(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America’s premier waste-fighting advocacy group, announced today that has signed its Pledge of Integrity.  By signing the Pledge of Integrity, has promised to “treat as a sacred trust any public funds.”  Jack Anderson, co-founder and Chairman of Citizens Against Government Waste, created the pledge and introduced it at a CAGW conference, Governing in the 21^st Century, in February 1997.

“We are very proud to have as a partner in our effort to end the culture of entitlement that permeates Capitol Hill,” remarked Anderson.  “The Pledge of Integrity is about more than saving taxpayer dollars.  It is about restoring the sacred trust between citizens and their representatives in government.  This Pledge is a simple promise of honesty and character that should be fundamental to anyone seeking to serve the public instead of themselves.”

CAGW will be working throughout the remainder of 1998 and beyond to have every candidate for legislative and executive office at the state and national level sign the Pledge of Integrity.  On July 16, CAGW delivered a copy of the Pledge of Integrity to every congressional office, urging each member of Congress to sign and return the Pledge.

On September 16, 1998, Rep. Edward Royce, (R-Calif.) sent a letter members of the House urging them to sign the Pledge of Integrity.  The letter read in part, “The pledge is not about partisan politics, but renewing our commitment to safeguard the integrity of our office under the Constitution, and maintain America’s moral leadership in the world by refusing to allow the waste and abuse of the people’s resources.”

As of September 29, forty-five members of the House of Representatives and three U.S. Senators have signed the Pledge.  The signatories represent both political parties and every region of the country.

CAGW is a 600,000 member, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.