Published: May 14, 2008 12:20 am      

NDIC in limbo

A congressional committee has voted to eliminate funding for Johnstown’s National Drug Intelligence Center, extending a years-long battle over its future.

But that does not necessarily mean the downtown center is in jeopardy, especially because U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, wields significant influence over federal defense money.

“We’ll try to work it out, as we have over the past four years,” Murtha spokesman Matt Mazonkey said Tuesday.

The Hill, a Washington newspaper, reported that the House Intelligence Committee voted to strip all earmarks – a term that denotes funding for specific projects inserted into legislation – from the 2009 intelligence authorization bill.

One of the casualties was $23 million Murtha earmarked for NDIC, the newspaper reported.

With earmarks increasingly viewed as wasteful spending, the move was applauded by a watchdog group.

“We shouldn’t be making decisions on our intelligence-gathering priorities based on the pet project request of powerful lawmakers,” Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense told The Hill.

But because 2009 budget negotiations will continue, it is quite possible that funding for NDIC could reappear in the coming months.

It is the latest step in an ongoing debate about the intelligence center, which critics have labeled as an expensive, largely redundant facility that should be eliminated.

But some lawmakers have fought to keep NDIC – and its hundreds of jobs – in Johnstown. They argue that the center does important work and even contributes to the fight against terrorism.

Murtha has been the center’s biggest backer.

“People realize the value that NDIC has within the drug-intelligence community,” Mazonkey said.

For three straight years, Murtha, who chairs the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, has thwarted Bush administration proposals to close NDIC.

Last year, the center also received support from U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter. The Senate eventually shot down an amendment that would have eliminated NDIC funding.

However, President Bush again called for the shutdown of NDIC in his 2009 spending plan.

On the day the president’s budget was released, Mazonkey said Murtha would “continue to fight any politically motivated attempts to close the center.”