III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 123 

Reforming the congressional earmark process. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2007 

Mr. DEMINT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules and Administration 

RESOLUTION 

Reforming the congressional earmark process. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARK REFORM. 

3 The Standing Rules of the Senate are amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘RULE XLIV 

6 ‘‘EARMARKS

7 ‘‘1. It shall not be in order to consider— 

8 ‘‘(a) a bill or joint resolution reported by a com9 mittee unless the report includes a list, which shall 

10 be made available on the Internet in a searchable 

11 format to the general public for at least 48 hours be12 fore consideration of the bill or joint resolution, of 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
2 

•SRES 123 IS 

1 congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and 

2 limited tariff benefits in the bill or in the report 

3 (and the name of any Member who submitted a re4 quest to the committee for each respective item in5 cluded in such list) or a statement that the propo6 sition contains no congressional earmarks, limited 

7 tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits; 

8 ‘‘(b) a bill or joint resolution not reported by a 

9 committee unless the chairman of each committee of 

10 jurisdiction has caused a list, which shall be made 

11 available on the Internet in a searchable format to 

12 the general public for at least 48 hours before con13 sideration of the bill or joint resolution, of congres14 sional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited 

15 tariff benefits in the bill (and the name of any Mem16 ber who submitted a request to the committee for 

17 each respective item included in such list) or a state18 ment that the proposition contains no congressional 

19 earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff bene20 fits to be printed in the Congressional Record prior 

21 to its consideration; or 

22 ‘‘(c) a conference report to accompany a bill or 

23 joint resolution unless the joint explanatory state24 ment prepared by the managers on the part of the 

25 House and the managers on the part of the Senate 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
3 

•SRES 123 IS 

1 includes a list, which shall be made available on the 

2 Internet in a searchable format to the general public 

3 for at least 48 hours before consideration of the con4 ference report, of congressional earmarks, limited 

5 tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits in the con6 ference report or joint statement (and the name of 

7 any Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or 

8 Senator who submitted a request to the House or 

9 Senate committees of jurisdiction for each respective 

10 item included in such list) or a statement that the 

11 proposition contains no congressional earmarks, lim12 ited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits. 

13 ‘‘2. For the purpose of this rule— 

14 ‘‘(a) the term ‘congressional earmark’ means a 

15 provision or report language included primarily at 

16 the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Com17 missioner, or Senator providing, authorizing or rec18 ommending a specific amount of discretionary budg19 et authority, credit authority, or other spending au20 thority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, 

21 loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an 

22 entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or 

23 Congressional district, other than through a statu24 tory or administrative formula-driven or competitive 

25 award process; 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
4 

•SRES 123 IS 

1 ‘‘(b) the term ‘limited tax benefit’ means— 

2 ‘‘(1) any revenue provision that— 

3 ‘‘(A) provides a Federal tax deduc4 tion, credit, exclusion, or preference to a 

5 particular beneficiary or limited group of 

6 beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986; and 

8 ‘‘(B) contains eligibility criteria that 

9 are not uniform in application with respect 

10 to potential beneficiaries of such provision; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(2) any Federal tax provision which pro13 vides one beneficiary temporary or permanent 

14 transition relief from a change to the Internal 

15 Revenue Code of 1986; and 

16 ‘‘(c) the term ‘limited tariff benefit’ means a 

17 provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

18 of the United States in a manner that benefits 10 

19 or fewer entities. 

20 ‘‘3. A Member may not condition the inclusion of lan21 guage to provide funding for a congressional earmark, a 

22 limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit in any bill 

23 or joint resolution (or an accompanying report) or in any 

24 conference report on a bill or joint resolution (including 

25 an accompanying joint explanatory statement of manVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:13 Mar 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR123.IS SR123

bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
5 

•SRES 123 IS 

1 agers) on any vote cast by another Member, Delegate, or 

2 Resident Commissioner. 

3 ‘‘4. (a) A Member who requests a congressional ear4 mark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit in 

5 any bill or joint resolution (or an accompanying report) 

6 or in any conference report on a bill or joint resolution 

7 (or an accompanying joint statement of managers) shall 

8 provide a written statement to the chairman and ranking 

9 member of the committee of jurisdiction, including— 

10 ‘‘(1) the name of the Member; 

11 ‘‘(2) in the case of a congressional earmark, the 

12 name and address of the intended recipient or, if 

13 there is no specifically intended recipient, the in14 tended location of the activity; 

15 ‘‘(3) in the case of a limited tax or tariff ben16 efit, identification of the individual or entities rea17 sonably anticipated to benefit, to the extent known 

18 to the Member; 

19 ‘‘(4) the purpose of such congressional earmark 

20 or limited tax or tariff benefit; and 

21 ‘‘(5) a certification that the Member or spouse 

22 has no financial interest in such congressional ear23 mark or limited tax or tariff benefit. 

24 ‘‘(b) Each committee shall maintain the written state25 ments transmitted under subparagraph (a). The written 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
6 

•SRES 123 IS 

1 statements transmitted under subparagraph (a) for any 

2 congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 

3 tariff benefits included in any measure reported by the 

4 committee or conference report filed by the chairman of 

5 the committee or any subcommittee thereof shall be pub6 lished in a searchable format on the committee’s or sub7 committee’s website not later than 48 hours after receipt 

8 on such information. 

9 ‘‘5. It shall not be in order to consider any bill, reso10 lution, or conference report that contains an earmark in11 cluded in any classified portion of a report accompanying 

12 the measure unless the bill, resolution, or conference re13 port includes to the greatest extent practicable, consistent 

14 with the need to protect national security (including intel15 ligence sources and methods), in unclassified language, a 

16 general program description, funding level, and the name 

17 of the sponsor of that earmark.’’. 

Æ 


bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS