And Potatoes Don't Even Vote

While public attention was on the fate of the reconciliation bill, which deals primarily with taxes and entitlements, Congress continued its work on the 13 appropriation bills that offer the opportunity to subsidize projects helpful to those back home. The House has approved the following:

$1.1 million Plant Stress Lab at Texas Tech University

$750,000 Potato research

$500,000 Exhibits in the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve, Wisconsin

$9 million National Textile Center

$2.5 million Parking garage in Burlington, Iowa

$1.5 million Chicago Urban Forestry program

$230,000 Tourism promotion in New Mexico

$250,000 Toledo Farmers' Market

$200,000 Dredging Milwaukee Harbor

$1.3 million New York Botanical Garden

$300,000 Construction of Lake O' the Pines in Texas

$192,000 Beluga-whale committee

$98,000 Carp-control study at Metzger Marsh, Ohio

$3.1 million Steamtown, USA in Scranton, Pa.