Senators Fighting Over Video Games, Earmarks

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A U.S. senator from Nebraska is raising the popular video game Full Spectrum Warrior to make a point in a spat with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma over earmarks. <br/><br/>Sen. Ben Nelson,

Wednesday, July 18th 2007, 6:30 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A U.S. senator from Nebraska is raising the popular video game Full Spectrum Warrior to make a point in a spat with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma over earmarks.

Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat, is accusing Coburn, a Republican, of hypocrisy for trying last week to eliminate a $7.5 million earmark Nelson favored for 21st Century Systems Inc., an Omaha defense contractor.

David DiMartino, a spokesman for Nelson, said Coburn's office erred by saying the Nebraska company's mission is producing ``a video game'' when it was earmarks for a project in Oklahoma that had led to a military-style video game getting on the commercial market.

``He attacked a small Nebraska business in Nebraska. He misrepresented the work they do by calling it a video game. He ignored the fact that there's a congressional earmark in Oklahoma that actually produced a video game,'' DiMartino said.

Institute for Creative Technologies, which is affiliated with the University of Southern California, has an operation at Fort Sill Army Base near Lawton, that led to creation of commercial video, DiMartino said.

John Hart, a spokesman for Coburn, said Nelson's gripe with Coburn is unfounded.

First, Hart said, Coburn never asked for the earmark at Fort Sill. He said funding for Creative Technologies in his state was requested by the military.

Also, Hart said, documents show the Pentagon did not seek the earmark for the company in Nebraska. Hart then kicked the verbal battle up a notch.

``Diverting taxpayer funds to projects the military did not request and does not need ultimately endangers our troops and robs taxpayers. We're disappointed Sen. Nelson's staff has decided to personally attack Dr. Coburn rather than work with us to ensure that taxpayer dollars support priorities vital to our troops,'' Hart said.

Elizabeth French, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma's other senator, Republican Jim Inhofe, said the Fort Sill unit helped create the video and a second video, ``Full Spectrum Command,'' which is exclusive for military use.

She quoted Army Col. William Greer at Fort Sill as saying the unit ``is saving lives by assuring that our war fighter is fully trained in complex scenarios before they deploy.''

DiMartino said he has no qualms with the operation at Fort Sill, but said neither should Coburn's staff ridicule and misrepresent the solid work of the Nebraska company.

``Sen. Coburn derided the research and development work done in Nebraska by mischaracterizing it as 'video games' and deemed it unworthy of funding while ignoring and thus tacitly approving a $5 million earmark for his home state that actually does fund X-Box and Play Station video game development that has been sold commercially,'' he said.

He said Coburn failed to do his homework, adding: ``Maybe he has spent too much time playing video games.''