U.S. Rep. David Price ranks No. 18 in the House of Representatives in bringing home the bacon, according to the annual "Pig Book" released today by watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

Price is responsible for 71 projects totalling $91.4 million, according to the 2008 Congressional Pig Book.

The annual Pig Book tracks targeted spending, called earmarks, that members of Congress direct to specific agencies, local governments or businesses, usually in their home districts.

Such earmarks often are known as "pork" spending.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, could be expected to rank high. He is the state’s only member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee — which allocated federal tax dollars. He also is chairman of the spending subcommittee on homeland security.

He is just ahead of Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the dollar rankings.

The next highest-ranking member from the Tar Heel state is U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, at No. 78. His 19 projects total $47.5 million, according to the watchdog group.

In the Senate, Elizabeth Dole ranks 49th. She has 110 projects totalling $133.6 million, according to the group.