Washington- Congressman Joe Pitts (PA-16) has been awarded the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award” from the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU). The nonpartisan citizen group has announced that Rep. Pitts was one of only a few dozen lawmakers in the House and Senate to win the 2008 award for a voting record that puts the taxpayers first.  Rep. Pitts earned a score of 84 of a possible 100. 

Click here for a photo of Congressman Pitts receiving the award with NTU Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp.

Congressman Pitts’ statement follows:

“Being called a ‘friend of the taxpayer’ is a high honor.  I can think of few awards that are more important to a public official.  Every time I cast a vote, I remember the money we are spending in Washington comes from the hard earned dollars of the American people.  At a time when families are making the tough sacrifices to weather our economic environment, government should be easing their tax burden, not making it worse.”

Background

The rating, which is based on every roll call vote affecting fiscal policy, assigns a “Taxpayer Score” to each Member of Congress that indicates his or her support for reducing or controlling federal spending, taxes, debt, and regulation.  True “high performers” in Congress are always rare.  In 2008, 48 lawmakers earned scores sufficient to win the Taxpayers’ Friend Award (at least 80 percent in the House and 77 percent in the Senate). 

NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen group founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: The 2008 Rating and a searchable Rating database from 1992 to 2006 is available at www.ntu.org.

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