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Rep. Mark Udall says he will not request earmarks |
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By Mike Soraghan
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Posted: 03/07/08 10:23 AM [ET] |
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Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) on Friday became the second Democratic House member to publicly renounce earmarks. “I will not be requesting any spending earmarks,” Udall said in a statement, adding that “it has become increasingly clear that the earmark process lacks the oversight, transparency and accountability to prevent abuses and to win the confidence of the American people.” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has already said he will not seek earmarks. Udall is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). In an interview with The Hill Thursday, as he was weighing his decision, he downplayed the role of the election in his decision. Republican leaders have turned criticism of earmarks into one of their signature crusades for the year, even as Democrats complain that GOP leaders engineered the surge in earmarks and Republican members continue to seek them. Democratic leaders are currently pondering an earmark moratorium for the year to take the issue away from both House Republicans and GOP presidential nominee John McCain (R-Ariz.), an earmark critic. “My patience is running out on earmarks,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. “We’ll either have them or we won’t have them.” |
