Washington, D.C. – In an effort to improve and expand upon the transparency and accountability rules that now govern earmarks in Congress, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today unveiled its new Earmark Reform Pledge alongside members of Congress and other taxpayer watchdog groups.

“Despite passage of S. 1, ‘the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007,’ both the House and Senate leadership are still trying to make it difficult to follow the money.  This pledge is intended to give taxpayers as much information as possible about how their tax dollars are being spent, as well as reduce the number and cost of earmarks,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz.

CCAGW is pledge asking legislators to sign a 10-point pledge, including:

• fully disclose all earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit requests (or substitute letters to agencies) on their Congressional website;
• not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision that does not serve a federal interest and/or have a federal nexus;
• not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision that would be directed toward a specific private entity that was not requested by an agency;
• not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision for an entity located outside of the state they represent; and
• not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision without also requesting that the provision be included within the text of the bill.

“The members of Congress here today are leaders in the effort to reform the earmarking process.  We are grateful that they are the first to sign the pledge and hope more will join them.  The pledge will be sent to current members as well as 2008 candidates,” concluded Schatz.

            The Earmark Reform Pledge is available online at www.ccagw.org. 

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