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High Plains. Moreover, pork barrel politics have sustained 

 experiment stations in poor states which in some ways has 

 helped alleviate poverty and malnutrition there, as in the 

 introduction of "greens" into diets. 



Pork barrel has also, quite typically, permitted scientists to 

 pursue long-range goals of their own choice which night not 

 otherwise have achieved political support, and example being 

 the human nutrition research laboratory located in North 

 Dakota. The influence of pork barrel may also help to account 

 for the extraordinary specialization at the state level, the 

 benefits of which may largely accrue to the nation and the 

 world, an example being the research on wheat breeding, 

 milling, and baking done at Kansas State University. 



But the amount of earmarking, or pork barreling, that takes 

 place today has serious consequences, particularly when viewed in 

 the context of a rising national debt and other fiscal constraints. 

 Part of the reason it continues is the pressure exerted on Members 

 of Congress by universities and the USDA, despite public statements 

 from these entities to the contrary. As a Senate staff member, I 

 attended numerous meetings where I witnessed scientists lobbying 

 for facilities projects to the dismay of many congressional members 

 who do not want to engage in earmarking but are driven to it by 

 relentless constituents and Administration priorities. 



Pressure from universities. Universities across the country 

 are hiring high-priced lobbyists to win appropriations for research 

 facilities. Although members of the scientific community openly 

 criticize earmarking in national forums, back home they 

 nevertheless participate — even pressuring members who resist 

 earmarking on philosophical grounds. 



When told that the funds for facility construction will be 

 deducted from funds available for competitive research grants, 

 university administrators nod in approval behind the scenes. 

 Hadwiger described it this way: "The Administration did not 

 provide increased institutional funding at the level anticipated. 

 So the state experiment stations and extension services organized 



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