Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s earmarks raise eyebrows
By
Dan Christensen Read Spanish Version
From
the Sunday, October 5, Miami Herald
Congressman
Lincoln Diaz-Balart has procured millions in federal funding to
benefit a small Miami-Dade defense-contracting group that has donated
tens of thousands of dollars to his political campaign and that of
his brother, fellow U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.
Medley
contractors Locust USA and Mark Two Engineering began contributing to
the Diaz-Balarts’ campaigns and political action committees in 2001,
the year Locust secured its first small defense contract. Through
this year, those contributions totaled more than $67,000.
Locust
was awarded $20.8 million in Pentagon research and development
contracts from 2001-2007, federal contracting records show.
At
least 44 percent, $9.2 million, came through Congressional earmarks
sponsored by Lincoln Diaz-Balart, The Miami Herald found. The largest
— $3.7 million — came in 2006.
”My
work on behalf of Locust USA is meant to add jobs to our local
economy by putting our community at the forefront of military
technology development,” Diaz-Balart wrote in reply to Herald
questions.
`NO
RELATIONSHIP’
Campaign
spokesman Carlos Curbelo said there’s ”no relationship” between the
earmarks and political contributions. “We have a very strong
firewall between our campaign and the government office.”
Locust
and Mark Two, established in the late 1990s, operate out of the same
modest warehouse in the 8300 block of NW 74th Ave. They’ve worked
together to develop futuristic technologies, including small,
high-speed turbine engines for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),
missiles and power generators.
Diaz-Balart’s
office confirmed he sponsored the $9.2 million in earmarks for Locust
to develop ”heavy fuel-burning engines” for UAVs for the Army. He
also helped push another recent earmark likely to raise the total
over $10 million.
Earmarks
are inserted into spending bills by legislators to direct funds to
specific projects or organizations.
The
federal Office of Management and Budget has questioned earmarks, in
general, saying they ”circumvent” executive branch authority and
the competitive allocation process.
Earmarks
have surfaced as an issue in the presidential campaign this year,
with candidates calling for an ending or curtailing of them. Two
years ago, earmarks were at the heart of scandals involving lawmakers
and lobbyists like Jack Abramoff. A public outcry led to limited
anti-pork reforms.
Diaz-Balart
is far from the only member of Congress to issue earmarks. So far
this year, he ranks 12th of 25 Florida U.S. Representatives in
earmarks, with $10 million, according to an analysis compiled for The
Herald by Keith Ashdown at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan
watchdog group.
The
runaway leader is Republican Congressman C.W. ”Bill” Young of St.
Petersburg, with $134 million.
In
South Florida, Democrat Kendrick Meek issued $19 million, Republican
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen $10.8 million, Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz
$9.7 million, Democrat Robert Wexler $4.2 million, Democrat Alcee
Hastings $3.9 million, Republican Mario Diaz-Balart $3.6 million and
Democrat Ron Klein $2.55 million, the analysis found.
”He’s
not a big earmarker, but the interesting part is that he’s decided to
make this private company a priority,” Ashdown said of Diaz-Balart.
“A company that’s giving him money.”
Locust
President Enrique J. Enriquez declined interview requests.
Diaz-Balart
began to help Locust obtain funding in 2002.
LETTER
TO THE EDITOR
Enriquez
cited that early assistance in an Aug. 19, 2002 letter to the editor
in The Herald that praised Diaz-Balart for obtaining millions of
dollars in UAV funding for “an obscure little company in his
district.”
”By
bringing this technology to the attention of leaders in Washington
and the armed forces, Diaz-Balart has procured millions from Congress
to accelerate our development,” Enriquez wrote.
By
then, Enriquez and his partners — William Box, chairman of the board
of both companies, and Greg Murphy — their wives, and company lawyer
Lawrence Felder had contributed $17,000 to the Diaz-Balart brothers’
campaigns. Nine days later, they gave another $1,500.
Box
said he learned of the 2006 earmark only when Enriquez handed him a
copy of the Congressional Record.
‘He
said, `Look, we got an earmark,’ ” Box recalled.
Diaz-Balart
and his staff have visited the offices of Locust and Mark Two at
least four times for tours and photo opportunities.
Several
years ago, Diaz-Balart arranged and members of his staff attended an
introductory meeting between Enriquez and the then chairman of a pair
of armed services subcommittees, former Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa.
Enriquez later testified twice before Weldon committees.
The
Herald and Taxpayers for Common Sense — which keeps earmarks
databases, and reviewed them at the newspaper’s request — identified
three defense earmarks that Locust got between 2004 and 2006.
EVEN
FLOW OF MONEY
Locust
and Mark Two money flowed evenly to the Diaz-Balarts as those
earmarks were enacted. Between 2003 and 2006, their campaigns and
joint leadership PAC, Democracy Believers, received $41,000.
The
total of all Locust and Mark Two political contributions since 2000:
$192,000. All but $500 went to Republicans, including $70,000 to
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s House and Senate campaigns.
Locust
and Mark Two are privately held, and don’t disclose sales figures.
Box said Mark Two has about 100 employees.
Mark
Two subcontracts with Locust and others, said Box, who is chairman of
the board of both companies.
Customers
include not just the Army, but NASA and the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency. For NASA, Mark Two recently helped develop a small
furnace for the next Mars Rover that will be used to detect signs of
life, Box said.
In
2004, National Defense magazine reported that Locust was working on a
power source for a robotic exoskeleton that would turn soldiers into
supermen who could lift and tote hundreds of pounds of equipment.
The
Defense Contract Management Agency, which monitors contractor
performance for the Pentagon, ”has conducted no reviews or audits
for Locust,” a spokeswoman said Friday.
Box,
61, is the principal investor in the two companies.
DRIVE
FOR EARMARKS
Enriquez,
50, is a former Star Wars satellite project manager for Rolls Royce
in Miami who until recently ran operations at both companies,
including the drive for earmarks, Box said.
On
March 19, Diaz-Balart sponsored another earmark for Locust on the
same Army project.
”I
certify that this project does not have a direct and foreseeable
effect on the pecuniary interests of me or my spouse,” Diaz-Balart
wrote the House Appropriations Committee.
The
$2 million earmark became law late last month. Sen. Debbie Stabenow,
a Michigan Democrat, co-sponsored and Locust will split that money
with another private company from Michigan.
This
is not the first time Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s Congressional actions
have benefited a campaign donor.
THE
KEY BACKERS
In
June, The Miami Herald reported that the Diaz-Balart brothers were
among the key backers of a House bill that would broaden insurance
coverage for prosthetic devices.
Executives
and political action committees tied to Hanger Orthopedic Group, a
Maryland prosthetics maker, contributed more than $10,000 to the
Diaz-Balart brothers’ campaigns in the weeks before they co-sponsored
a prosthetics parity bill last March.
Lincoln
and Mario Diaz-Balart say they backed the bill because it will help
those who can’t afford to pay for a needed artificial limb.
The
Diaz-Balarts, both Republicans, are locked in reelection races on the
Nov. 4 ballot.
Lincoln
faces former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, and Mario is being
challenged by former Miami-Dade Democratic party chief Joe Garcia.
Lincoln
has questioned Martinez’ work as a paid consultant seeking government
business — questioning whether he should have been registering as a
paid lobbyist for firms seeking business in Miami, Miami-Dade County
and Hialeah. Martinez said he never lobbied.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/713540.html
