Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for earmark reform.

Madam Speaker, on January 28, 2009, I introduced a resolution, H. Res. 100, to amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for earmark reform. The bill that I introduced will not only promote accountability and transparency in Congress, but push its Members in a direction that better serves their constituents.

All too frequently, Congressional spending requests are funding embarrassing and unworthy projects. This institution has lost credibility because earmarks fund ``monuments-to-me,'' bizarre private enterprises, or even projects to subsidize their family. This growing trend is unacceptable and, as guardians of taxpayer dollars, we owe it to the citizens of the United States to be good stewards of their money.

Congressional spending requests deserve to be scrutinized and publicly debated, that is why I introduced this commonsense approach to reform the earmark process. This resolution will prohibit earmarks from being used for non-public entities, except for institutions of higher education. Likewise, this bill will prohibit any earmark for any entity named after an individual serving in Congress, which will eliminate controversial ``monuments-to-me.''

With regard to Congressional spending requests, proper disclosure of earmarks has come to the forefront of this debate. In an effort to encourage accountability and transparency, this bill will also require Members of the House to disclose earmark requests within 24 hours to the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The Clerk will then be tasked with publicly posting all earmark requests on the website designated for the Office of the Clerk in a uniform and searchable format.

As a reflection of my own principles in government spending, I have also included a provision to require certification that non-federal recipients will provide matching funds of at least 10 percent of the earmark request. Recipients of federal funds are more likely to spend their federal financial support efficiently and effectively if they too have a vested interest in the final project.

Lastly, H. Res. 100 will require that Members requesting earmarked funds certify that no family member is a beneficiary of the funding. This earmark reform measure will bring an end to deplorable family payouts.

Earmark abuse not only wastes taxpayer money, but it also erodes the credibility of this legislative body. It is time for Congress to regain the trust of the American people and bring integrity back to Capitol Hill through substantive earmark reform.