this information has been of interest to you. I have consistently supported earmark reform and I believe posting these requests on my official website takes reform to the next level...
Again, to contact Congressman Terry, simply use the e-mail form on this page or send a "real letter" to either of these addresses:
Washington Office
1524 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4155
Omaha District Office
11717 Burt Street, Suite 106
Omaha, NE 68154
(402) 397-9944
