Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The House of Representatives' defense-spending bill has money to pay troops, buy fighter jets and an aircraft carrier -- and fund a nonprofit group researching yoga, ``bioenergy'' and alternative medicines.

The $2 million earmarked for the Samueli Institute for Information Biology, started by Broadcom Corp. Chairman Henry Samueli and his wife Susan, was inserted into the measure by Democratic Representative Peter Visclosky. The Samueli family has contributed thousands of campaign dollars to Visclosky, whose Indiana district is nowhere near either the Alexandria, Virginia, institute or Broadcom, the Irvine, California-based maker of chips for wireless phones and other devices.

After Democrats won control of Congress in last year's elections, they moved to require that the names of lawmakers sponsoring such pet projects be disclosed. That hasn't stopped lawmakers from continuing to funnel federal dollars to those who bankroll their campaigns.

In the case of the Samueli Institute, ``this new-age health group has learned to play the game of politics,'' said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington group that tracks government spending. ``They understand that you have to pay to play.''

A spokesman for Visclosky, 58, didn't return repeated telephone and e-mail requests for comment. Neither did representatives of Samueli, 52, whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at $2 billion.

Homeopathy

The institute, founded by the Samuelis in 2001, studies alternative treatments such as homeopathy, which aims to treat diseases by giving patients small quantities of substances that induce reactions similar to their symptoms. The National Institutes of Health says homeopathy ``has seen high levels of controversy.''

While the Defense Department didn't request money for the institute in the budget it submitted to Congress, Kendra Calhoun, the institute's chief operating officer, e-mailed a statement defending the provision.

Because many soldiers use alternative medicines ``without prescription or medical direction,'' the statement said, there is a ``demonstrated need for more and better information'' about their ``safety and effectiveness.''

Visclosky isn't the institute's only legislative patron. Representative James Moran, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes its headquarters, requested an additional $1 million in the fiscal 2008 defense bill for its Center for Research on Integrative Medicine in the Military.

Unnamed Earmark

In addition, Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, inserted $5 million in the Senate defense funding bill for ``complementary and alternative medicine research (MIL-CAM),'' a description that matches an earlier Samueli earmark but that doesn't specifically name the institute.

Projects with names such as MIL-CAM and VET-HEAL received about $15 million in earmarks in earlier years. The White House budget office this year identified Samueli's institute as the recipient of three grants, worth $5.6 million, in the 2005 defense bill.

The money being sought by Visclosky is for ``effective communication,'' according to a four-sentence letter he wrote the Appropriations Committee in April. The panel has published the letter, along with thousands from other lawmakers, as part of what Democrats tout as an effort to make the earmark process more transparent. Previously, earmarks were usually described in cryptic reports that gave little clue about who requested the money or who benefited from it.

Partnership

Visclosky's letter said the funds would be used ``in partnership'' with Indiana University and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Patrick Bankston, assistant dean and director of the university's School of Medicine Northwest in Gary, which is in Visclosky's district, said his school would act as a ``subcontractor'' in the project. He said the funds would be used to train students to better relate to patients. Army spokeswoman Anne Edgecomb declined to comment on Walter Reed's role.

Asked how the money would be spent, Calhoun said ``medical research'' and declined further comment.

Federal records show the Samueli family began contributing to Visclosky's campaigns in 2005, and are now among his largest donors. The $44,800 they gave is more than they donated to any other member of Congress over the last three years.

`Out of the Box'

Moran, 62, said he has requested money for the institute for ``the last few years.'' He said he has been an advocate for alternative medicine since acupuncture helped his daughter Dorothy survive brain cancer. The institute is ``doing some terrific stuff,'' he said, adding that ``the Defense Department doesn't like to think out of the box much and try new stuff.''

Moran has received $20,000 in contributions from Samueli and his family. ``If he contributes to people, it seems to me he's probably going to contribute to people who share his priorities,'' Moran said. ``And one of his priorities is alternative medicine.''

Harkin, 67, said it isn't surprising the Samuelis have donated more than $13,000 to his campaign in recent years because he too is a long-time supporter of alternative medicines.

According to federal records, the Samueli Institute is paying two lobbying firms at the rate of $200,000 or more a year to seek such funding. One of the institute's lobbyists, the PMA Group, is first on Visclosky's top-donor list and No. 2 on Moran's.

Presidential Salary

Susan Samueli, chairwoman of the institute's board, has a diploma from the British Institute of Homeopathy. Wayne Jonas, the president, headed the NIH's alternative-medicine office in the 1990s. His 2005 institute salary, $414,032, was more than twice the $151,556 in average compensation the heads of health- related charities reported earning in 2007, according to an Aug. 1 survey by the New Jersey-based watchdog Charity Navigator.

Jonas earned another $58,000 in 2005 consulting for the Samueli Foundation in California. He didn't return calls seeking comment.

The institute had revenue of $8.5 million in 2005 and 25 employees as of this summer. It reported giving $2.4 million in grants to researchers in the U.S., Germany and England. The organization told the Internal Revenue Service that public funds totaled $1.8 million, 21 percent of its revenue, in 2005, up from 1 percent of a $5 million budget in 2003.

Citing the Samueli family's wealth, the taxpayer organization's Ashdown said, ``Groups with such deep pockets should not be at the front of the earmark line.''

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Last Updated: September 19, 2007 00:09 EDT