By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
December 04, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - A group that monitors government waste is finding plenty to complain about in a huge new spending bill.
Citizens Against Government Waste said the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal 2004 - which contains seven spending bills rolled into one - "is stuffed to the brim with parochial projects."
The 1,448-page bill totals $820-billion, and because it is an "omnibus" bill, it is a magnet for pork barrel projects, the group said in a press release.
Here are some of the items CAGW believes taxpayers should find objectionable:
-- $18.5 million added by the House for the International Fund for Ireland;
-- $1 million added by the House for the Alabama Supercomputer Education Outreach Program;
-- $725,000 added in conference for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, Pa.;
-- $400,000 added in conference for the New York Botanical Garden's Virtual Herbarium project in the Bronx;
-- $387,000 added in conference for the Whittier Public Library Children's Area and History Room in Whittier, Calif.;
-- $250,000 added in conference for exhibits at the Cleveland (Ohio) Health Museum;
-- $200,000 added in conference for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland for the Rockin' the Schools education program;
-- $200,000 added in conference for the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh for exhibit and curriculum development for the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center;
-- $50,000 added in conference for the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association in Anchorage to digitize files/photos/videos of Alaskan history; and
-- $50,000 added in conference for the Imaginarium Science Center in Anchorage to develop science exhibits and distance discovery modules.
Citizens Against Government Waste describes itself as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.
