102nd-Adventures in Porkland-Staff, 1992

The Porkbusters Coalition began in 1991 as a bi-partisan congressional group pledged to fight waste in government spending. ("Pork" is the common term used when federal money is provided for an extremely specific, locally beneficial program that usually has gone through no approval process.) The Porkbusters established criteria with which to identify these unapproved projects and then fought within Congress to cut this spending. The Porkbusters also supported long-term federal budget fixes, including a balanced budget amendment and a Presidential line-item veto power for spending only called "enhanced rescission." Membership within the Porkbusters varied with each Congressional election, but, in addition to Congressman Fawell who served as co-chair, key members included: Representative Tim Penny (D-MN); Representative Charles Stenholm (D-TX); Representative John Kasich (R-OH); Representative George Brown Jr. (D-CA) (d. 1999); and Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Methods of fighting waste used by the Porkbusters included: statements identifying these projects on the floor of Congress; amendments to bills decreasing the funding amount; introduction of bills to replace or enact reduced spending; and rescissions after the passage of appropriation bills. (Rescissions, which can be sent to Congress by the President or introduced on the floor of Congress by a member of Congress, halt spending by rescinding approval, requiring the agency/department not to spend the remaining funds previously approved.) Among the specific areas scrutinized by Porkbusters' were: subsidies to honey producers and peanut growers in the Agriculture appropriations; the service life extension program for the USS Kennedy; the continued production of the B-2 "stealth" bomber; and the practice of using academic earmarks rather than congressional authorization to award research money to higher education institutions. The files include: "Dear Colleague" letters; correspondence from members of Congress, business leaders, government watchdog groups, college and university professors, and government leaders, including Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Illinois Governor Jim Edgar; copies of bills and committee reports; internal memoranda and printed copies of email notes; and research reports by government agencies and their watchdog groups. The news clippings files often include analyses by Congressman Fawell or a staff member. (Much of the information in the files pertains to the federal budget and deficit.) The files for the Science Committee hearings examining the practice of academic earmarks, which award research money non-competitively to institutions of higher education, are found within the Porkbusters Files. These files were maintained with the Porkbusters Files rather than in Record Group 4: Legislative Files: Science Committee Files, 1985-1998 since this was an issue raised repeatedly by the Porkbusters and since these hearings occurred because Representative George Brown (D-CA), a member of the Porkbusters Coalition, was the chairman of the Science Committee. The files are arranged in chronological order by Congress, as designated by the Congress number and then alphabetically by subject. When necessary, the fiscal year further subdivides the subject. Because of the nature of the federal government's annual budget process, many of the folders are identified by the appropriations' fiscal year and the department/agency. The files where fiscal year (FY) is indicated reflects the Congress of the fiscal year budget, not the Congress in which the appropriations were approved. For example: the file for the fiscal year 1995 appropriations is found in the 104th Congress ("104th-Appropriations FY95-HWF, 1994"), even though passage was in July 1994, during the 103rd Congress. These records were received as two separate series: Congressman Fawell's files and staff files. Each of these groups was arranged in rough chronological groups: 105th Congress, 104th Congress, and 103rd Congress and previous. A chronological and then alphabetical arrangement were imposed on the records. The provenance of the collection was maintained through the folder title entry "-HWF" or "-Staff" to indicate whether the individual file was used or annotated by Congressman Fawell or one (or many) of his staff members.