Bill Signed In 2005 Not The One Passed By Congress

This is the second time that I'm aware of where there are allegations of language being "slipped into" a bill while Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress. The first was when language came out of conference committee that had not appeared in either the House or Senate versions, language that changed how US Attorneys are appointed.

The AP story traces a $10 million earmark for a Florida transportation project, the "Coconut Road Interchange."

The original highway bill, when it was approved by the House and Senate, included $10 million for improvements for I-75 in southwest Florida, one of more than 6,000 earmarks in the bill. But the version of the bill that was sent to the president for his signature redirected that money to the Coconut Rd. Interchange in Lee County...

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, in 2005 the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has previously said that he backed the earmark in at the request of community residents. "I think it's the right thing for the state of Florida, and you know, right now, they're supportive of it," he said in an interview this week with the Associated Press... Young has not been charged with any wrongdoing, although he has been linked to a Florida developer who held a fundraiser for Young in 2005 and stood to benefit from the earmark.

Now Congress has to decide what to do about the "what we passed isn't what was signed" bill. Should it investigate itself or turn the matter over to the Justice Department? Just as important: how do we know that this hasn't happened before? And how does Congress plan on making sure it doesn't happen again?

^{Related:
Everything But The Squeal: The 2005 Transportation Bill
On Bi-Partisan Vote, Senate Strips 2006 Patriot Act Change}