THE ANNUAL "Pig Book" listed 366 items gleaned from 2,800 congressional
projects that Citizens Against Government Waste labeled as "pork." Those projects totaled $12 billion - down from $13 billion in the previous year - but they increased markedly in terms of how many projects were funded, according to the nonprofit group.

Moreover, while Pentagon "pork" fell dramatically, it rose sharply in other areas, the group said. "In fiscal 1999, Congress managed to surreptitiously squeeze 695 additional pork-barrel projects in than they did last year, an increase of 32 percent," claimed CAGW President Thomas Schatz.

CRITERIA FOR 'PORK'
That squeezing, the group said, occurred when Congress folded eight appropriations bills into one 3,000-page Omnibus Appropriations Act. "Members of the Senate and House barely had 24 hours to digest the bill before the final floor vote," the report said.

The group didn't question the projects based on their merits but on how they made it through Congress. The CAGW said all of the items in the "Pig Book" meet at least one of its seven criteria for "pork", but most satisfy at least two:

Requested by only one chamber of Congress.
Not specifically authorized.
Not competitively awarded.
Not requested by the president.
Greatly exceeds the president's budget request or the previous year's funding.
Not the subject of congressional hearings.
Serves only a local or special interest.

WHITE HOUSE CITED TOO
The group also broke down its list by state, saying that Alaska had the highest per capita pork spending at $274 a head, followed by Hawaii ($155), Montana ($97), the District of Columbia ($86), and New Mexico ($73). Joining Schatz were at Wednesday's press conference were Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Reps. David Minge, D-Minn., and Ed Royce, R-Calif. Schatz praised the lawmakers for "their proven track record of exposing and eliminating earmarks and add-ons."
The group said both Republican and Democrats on the Hill practiced pork spending, as did the Clinton administration.

"The White House met with congressional leaders behind closed doors in what can only be thought of as a contest to see who could stuff the most pork into the Omnibus Appropriations Act," Schatz claimed. And Byrd, D-W.Va., was singled out as becoming "the first billion-dollar man in Pig Book history" when the $97 million in "pork" this fiscal year sent him over the top.

"Though hailed as the voice of reason during the impeachment debate, demanding proper respect for 'the process,' his $1 billion in pork came, as always, at the expense of the budget process," the CAGW claimed in an introduction to its Pig Book.

The Pig Book is on the CAGW Web site at www.cagw.org.