WashingtonWatch.com is collecting data about earmarks—the controversial notations in spending bills that send funds to particular projects, usually in requesters' home districts.

Earlier this year, the House leadership required Members of Congress to reveal their earmark requests, but each Member did so on his or her own Web site, in many different formats. We need your help to gather the data and make it truly useful for reporters, researchers, and the public.

Here's how:

1. Look through this list and find the earmark requests of the Member of Congress you're interested in.
2. Enter each earmark into the form below. Click on the "?" symbols to learn what information should go in each field.
3. When you are done filling out the form, click "Submit Earmark." You will be asked to review it, and you will be able to confirm or re-edit your submission. Once you confirm, if a similar earmark is already in the database, you will receive instructions for resolving the conflict.
4. When you are done submitting and confirming your earmark, you can click on the name of the project to see its page on WashingtonWatch.com. (Click "show me on a map" on that page to see exactly where the money would go!)
5. Then follow the "Submit another earmark" link to return to this page.

Notes:

• Please submit only earmark requests for the 2010 fiscal year.
• Some Members of Congress listed their earmarks separately for each Appropriations Subcommittee, even putting them on separate pages (and PDFs) on their Web sites. Treat them all the same way and submit them through this form.
• Do not submit requests made to the Transportation Committee or other committees, which some Members listed along with the earmark requests to the Appropriations Committee.
• Do not submit requests that do not have a specific dollar amount, such as requests for "language" or "support the President's budget."
• If no address information is provided, just select the state of the representative making the request.
• If you have questions, you can always submit them through our contact page, and we will promptly respond so you can get earmarks into the database.