Monday, August 07, 2006

College Pork   [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

From Roll Call:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) quietly has begun an investigation into six years of earmarks won by more than 100 colleges and universities, a sector that has collected billions in federal awards in recent years. According to Coburn’s spokesman, the Senator, an opponent of earmarks, is looking for corruption, spending mismanagement and a better understanding of how the process works, especially since the probes of Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) showed that appropriations have been used for criminal purposes. The little-known investigation already has stirred up controversy on K Street and raised questions from Coburn’s Senate colleagues. Higher education lobbyists said their clients were blindsided when they received letters late last week from Coburn asking detailed questions about their earmarks and work with lobbyists to secure the politically popular funds. Several lobbyists said they immediately became suspicious of the Senator’s intentions and have recommended that their clients not cooperate. “I am advising them not to respond on the basis that I think the letter itself is disingenuous,” said one Republican contract lobbyist whose clients received the letter and then promptly faxed it to the lobbyist. “I think it’s a trap.” In the letter, Coburn wrote that the schools, which his spokesman, John Hart, said were selected in part because they receive large amounts of the earmarked money, carry out “the research that often translates into life-changing” discoveries. “Although this is a very gracious and nice sounding letter, this is going to be a very messy September and October,” said another lobbyist familiar with the letter. (Coburn’s request is not a subpoena, but he asked the public and private schools to provide the information by Sept. 1.) ..

08/07 11:46 AMShare