Visclosky’s Swift Path to Earmarks

It takes a while for most start-up companies to gain the confidence of a U.S. congressman and the promise of federal funds. But last year, a small Illinois company accomplished its goal in 16 days with the help of Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, a little-known Indiana Democrat who sits on the House committee that funds the Pentagon.

In rapid succession, the three-employee technology firm, NanoSonix, filed its incorporation papers in Skokie, Ill., and hired a Washington lobbying firm, K&L Gates, which boasted to clients of its close relationship with Visclosky. A week later, Visclosky wrote a letter of support for a $2.4 million earmark for NanoSonix from the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee.

“I understand how this can look from the outside,” NanoSonix chief executive Sean Murdock said in an interview, describing his company’s rush to get research funding to develop night-vision goggles. “My belief was we had to pursue government funding if this technology was going to see the light of day.”

Read more: (Paul Kane and Carol D. Leonnig, “A Congressman, a Lobbying Firm and a Swift Path to Earmarks,” The Washington Post, 10/26/09)