Freshman U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin told reporters over lunch Wednesday that “we have the best system [of government] in the world.” But as the new year approaches, Congress still has not passed most of the federal budget, threatening not just pay raises for federal workers but funding to help Maryland cope with the flood of federal defense jobs from base closures elsewhere.
“You bet it?s frustrating,” said Cardin, D-Md. “There?s an awful lot of thing that didn?t get done.”
After two decades as a congressman, Cardin said the Senate was not what he expected.
“There?s a way of operating here that is really collegial,” he said.
Cardin just was awarded a golden gavel reflecting his service as one of the rotating presiding officers of the U.S. Senate for more than 100 hours this year, a burden that falls heavily on junior members.
Pork barrel “earmarks,” congressional appropriations for local projects, have gotten a bad name, but these allocations are also key to lessening the impact of the Base Realignment and Closure initiative. Almost $36 million has been set aside in an “omnibus” spending bill to help with BRAC, which will add thousands of jobs at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground, and another $10 million will help buy Maryland commuter trains and fund Baltimore medical institutions.
Cardin said such earmarks were needed as long as they were open and got close public scrutiny.
“I don?t think anyone knows the end game yet” on the federal budget, said Cardin, a member of the Budget Committee.
Cardin said he was glad to see the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act he co-sponsored coming out of the Environment Committee on which he serves, calling it “the most significant piece” of environmental legislation. It aims to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but Cardin says he doubts whether the Bush administration will support it. “They?re part of the problem,” he said.
He said he believes the next president of either party “will be much more progressive” on global warming.
Cardin said the farm bill, with substantial funding to reduce Chesapeake Bay pollution, will pass before Congress recesses next week. Next year, he expects work to be completed on the energy bill and some form of enhanced children?s health insurance to be enacted and signed.
On the issue of torture of suspected terrorists, Cardin said, “There?s clearly a fundamental division between the White House and Congress.”
