Study: D.C. area grosses $107B in federal contracts

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The capital region’s six congressional representatives have brought more than $107 billion in federal contracts home to their districts — about 15 percent of the total federal budget, an Examiner analysis found.

The largesse put all six representatives in the nation’s top 12 at bringing in federal contracts, according to data provided by the newly launched Web site, FedSpending.org.

Virginia Democrat Jim Moran, whose district includes the Pentagon, led all the nation’s lawmakers with a combined $53 million for his district in fiscal 2004 and 2005 — a whopping 7 percent of all federal contracts.

Frank Wolf, R-Va., was second on the list with nearly $18 billion in contracts. He was followed by Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen (fourth nationally), Virginia Republican Tom Davis (eighth) and Maryland Democrats Steny Hoyer (11th) and Albert Wynn (12th).

All told, the capital region’s congressional districts won more than $107 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2004 and 2005, FedSpending.org data revealed.

The representatives said they were proud of having brought the money in. “Objective met,” Moran said in an e-mail to The Examiner. “These federal dollars are the reason over 35,000 new jobs are created in Northern Virginia each year.”

David Marin, a spokesman for Davis, said “an awful lot of the most cutting-edge work being done for the federal government is being done in Davis’ district.

“And these firms are driving the regional economy, responsible in large part for unemployment numbers that are the envy of the nation,” Marin said. “It’s the ultimate synergistic win-win.”

bmyers@dcexaminer.com