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During my travels throughout Nebraska and visits to cutting-edge businesses and state-of-the-art institutions I often refer to Nebraska as “The Silicon Prairie” because of the sophisticated technology that is invented and developed here.
The new technology, which leads to economic development and creates good-paying jobs, doesn’t happen by accident. It takes Nebraskans with vision and some federal investment in their research and development to make their vision become reality. Some folks criticize these investments. They don’t understand. It is highly misleading when some politicians refer to earmarks as “pork” as though they are wasteful government spending.
This week the Senate will consider the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes funding for our military, weapons programs, technology research, and military installations around the world, including Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue. This important national security bill supports several earmarks I’ve been working on that will bring even more technology, economic development, and jobs to Nebraska to further enhance our growing reputation as “The Silicon Prairie.” The bill authorizes millions for the University of Nebraska to develop diagnostic tools and smart weapons for the Department of Defense. It approves millions to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to develop miniature robots to treat wounded soldiers on the battlefield and to develop technology to rapidly detect biological warfare agents and toxic chemicals. The bill enhances U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) by approving funds for the Global Command and Control Center, a public-private partnership that brings STRATCOM together with the Omaha business community and dedicates resources to fighting the global war on terror. It also supports STRATCOM’s role in surveillance and reconnaissance in the search for weapons of mass destruction. The bill also approves millions in Defense Department investments in infrastructure like the Army National Guard Aviation facility in Grand Island and Army Reserve Centers in Omaha and North Platte.
Each year, members of Congress work to earn money in the form of earmarks for important programs like these in their home states. The rationale behind this long-standing constitutional principle is that the elected representatives of the people, not anonymous and unaccountable bureaucrats, can best assess the needs of their constituents. I join others in the Nebraska Congressional Delegation that have defended congressional earmarks because they are decisions made by elected leaders and not left up to the bureaucrats in Washington.
Some have called for the banning of Congressional earmarks. I support more disclosure about who asks for them and why the project is necessary. In most cases, these projects endure the normal budgeting process. But, banning earmarks won’t reduce federal spending or decrease the deficit. It will merely shift the authority over our federal tax dollars away from the elected representatives to Washington bureaucrats.
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