U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, returning to the Senate after several days in the hospital, late Thursday criticized White House efforts to end the ability of senators to fund projects in their home states.

Senators voted down a budget amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., that would have banned such "earmarks" for one year.

Byrd, sometimes called the "Prince of Pork" for the many earmarks he has directed to his home state as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected to the term "pork-barrel spending."

"An earmark may be pork to some political chatter box on television, but it could be an economic lifeline for a community," Byrd said in a Thursday evening statement entered into the Congressional Record. "It may be a road that has fallen into dangerous disrepair or a bridge that is on the verge of collapse.

"An earmark is an economic need that many times falls between the cracks of the Washington bureaucracy."

Byrd's fellow West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, also voted against the ban. The three remaining major presidential candidates - Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Barack Obama, D-Ill. - all voted for it. The ban was defeated by a 71-29 vote.

Byrd and other senators argued that ending congressional earmarks is an effort by President Bush to concentrate more power in his own hands.

"The level of congressional earmarks is one-fiftieth of what this country has exhausted on the war in Iraq" during the current fiscal year, Byrd stated.

Earmark projects Byrd helped bring to West Virginia include the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services facility near Clarksburg; upgrades to the Marmet locks and dam; highway improvements throughout the state; and medical research centers at West Virginia and Marshall universities.

Last year, Byrd said, Bush himself proposed almost 2,000 earmarks that included funding for studies on cattle-ever ticks, fruit flies and light brown apple moths.

"It is a feint. It is an effort to distract Americans from horrendous budget deficits, which have mushroomed under President Bush. When President Bush took office, this nation had just completed four straight years of budget surpluses," Byrd said.

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the surplus between 2002 and 2011 would be $5.6 trillion. Now, according to the White House's own budget documents, we are facing $2.7 trillion of debt over those same ten years."

Senators understand the needs of their own states more clearly than a president and his staff, Byrd concluded.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, returning to the Senate after several days in the hospital, late Thursday criticized White House efforts to end the ability of senators to fund projects in their home states.

Senators voted down a budget amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., that would have banned such "earmarks" for one year.

Byrd, sometimes called the "Prince of Pork" for the many earmarks he has directed to his home state as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected to the term "pork-barrel spending."

"An earmark may be pork to some political chatter box on television, but it could be an economic lifeline for a community," Byrd said in a Thursday evening statement entered into the Congressional Record. "It may be a road that has fallen into dangerous disrepair or a bridge that is on the verge of collapse.

"An earmark is an economic need that many times falls between the cracks of the Washington bureaucracy."

Byrd's fellow West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, also voted against the ban. The three remaining major presidential candidates - Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Barack Obama, D-Ill. - all voted for it. The ban was defeated by a 71-29 vote.

Byrd and other senators argued that ending congressional earmarks is an effort by President Bush to concentrate more power in his own hands.

"The level of congressional earmarks is one-fiftieth of what this country has exhausted on the war in Iraq" during the current fiscal year, Byrd stated.

Earmark projects Byrd helped bring to West Virginia include the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services facility near Clarksburg; upgrades to the Marmet locks and dam; highway improvements throughout the state; and medical research centers at West Virginia and Marshall universities.

Last year, Byrd said, Bush himself proposed almost 2,000 earmarks that included funding for studies on cattle-ever ticks, fruit flies and light brown apple moths.

"It is a feint. It is an effort to distract Americans from horrendous budget deficits, which have mushroomed under President Bush. When President Bush took office, this nation had just completed four straight years of budget surpluses," Byrd said.

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the surplus between 2002 and 2011 would be $5.6 trillion. Now, according to the White House's own budget documents, we are facing $2.7 trillion of debt over those same ten years."

Senators understand the needs of their own states more clearly than a president and his staff, Byrd concluded.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.