One man's pork is another's road

Oct 12, 2008 (The Charleston Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Last year, West Virginia received $215 million in federal earmarks, funding requests inserted into bills by members of Congress.

But if Sen. John McCain is elected president next month, most of those earmarks could disappear.

McCain has railed against earmarks on the stump and in his first two debates with Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

But one man's pork is another man's road, bridge or school.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and his West Virginia colleagues have used earmarks to send hundreds of millions of dollars back to the Mountain State.

In fact, Byrd has earmarked more than $1 billion for West Virginia between 1995 and 2006, according to the group Citizens Against Government Waste.

Speaking at Friday's dedication of a new section of U.S. 35 in Scott Depot, Byrd said he depends on earmarks to build and improve roads in West Virginia.

Byrd criticized McCain, "who cries and moans ... that earmarks are an abuse of federal funds. He comes from a state that is 85 percent owned by the federal government, so he doesn't need to ask for earmarks.

"He doesn't come from a state where it costs on average $25 million per mile to build roads, and he doesn't understand that the world is simply not flat!" Byrd said.

But McCain routinely insists earmarks are bad. McCain campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho says McCain would veto "pork-laden bills."

"As president, he will seek the line-item veto to reduce waste and eliminate earmarks that have led to corruption.

Gitcho said McCain "will provide the leadership necessary to control spending by eliminating the broken government programs, reforming the civil service system, eliminating earmarks, wasteful subsidies and pork-barrel spending."

Pork emeritus

As part of their 50 state series, ABC's "Good Morning America" visited West Virginia last month -- and here's how reporter John Berman led his story that morning:

"When a lot of people think about West Virginia, they don't think about birds or mountains. They think about pork," Berman said.

Even among members of Congress, Byrd's earmark success puts him in a class of his own, said Citizens Against Government Waste media director Leslie Paige.

"He's like pork emeritus," Paige said. "He's graduated to a point where we can't even talk about him in a normal way anymore. He's actually set the benchmark for the rest of Congress in terms of irresponsible spending."

But are earmarks "pork"? Not according to local defenders like Ken Hall, president of Teamsters Local 175 in South Charleston and a Teamsters International vice president.

"How do you think bridges and roads get built? If McCain is elected, instead of us having 'bridges to nowhere,' we won't have roads to anywhere.

"This is how the federal government funds our infrastructure -- our roads, bridges and advanced medical facilities. These funds stimulate the economy and directly benefit the people of West Virginia," Hall said.

Earmarks are less than 1 percent of the annual federal budget. They fund medical research, hospital, roads, airports, flood control and federal buildings, among other things.

The current federal budget has 144 earmarks for West Virginia. They include $95 million for Army Corps of Engineers flood control work to $52 million in highway and airport projects, according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Those earmarks also included $8 million for local sewer projects and $480,000 for five local police departments.

State Auditor Glen Gainer III said, "A lot of the earmarks we receive support a lot of jobs. Every year, we get an earmark worth between $8 million and $11 million for the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

"That earmark, won through the efforts of Congressman Alan Mollohan [D-W.Va.], funds the National White Collar Crime Center in Fairmont. It creates 80 good-paying jobs and supports state and local law enforcement across the country," Gainer said.

Rick Atkinson, executive director of Yeager Airport, said, "Before I was airport director, Yeager received $4,000 in discretionary funds each year. Today, we get between $2.2 million and $2.3 million in discretionary entitlement funds each year.

"Sen. Byrd and Sen. Jay Rockefeller [D.W.Va.], who chairs the Senate Aviation Subcommittee, make sure West Virginia receives its fair share," he said, including funds to improve West Virginia Air National Guard facilities.

McCain spokeswoman Gail Gitmo says McCain isn't opposed to federal spending on infrastructure. He just doesn't like the current system, where politicians with tenure, such as Byrd, get first priority.

"John McCain understands that there are many important projects that need and deserve federal funding, but feels that too often the earmark process puts meritorious projects at the back of the line behind wasteful spending pushed into earmarks by the politically powerful," Gitmo said.

But Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said "earmarks" are a constitutional issue.

"Members of Congress work for their people, not for their presidents," Rahall said. "We work with presidents. At least we try to work with them. But Congress retains the power of the purse under the Constitution."

Rahall said earmarks have been critical to improving roads in Southern West Virginia, such as dangerous State Route 10 that goes through Logan and Man.

He admits some earmarks may be for unfit projects, but he argues that most are worthy.

"Are there going to be a few rotten apples, a few rotten earmarks? Of course. But that doesn't mean we don't should dump every good apple out of the basket," Rahall said.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjnyden@wvgazette.com or 348-5164.

Reporter Kate Long contributed to this story.

Recent Byrd earmarks

Highways

Throughout his career, Byrd has played a central role in funding the Appalachian Development Highway System and other key road projects, including six federal corridors: D, E, G, H, L and Q.

Byrd specifically earmarked more than $325 million for Corridor G, $185 million for Corridor D, $175 million for Corridor L and added more than $340 for Corridor H, which is still under construction east of Elkins.

University Medical Centers

Byrd has directed funding to expand the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center at West Virginia University since it opened in 1957.

Byrd has added federal funds to help develop a trauma center, a cancer center, an eye institute and the Health Sciences Learning Center. Byrd also helped fund the Clinical Teaching Center in Charleston and the Health Professionals Education Center in Martinsburg.

Ongoing expansion projects at WVU include expansion of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center and Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute.

At Marshall University, Byrd added earmark funds to build and expand the Center for Rural Health, Deaver Drinko Library, Biotechnology Science Center and the new Clinical, Education, and Outreach Center to provide training to medical students and medical residents.

That center will accommodate at least 75,000 patient visits a year and support more than 100 new jobs.

University Research Programs

Over the past 10 years, Byrd provided funding to develop Marshall's Forensic Science Center DNA Laboratory and Computer Forensics Initiative. Today, the Marshall DNA center creates and classifies genetic identifications of convicted felons in West Virginia, throughout the nation and around the world.

The Computer Forensics Initiative focuses on research and training of specialized personnel for crime investigations, including Internet fraud, identity theft and child pornography.

At WVU, the Lightweight Composite Materials for Heavy-Duty Vehicles program works to improve energy efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and passenger cars to reduce oil consumption.

Clarksburg's FBI Center

Between 1990 and 1999, Byrd worked to get millions of dollars in federal funds to modernize and relocate the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which had a 17 percent employee turnover back in 1989.

Today, the multimillion-dollar facility has fingerprints and criminal history information about more than 55 million people in the world's largest biometric database.

The CJIS Division employs 2,500 at its Clarksburg headquarters and hires private contractors who employ another 400 full-time and more than 600 part-time employees.

Community Development in Charleston

Byrd helped fund ongoing improvements to the Haddad Riverfront Park on the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston by adding $2 million in federal funds in 2007.

The new Senate version of the Transportation HUD Appropriations bill includes $2 million for the Charleston Kanawha Housing Authority to build low-income housing at the Littlepage Terrace and Washington Manor facilities in downtown Charleston.

That legislation also includes $750,000 for the HOPE Community Development Corporation. The grant will help create a job-training program that will provide employment and supply homeownership possibilities for low-to-moderate income families

Federal prison facilities

New federal prison facilities include: the Beckley Federal Correctional Institution which employs more than 330; the Gilmer FCI which employs nearly 260; and the Penitentiary and Secure Women's Facility in Hazelton that employs 460. Currently, a prison facility that will hire 330 is being built near Welch in McDowell County.

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