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House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a passionate golf player, sponsored a $3 million earmark in the 2008 military spending bill for a program that attracts disadvantaged and minority children to the game of golf. Even though Clyburn’s earmark appears minor in the face of a $471 billion defense bill that contains about $5 billion in disclosed member projects, it stands out because it has little to do with the military and was only introduced as part of the conference negotiations between the House and the Senate. The project is attracting criticism from watchdog organizations such as Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), which included the earmark as part of its pork alert to the 2008 defense appropriations bill. In August the City of Columbia Golf Center was renamed the James E. Clyburn Golf Center, complete with a statue of the lawmaker. The golf center was built in 2002 with money that Clyburn helped obtain. The center is also a participant in The First Tee program, initiated by the PGA Tour and the World Golf Foundation in 1997 on the heels of Tiger Woods’ growing success in golf. First Tee’s mission is building golf facilities in non-traditional areas to introduce the game to kids. But children do not only learn how to play the game, they are also introduced to life skills, mentoring, goal setting and educational opportunities, according to a description of the program. The First Tee is a nonprofit youth development program and is implemented through a partnership of parents, civic and corporate leaders, state and local governments, youth-serving agencies, schools, and the golfing community. Clyburn’s spokeswoman Kristie Greco said that the earmark is related to the military. It funds “the Life Skills character education program” at Department of Defense facilities, she said. According to Greco, the program gives children of military families a constructive recreational and educational outlet. Days before the Columbia golf center was dedicated in Clyburn’s name, the Democratic leader introduced legislation co-sponsored with Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) to establish “First Tee Life Skills.” By amending the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Clyburn’s bill would authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants to agencies and non-profit organizations for “youth development programs that give youth the opportunity to develop life-enhancing values though their participation in sports, such as golf.” This is not the first time the First Tee program is in the crosshairs of watchdog organizations. In 2004, CAGW gave the program “The Taxpayers Get Teed Off” Oinker Award for receiving $3 million in two separate appropriations bills. This year CAWG again brought attention to the new earmark in the 2008 defense bill. In 2004, the $3 million went to the First Tee program in St. Augustine, Fla., the program’s headquarters. Congress for the first time this year is disclosing earmarks and their sponsors. |
