Pelosi Letter to Boehner on Earmark Reform

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was issued today
by the Office of the Speaker of the House:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter today to House Republican
Leader John Boehner on earmark reform. Below is a text of the letter:

February 6, 2008
The Honorable John A. Boehner
House Republican Leader
H-204, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Leader Boehner:
Thank you for your January 25 letter concerning earmarks. It affords me an
opportunity to reiterate how aggressively Democrats reformed the earmark
process upon assuming control of Congress last year by instituting new
policies that subjected all earmarks to public disclosure and transparency
rules and cutting the total amount of earmarks nearly in half in just one
year.

We look forward to working with you on additional improvements to the earmark
rules for Congress, and agree with you that the large number of Presidential
earmarks deserve the same scrutiny and restraint. They have received, and will
continue to receive, that review under the Democratic majority.

Democrats will continue to hold the line on earmarks in the House and require
unprecedented disclosure from Members in both parties who seek earmarks, as
well as from the Administration.

Transparency is a critical component of honesty in government, a principle
embodied in the Honest Leadership-Open Government ethics and lobbying reform
bill Congress enacted with bipartisan support last year. Democrats look
forward to working with you and your colleagues to maintain confidence in our
nation's finances.

Best Regards,
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House

SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House

Brendan Daly or Nadeam Elshami, both of the Office of the Speaker of the
House, +1-202-226-7616