Cooper Blasts “Zombie Earmark”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-5) bashed what he called “a zombie earmark” and helped strip money from a dead project Wednesday at the House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Cooper said delays and cost overruns at a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility in South Carolina justified his criticisms. The Department of Energy recently conducted a review of MOX – a plutonium disposal facility that has not yet been completed – and decided to cancel the South Carolina program due to unaffordability.

On Wednesday, Cooper expressed dismay when committee members – including U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, whose district includes the MOX facility – supported adding $120 million to the $196 million already in the president’s budget to eventually shut down the facility.

“This isn’t just an earmark,” Cooper said. “This is a zombie earmark.”

The Department of Energy has even conducted a study that identified alternatives that would cost taxpayers a fraction ($8.8 billion) of the current MOX projections ($30 billion).

“The only way you can claim this is not an earmark is: It happened without anybody being involved. It just happened,” Cooper said (VIDEO). “Well, to my knowledge, there has only been one virgin birth, and that was about 2,000 years ago. I don’t think any virgin birth happened in this committee.”

Ultimately, the $120 million was not allocated to the MOX facility in South Carolina.