U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter is seeking a $26 million earmark to purchase two unmanned Predator C drones for use in Afghanistan.
The request announced Friday mirrors an earmark filed last month by U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray.
The two lawmakers want the money for General Atomics of San Diego, each man's top campaign contributor in the most recent election cycle.
Hunter, R-El Cajon, and Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, say the request has nothing to do with campaign contributions.
"It wouldn't matter to me if General Atomics was located in Minnesota," said Hunter, whose 52nd Congressional District includes portions of Poway and Ramona.
Both men say the request was made to meet the needs of U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, who they say repeatedly have asked for more "eyes in the sky."
Bilbray also has said the request would sustain and grow employment at General Atomics, which has three plants in San Diego County that work on the Predator.
Hunter said much the same thing Tuesday, adding that while his request is the same as Bilbray's and seeks the same two Predators and not an additional two, his was made without consulting his fellow lawmaker.
Hunter said he used the Predator when he served in Afghanistan in 2007 as a captain in the Marine Corps working on targeting Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.
"I have prosecuted targets with the Predator A and B and I know the benefits of the C," he said in reference to the two existing versions of the Predator and the C version now in development. "The military has been clamoring for it, and they need it as soon as possible."
FEC records
Federal Election Commission records show General Atomics corporate officers and their wives contributed $13,400 to Hunter's congressional campaign in 2007 and 2008 as he successfully ran to replace his father, former House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, in the 52nd District.
The company political action committee donated another $8,300, raising his total from General Atomics to $21,700.
The company and its officers donated $17,150 to Bilbray in the 2007-08 election cycle.
Requesting a military appropriation through an earmark, in which lawmakers seek money for a specific project outside the normal appropriations process, is nothing new.
But such requests attract attention when the effort benefits a key campaign contributor, said Bill Allison, a senior fellow at the Washington watchdog group Sunshine Foundation.
"That's why members of Congress continue to want to use the earmarks," Allison said Tuesday. "From the perspective of the Pentagon, there may be other companies out there that want to compete for the same work, but when members make requests like this, it shuts off any competition."
Earmark requests have ballooned in recent years, rising from 3,055 in 1996 to more than 14,000 in 2006.
The process of seeking funding outside the normal appropriations process also has led to scandals such as the one involving former U.S Rep. Randy Cunningham, Bilbray's predecessor in the 50th Congressional District, who is in a federal prison for bribery and tax evasion for steering money to defense contractors in exchange for $2.4 million in cash and goods.
Last month, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, North County's other member of the House of Representatives, announced he would not make anymore earmark requests until substantial reforms are in place.
"After eight years in office, it's become clear to me that projects are not judged on the merits, but on the seniority and power of the requesting member or lobbyist," he said at the time.
'Could have made 80 requests'
Cheryl Irwin, a spokeswoman in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said the Department of Defense does not comment on specific congressional earmark requests.
Instead, Irwin pointed to Gates' proposed fiscal year 2010 Pentagon budget unveiled Tuesday in which he specifically asks for 50 Predator and Reaper unmanned aircraft. Both are manufactured by General Atomics.
Hunter published his request on his congressional Web site Friday.
"The fact that he (Gates) has asked for 50 is great and my earmark request helps fill the 50 he is seeking," Hunter said. "I didn't know when I filed the request what he would ask for, and this might help spur production."
He also said the request did not bump any other project.
"I could have made 80 requests if I wanted to," he said.
General Atomics declined comment on Hunter's earmark request and did the same when asked last month about Bilbray's. The company is nearing an announcement on when the C version of the Predator, which can carry 2,000 pounds of weapons and fly longer and farther than current models, will be ready for production.
Gates said Tuesday that if the request for 50 Predators and Reapers is met, it would represent a 62 percent increase in the level of unmanned drones at work in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On his Web site, Hunter prefaces his full list of earmark requests by saying it is the job of Congress to appropriate funding for projects, and his projects benefit his district, the state and the military.
In addition to the $26 million Predator request, Hunter's list includes $3 million for a sensor to help helicopter crews see through blowing dust and sand; $1 million for special mannequins to help troops learn first-aid techniques; $5 million for vegetation clearing to reduce wildfire risk; and $2 million for Highway 52 improvement.
The full list and his rationales can be viewed on his Web site, www.hunter.house.gov, under "2010 funding initiatives."
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
