We have continued to make our case to the American people. Since the Speaker refused to work with us, we began forcing House votes on a bill written by three Republicans – Reps. Frank Wolf, Jack Kingston, and Zach Wamp – that would institute a total earmark freeze and keep the earmark factory shut down until reforms are in place to prevent wasteful pork-barreling. These votes put the Democrats on the record opposing earmark reform – including their newest Members who campaigned on the issue.

We haven’t won yet, but we are making progress on reform. Since we began this effort, a growing number of my GOP colleagues have sworn off earmarks. Some Democrats have broken ranks with Speaker Pelosi on the issue as well. One of the Democrats’ most partisan chairmen, Henry Waxman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, admitted he agreed with Republican concerns about earmarks and announced a personal earmark moratorium. Two more senior Democrats, Reps. Ron Kind and Jim Cooper, have done the same.

Washington is broken, and it will never be fixed until the earmarks stop and real reform begins. Sadly, the Farm Bill the House considers this week is yet another example of Congress putting secret earmarks and wasteful spending ahead of the interests of the American people. Speaker Pelosi has the power to shut down the earmark process at any time, yet she inserted a $170 million earmark into the Farm Bill at the last minute with no discussion or debate. Can anyone really claim this is the “most open, most honest, and most ethical Congress in history”?