Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today encouraged the Senate to pass several amendments to the fiscal 2007 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 5631) being offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).

The amendments are:

# 4786:  Requires that earmarks, limitations, and directives to be printed in the conference report.

# 4787:  Caps conference spending at $70 million.

# 4784:  Requires that budget justifications and reports for Appropriations Committees be publicly posted on the Department of Defense (DoD) website.

# 4785:  Directs the DoD to improve its methodology for estimating improper payments related to travel and to provide risk assessments that determine whether or not travel payments are at significant risk for making improper payments.

# 4786:  Requires analysis of the total cost of earmarks and the effectiveness of each in meeting DoD’s goals.

In a letter to the Senate, CCAGW President Tom Schatz wrote:  “On behalf of the more than 1.2 million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, I ask that you support these amendments.  All votes on H.R. 5631 will be among those considered for CCAGW’s 2006 Congressional Ratings.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.