Pet projects thrive despite new House rules

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2007 | by Richard Willing

WASHINGTON -- To secure congressional funding for a pet project, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., made a surprising claim: The little-known National Drug Intelligence Center was about to take charge of the "vitally important" terrorist no-fly list.

Murtha's news, in a letter he sent to the House Intelligence Committee last month, came as a surprise to the nation's intelligence community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence already had recommended that the NDIC, in Murtha's hometown of Johnstown, Pa., be closed for poor performance. It also puzzled the Justice Department, the NDIC's parent agency, where spokesman Dean Boyd said there are no "current" plans for such a transition.

Murtha got the House Intelligence Committee to approve a $23 million...