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WASHINGTON — When Congress goes home for the holidays, 'tis the season for bragging and griping.

Members of Congress brag about all the goodies they brought their constituents; presidents gripe that they spent too much.

President Bush said Thursday that the $516 billion omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress this week includes about 9,800 earmarks, on top of the 2,100 approved earlier in the defense spending bill, and "that's not responsible."

"Earmarks are special interest items that are slipped into big spending bills like this one, often at the last hour, without discussion or debate," Bush said.

But complaints about earmarks seem to fall on deaf ears in the delegation representing New Mexico, which according to the independent Tax Foundation receives better than $2 in federal spending for every $1 their constituents pay in taxes, the highest ratio in the country.

"The omnibus offers New Mexico resources that will support projects and programs that are important to so many communities," said Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican.

Domenici was proudest of winning back $419 million out of $600 million cut by the House earlier this year for the nuclear weapons programs that directly impact the budgets of Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, but the labs were not his only bragging point.

A press release cited 35 water projects, including $38.9 million for the Middle Rio Grande project, nearly $1.5 million for Albuquerque Metro Area water reclamation, $2 million for the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility at Alamogordo, $985,000 for construction in Albuquerque's South Valley, and $500,000 to the town of Bernalillo for system improvements and arsenic treatment.

Domenici's earmarks also included $3.6 million to complete the University of New Mexico Health Sciences center, $750,000 for the Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque, and $3 million for Technology Ventures Corp. to support technology transfer from the weapons labs.

Other members of the New Mexico delegation were not shy either about their added spending.

"Under this legislation, our state stands to gain millions of dollars to help fight crime, and in particular address the meth epidemic," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat.

That included $2.3 million for a "state-of-the-art" data network for the Albuquerque Police Department, $1.1 million to help State Police run undercover operations aimed at meth dealers in rural areas, $1.1 million for a gang-prevention program by the Coalition of State Police Athletic Leagues and $270,000 for drug courts in the state.

Rep. Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, said she was "pleased that Congress has passed a budget for this year that controls the growth of government" and went on to list $53.9 million worth of projects she had requested.

The largest item was $11.4 million for a pararescue training center at Kirtland Air Force Base followed by $3.7 million for a logistics center at the base.

Other Wilson earmarks included $2 million to train instructors and conduct research to preserve Native American languages, $487,000 for community dental services in the South Valley, $1.2 million for an aircraft parking ramp at Albuquerque International Sunport Sun, and $500,000 for an I-25 interchange to serve Mesa del Sol.

Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat, celebrated his first year on the House Appropriations Committee, by announcing funding for several water projects in his districts and more than $10.7 million in construction projects at Cannon Air Force Base as it prepares to switch from an Air Force fighter to a special operations wing.

Besides earmarks, the catchall spending bill settled some long-running debates between the president and Congress this year.

Bush won continued spending to keep U.S. troops in Iraq with no conditions or deadline for withdrawal.

Democrats also gave up efforts to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program from 6 million to 10 million children after two vetoes by Bush were sustained by a Republican minority in the House.

Wilson said she and Bingaman worked together to include language in the bill that will allow New Mexico more flexibility in how it uses SCHIP funds.

New Mexico and 10 other states were prohibited from using SCHIP funds to cover children of families with incomes between 150 percent and 185 percent of the poverty line because they were already covered in the state Medicaid programs. The omnibus bill corrects the inequity, said Wilson.

Bingaman also secured an additional $150 million for the Social Security Administration to start reducing a backlog of appeals from people whose applications for disability checks were turned down.

At the end of September, 746,744 people nationwide were still waiting for a hearing.

"This bill will help tackle the serious backlog problem many New Mexicans with disabilities face when they apply for Social Security. Right now, New Mexicans are forced to wait nearly 18 months to even be considered for Social Security benefits," said Bingaman.

Rep. Steve Pearce, a Hobbs Republican, did not issue any statements bragging about earmarks in the omnibus spending bill.