U.S. Rep. Larsen releases earmark request list, Whatcom County could get more than $13M
Washington's Rep. Rick Larsen has requested an appropriations earmark of $1 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move forward with recovering endangered grizzly bears in the North Cascades.
TV show host Stephen Colbert probably would be pretty displeased with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen's earmark requests. Why? For its support of bears, of course.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would get $1 million to preserve endangered grizzly bears in the North Cascades if Larsen, D-Everett, has his way.
And as far as Colbert, who hosts Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" is concerned, bears are the nation's No. 1 enemy, satirically labeling them "godless killing machines."
For the bears, though, Larsen's request is a pretty big positive.
The request is one of 51 earmark appropriations Larsen has forwarded on to the House Appropriations Committee for a total of $196.3 million. The appropriations, if approved, would be in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, which begins Oct. 1, 2009. Larsen and his staff pared down the list from 153 initial requests made to his office.
Larsen has requested $13.35 million for Whatcom County-based initiatives, including several northern border security initiatives, $1 million for emergency preparedness at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham and a $6 million appropriation to Everson-based Diamond Nets, Inc.
The company, according to Larsen's staff, would supply better deck-edge netting on U.S. Navy ships for sailor safety. The current netting used wears out quickly due to corrosion from salt water, heat from jet engines, and ultraviolet rays, according to spokeswoman Amanda Mahnke.
Larsen's 2nd Congressional District includes U.S. Navy bases in both Everett and Whidbey Island.
Larsen last year offered up a preview of the earmarks he was requesting prior to them making it into the budget, one of the few House of Representatives members, or Senators, to do so.
Mahnke said that Larsen's office reviewed earmarks by considering whether the project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds, if it meets 2nd District needs and priorities, if it is prepared to use federal funding effectively and if it can be funded in an earmarked account.
"After careful consideration," Larsen said, "the 51 requests I have decided to support reflect a range of local needs and would make important investments in northwest Washington communities and our long-term economic growth."
The full list of projects U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen has requested money for can be seen by visiting www.house.gov/larsen.
