Watchdog Groups Challenge Members of Congress to Sign Earmark Transparency Pledge, Release All Funding Requests

In Wake of Rep. Obey’s Anti-Transparency Announcement, Members Should Voluntarily Post Their Funding

June 8, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON - In the wake of House Appropriations Chairman David Obey's decision to insert all earmarks into secretive, un-amendable conference reports, a coalition of watchdog groups consisting of Americans for Prosperity, the Sunlight Foundation, OMB Watch and Taxpayers for Common Sense today unveiled an "Earmark Transparency Pledge," through which U.S. House lawmakers can publicly pledge their intention to follow the spirit of the earmark transparency reforms enacted earlier this year.

By signing the pledge, Representatives vow to voluntarily post on their official Web sites a regularly updated list detailing every earmark and/or targeted tax benefit that they request, as well as the committee or subcommittee receiving the request. The full Pledge can be found online here.

"Chairman Obey's plan to stick all pork-barrel earmarks into secretive, un-amendable conference reports clearly violates the spirit of the earmark transparency reforms passed by the House earlier this year," said Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips. "Citizens and lawmakers can't afford to let that happen. Even though Chairman Obey says he won't allow taxpayers to see earmarks until the last minute, it isn't too late for lawmakers to live up to the spirit of reform and transparency that they embraced a few short months ago."

Earmarks airdropped into conference reports are the very worst kind as these reports are negotiated behind closed doors without public scrutiny and often voted on just hours later. Furthermore, earmarks inserted into conference reports cannot be removed without killing the entire bill, which almost never happens.

"This pledge is a good government initiative that every member of Congress should be willing to sign," said Gary D. Bass, Executive Director of OMB Watch. "Making the earmarking process more transparent will help provide accountability on federal spending and provide the public the information it needs to better understand how policy and spending decisions in Congress are made."

"All too often, congressional earmarks are cloaked in secrecy," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. "Congress must be held accountable for its spending - transparent earmarks posted online would begin the process of helping today's wired taxpayers to harness the power of the Internet to openly debate spending choices and to combat government waste."

In part, the Pledge states:

I, __________________________________ (Member of Congress) do hereby pledge in the spirit of transparency and reform that effective immediately I will voluntarily post on my official Congressional website a regularly updated list of every earmark and/or targeted tax benefit that I request.

I pledge to include the name and address/location of the project or entity, the amount of funding requested, the name of the committee or subcommittee to which I have submitted the request, the purpose of the earmark, and certification that neither I nor my spouse have a financial interest in the funding, as required by the earmark reforms adopted on Jan. 5, 2007.

The three groups will work with other watchdogs groups, bloggers and taxpayers across the ideological spectrum to build grassroots pressure on members of Congress to sign the pledge and to publicly release their earmark requests. Online activists are also able to directly contact their members of Congress through each organization's Web site and urge them to sign the earmark transparency pledge and release their earmark requests.

Founded in January, 2006, the mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to strengthen the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents. Sunlight puts information and tools in citizens' hands so they can learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing. Its ultimate goal is full transparency by Congress, its Members and staff will help reduce corruption, ensure greater accountability, and foster public trust in this vital institution of democracy.

Since its founding, the Sunlight Foundation has issued nearly $2 million to groups to digitize existing information about Congress and those that use Internet technology to further Sunlight's goals. Additionally, the Sunlight Foundation has fostered its own projects such as Congresspedia, OpenCongress.org and Congress' Family Business.
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