Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today called on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to bring the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006 (H.R. 4890) to the floor for a vote. 

“The Line-Item Veto Act is long overdue,” said CCAGW Vice President David Williams.  “The House passed it, the President supports it, Senator Frist wants it, and now hardworking taxpayers deserve a vote from the Senate.”

At a press conference today, CCAGW joined with Rob Portman, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and spokespeople from several groups in support of the legislation.  CCAGW has collected more than 23,000 petitions in support of the line-item veto.  13,000 have already been sent to the Senate electronically. 

On June 22, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4890 by a vote of 247-172.  The bill would allow the President to propose the elimination of individual expenditures and special tax breaks in legislation, checking the more egregious spending abuses of Congress.  Congress would then have 14 legislative days to vote on the President’s requested rescissions and could override them with a simple majority in the House and Senate, compared with the two-thirds margin required by the version that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  Before it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998, President Clinton was able to veto 82 items to save $2 billion over five years. 

The 2006 Congressional Pig Book identified 9,963 pork projects costing a record $29 billion in the fiscal 2006 appropriations bills.  These projects included $1 million for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative, $550,000 for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, North Carolina, and $500,000 for the Arctic Winter Games in Alaska.  Earmarks have also played a central role in a wave of ethics and lobbying scandals on Capitol Hill.

“The line-item veto is a crucial part of overall budget reform,” concluded Williams.  “The Senate must show they are serious about correcting these abuses by voting for this legislation.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.