THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9603300271
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Congress and President Clinton say the line-item veto legislation passed this week will provide beleaguered taxpayers a fire wall against wasteful pork-barrel spending.
But one man's pork is another man's essential project. Just ask the local congressmen who helped steer to passage the Hampton Roads spending projects that turned up on a national watchdog group's list of ``outrageous spending and profligate waste.''
The group, Citizens Against Government Waste, publishes an annual ``Congressional Pig Book'' detailing billions of dollars in government spending that it calls ``procedural pork'' - money that's appropriated in circumvention of the normal budgetary processes.
The group claims to have found $12.5 billion worth of wasteful spending already in 1996. A state-by-state breakdown ranks Virginia, at $47.5 million, as the nation's 11th-biggest recipient of pork.
The group likes the line-item veto legislation sent to Clinton Thursday, which will give the president authority to strike specific projects from spending bills.
``We've been longtime supporters of the line-item veto,'' said Sean Paige, a spokesman for the group. ``We're not saying it's a panacea and will do away with all pork, but we think it will open the process up. . . . We're anxious to see it in action next year.''
Three of the Virginia projects cited in the group's latest pork survey are in Hampton Roads. Paige said all three made the ``Pig Book'' list because they were funded by Congress even though the administration didn't request them.
But pork is in the eye of the beholder. All three projects have stout defenders in Hampton Roads. Here's a look.
Beach protection. Completion of plans and specifications for an Army Corps of Engineers hurricane and beach erosion control project for Virginia Beach, $1.1 million.
The project includes a seawall, boardwalk and beach widening. The administration had planned to halt local beach erosion control projects in a cost-cutting move, but that plan was overridden by Congress.
``They call it a local project. Well, any piece of real estate is local,'' said 2nd District Rep. Owen Pickett, a Democrat whose district includes the Oceanfront. ``But it's a natural resource for all of our citizens.''
Pickett voted against the line-item veto bill, calling it ``window dressing'' that isn't needed to balance the budget. ``I'm absolutely in favor of balancing our budget, and we're showing that that can be done,'' he said - without the new legislation.
Army housing. New barracks for 200 soldiers at Fort Eustis in Newport News, $11 million.
The project will replace World War II-era open-style barracks with a more dormitory-like facility with single rooms and bathrooms shared by two soldiers. The project was scheduled to be funded in the administration's 1997 budget, but Congress moved it up a year.
Rep. Herbert Bateman, a Republican whose 1st District includes Fort Eustis, voted for the line-item veto bill. Nevertheless, a spokesman said Bateman supported an early start on the barracks project because he considers it critically important to upgrade Army housing.
Coast Guard consolidation. Administrative space for the 5th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Portsmouth, $4 million.
The Coast Guard is consolidating its East Coast administrative operations in Portsmouth as part of a cost-cutting initiative mandated by Congress.
It is part of a five-year budget-reduction strategy that is projected to achieve $400 million in savings and reduce the Coast Guard's work force by 4,000. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The ``Congressional Pig Book'' assails ``outrageous spending.''
KEYWORDS: PORK BARREL SPENDING by CNB