"They've never been over here," he said. "Maxine Waters has been in this community. She used to walk these streets and talk with these people."
Still, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), a leading critic of funding projects named after current congressional members, expressed concern about the "perception that these projects receive special treatment because of the names they bear."
Several lawmakers with projects named for them said they had nothing to do with securing the honor. But the projects have drawn increased scrutiny because of pledges by President Obama and members of both parties to crack down on lawmakers' earmarking of taxpayer funds to their districts.
Obey decided to prohibit funding for earmarks named after sitting lawmakers unless they were on their deathbeds.
"Could there be worthy projects bearing lawmakers' names? Sure, but the risk is the project is getting funding not for what it does but for whom it is named," Ellis said. "So even though the center was named for Rep. Waters before she was elected to Congress, it appears self-serving to have her direct funding to a project that honors her."
Waters, one of Los Angeles' most enduring liberal politicians, was so furious over Obey's decision that she confronted him on the House floor as colleagues looked on.
The congresswoman said she told Obey that if his intent was to deny funds to lawmakers who have gotten projects for themselves in order to further their political goals, "that this was not the case for me."
Waters said she was upset that the center would be denied funding "at a time when unemployment in California and nationally is at record highs, and the recession is more like a depression for the black and Latino residents of Watts."
The center is "certainly not a pet project," said Waters, whose anger with Obey's decision was first reported by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.
"Far from being a 'monument to me,' the MWEPC is a public school within the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the Los Angeles Unified School District would be the direct recipient of the funding.
"Chairman Obey was angry, and shouted that he didn't care about my plea," Waters said.
Obey spokesman Ellis Brachman said, "As chairman, you're required to make hard choices and do what you think is right for the institution."
