(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Tom Schatz, president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), announced the watchdog group endorsed candidates for the 2002 election cycle for the United States Congress based on the following criteria:

1.  The ratings of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste for the first session of the 107^th Congress.

2.  A representative or senator must have a rating of 90 percent or greater and have voted on at least 75 percent of the total number of votes rated in the two chambers of Congress.  That would equal 20 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives and 15 votes in the U.S. Senate.

Based on these standards, CCAGW endorses the following members of the House:

• Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.)
• Rep. John Shadegg (Ariz.)      
• Rep. J.D. Hayworth (Ariz.)
• Rep. Chris Cox (Calif.)
• Rep. Ed Royce (Calif.)
• Rep. Thomas Tancredo (Colo.)
• Rep. Ric Keller (Fla.)
• Rep. John Linder (Ga.)
• Rep. Phil Crane (Ill.)
• Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.)
• Rep. Steve Chabot (Ohio)
• Rep. Ernest Istook (Okla.)
• Rep. Pat Toomey (Pa.)
• Rep. Jim DeMint (S.C.)           
• Rep. John Culberson (Texas)
• Rep. Tom Delay (Texas)
• Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.)
• Rep. Mark Green (Wisc.)

CCAGW also endorses the following members of the U.S. Senate:

• Sen. Wayne Allard (Colo.)

CCAGW's first-ever endorsements have been made pursuant to federal election law, which permits organizations like CCAGW to publicly announce their endorsement of federal candidates and the reasons therefore.  The public announcement must be made solely through press releases or press conferences to the same media list that the organization also contacts when issuing non-political press releases or holding press conferences for other purposes, which is what CCAGW is doing in this instance.  CCAGW is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.