WASHINGTON -- Miami Valley Rep. John Boehner backed plans Wednesday from President George W. Bush for a balanced federal budget within five years.

Boehner also called for more reforms to the process of using budget earmarks to allocate spending to local projects.

Earmarks are often targeted by the national watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste as a source of wasteful spending. Federal funding of local museums, universities, and bridge projects are common earmarks.

In a written statement, Boehner said: “The earmark reforms Republicans enacted last year were intended to be the beginning of earmark reform, not the first and final chapter. We must enact bolder reforms.”