(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) will unveil its “Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge” alongside members of Congress at a press conference today.  By signing the pledge, members of Congress vow to oppose any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides funds for hurricane relief.

What:  “Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge” Press Conference

Who:    Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and members of Congress

When:  Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 12:00 pm

Where: Cannon Terrace, outside of the Cannon House Office Building at the SE corner of Independence and

               New Jersey Ave.

Scheduled to join CCAGW President Tom Schatz are Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

“In the past, some members of Congress have shortchanged troops, disaster victims, and taxpayers by including self-serving pork projects in emergency spending bills,” Schatz said.  “Weighing down supplemental appropriations bills for Hurricane Katrina with egregious spending will hinder recovery efforts and add to the deficit.  By signing the pledge, members of Congress are making sure that every cent of recovery spending goes to the victims of this terrible tragedy.”

Every year, Citizens Against Government Waste releases its Congressional Pig Book, a compilation of all the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget.  The 2005 Pig Book identified 13,997 projects costing $27.3 billion. 

The pledge is available now on CCAGW’s web site.  For answers to further questions, please contact Tom Finnigan.  Office: 202-467-5309. Cell: 202-253-3852.  Email: media@cagw.org.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.