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Anti-pork bill held up in secret
By UPI Staff
United Press International
August 29, 2006

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The big mystery in Washington this summer is the identity of the lawmaker who put a secret hold on a sunshine bill aimed at stemming pork-barrel spending.

Efforts to smoke out the obstructer is taking place on a Web site called Porkbusters.org, which so far has cleared about a quarter of the Senate from suspicion, the Washington Times reports.

The measure being held up would create a searchable database allowing any interested party to see the name and amount of every federal grant, contract or award of $25,000 or more.

Blogs on both sides of the political spectrum are demanding action on the bill, which is in limbo because of a hold order.

Holds are an unofficial part of Senate parliamentary tradition that allow a single senator to block a measure anonymously.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has promised to try to win passage of the measure when Congress returns from its break next month.

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