The Department of Defense didn’t ask for money to update the old officers club in San Francisco’s Presidio into a visitors information center and exhibition space. Neither did any other member of Congress – except House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (SF Gate)

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the $626 billion defense appropriations bill approved by the Senate last Saturday.  $128 billion is allocated to Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Typical to modern legislation, it was heavily laden with earmarks.  The total came to 1,720, amounting to $4.2 billion.  Congress recently passed a $447 billion spending bill (Dec 13th) with over 5,000 earmarks, as reported in a previous post.

After the defense spending bill passed the House this week, Pelosi issued a statement praising the measure for making “critical investments in the success, health, well-being and training of our men and women in uniform.”

Pelosi mentioned that the bill included a pay raise for military personnel and resources for everything from treating troops suffering from traumatic brain injury to money for “first-class equipment and armor.”

But she didn’t mention the money for the Presidio Heritage Center.

[...]

The $5 million earmark will fund close to 25 percent of the center’s estimated renovation and help leverage other donations from corporations and foundations, said Tia Lombardi, director of public affairs at the Presidio Trust.

In other words, the trust needs federal subsidies to lure private investment – so it no longer has to rely on federal subsidies. The building, which dates to the early 1800s, is now used for exhibitions and events.  (SF Gate)