Washington » Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized an earmark Tuesday tucked into the homeland security bill at the request of three Utah lawmakers that would help Brigham City retrofit a senior center.

"Last time I checked, senior centers are important but they have very little relationship to homeland security," McCain said on the Senate floor. He urged his colleagues to defeat the bill because it contained 181 pet projects worth more than $267 million.

The $44 billion bill passed in the Senate on a vote of 79 to 19 with the earmarks intact.

Brigham City would receive $250,000 to conduct some seismic upgrades to the senior center, with the funding coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA.

Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett requested the earmark in the Senate, while Rep. Rob Bishop, a Brigham City native, backed it in the House.

Bennett and Hatch voted for the homeland security bill, while McCain opposed it based in part on his objection to earmarks.

Matt Canham