House Republicans Introduce Bill To Strip Berkeley Of Earmarks

House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rescind more than $2 million in earmarks for the city of Berkeley, Calif., and transfer the money to the U.S. Marine Corps, after the city council approved a bill calling Marine recruiters "uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”

The council also gave the anti-war group Code Pink a free weekly parking space and sound permit to protest in front of a local Marine recruiting station.

“The action by the Berkeley City Council indicates that they have a disdain for and do not appreciate Marines for what they do and have done for this country,” said Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), the bill’s primary sponsor.

“If they have so little respect and understanding of that, there is no reason for the rest of us…to subsidize their actions with our taxpayer funds.”

The “Semper Fi Act of 2008” is co-sponsored by House Minority Leader Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and others in his leadership. A companion measure has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). 

Campbell’s bill is red meat for conservatives, eager to portray liberal enclaves like Berkeley as out of touch and anti-military. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a co-sponsor, introduced an earlier measure to rescind funding for New York’s Colombia University after it hosted a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In a press release announcing the bill, Campbell specifically targeted $243,000 in funds for the famed Chez Panisse restaurant to create organic school lunches, letting all interested parties know that the restaurant’s menu includes “"Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad."