April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Congress is spending a record $29 billion this year on thousands of lawmakers' special projects, including a teapot museum in North Carolina and a boxing club in Nevada, according to a report on wasteful government spending.

Lawmakers increased spending by more than 6 percent from last year to pay for almost 10,000 special projects for their home districts, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based group that seeks to eliminate inefficiency in government.

The group cited $500,000 being spent on the teapot museum and $100,000 on the boxing club as being particularly egregious wastes of public money and deserving of derisive ``oinker'' awards.

``I would like to once again ask members of Congress to take a good hard look in the mirror and ask themselves whether their parochial pork projects are really more important than our national and fiscal security,'' said Tom Schatz, the president of the group.

The special projects, known as earmarks, are specific instructions to federal agencies on how to spend a given amount of money. Critics complain they are frequently added to congressional spending bills at the last minute, with little if any vetting. The organization's annual report, dubbed the ``Pig Book,'' was released as lawmakers consider a number of proposals to clamp down on the practice.

The Senate on March 30 approved new rules that would make it harder for senators to slip pet projects into legislation by requiring 60 votes to retain them if another lawmaker objects.

McCain, Coburn

Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma pointed to the report as evidence that action is needed.

``The process is broken,'' said Coburn. ``It's more about how you feed your re-election cycle than doing what is in the best interest of the country.''

John Scofield, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, declined to comment on the report while directing reporters to an April 3 St. Petersburg Times article that says Citizens Against Government Waste has accepted money from corporations and lobbies for some industries.

Schatz defended his group, saying its funding had no influence on its advocacy efforts.

Schatz said the group picks projects to cite based on whether they were subject to a congressional hearing, competitively awarded and serve only a local interest.

McCain and Coburn said they haven't seen any evidence the organization is anything but an honest broker.

`Honest Evaluation'

``I've dealt with them for 15 years and I've never seen anything but the most honest evaluation of these issues,'' McCain said. ``I just know they're honest people and they've been very helpful to me.''

The report said Alaska received the most earmark money per capita, taking in $325 million, or $490 per person. The state was followed by Hawaii ($378 per person), Washington, D.C. ($182), West Virginia ($131) and North Dakota ($123). The report said the national average was $30.55 per person.

The $29 billion in spending was appropriated for the 2006 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The organization said that while pork-barrel spending was up, the number of projects declined from approximately 14,000 in 2005. It said pork-barrel spending has increased 29 percent since fiscal year 2003.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 5, 2006 15:10 EDT