House Earmark Reform Pledge 

I, Paul Ryan, pledge to the constituents of the 1st district of the State of Wisconsin and to the American people that I will support commonsense reforms of how Congress spends taxpayer dollars.

To that end, I will:

FIRST, fully disclose all earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit requests (or substitute letters to agencies) on my Congressional website.

SECOND, not request any earmarked funding that would come from a federal program that is not currently authorized by Congress.

THIRD, not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision that does not serve a federal interest and/or have a federal nexus.

FOURTH, not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision for an entity located outside of the state I represent.

FIFTH, 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.

SIXTH, not request any earmarked funding be added or increased in a conference committee to an amount greater than the amount passed in either the House or the Senate version of the bill.

SEVENTH, not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision without also requesting that the provision be included within the text of the bill.

EIGHTH, support legislation that would end the linkage between campaign contributions and earmarks.

NINTH, support legislation that requires any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision be put in the text of the bill, be available for discussion at an open Congressional hearing, and be disclosed with the requesting Member(s), amounts, recipients, and purpose at least one week before the bill is brought to the floor.

TENTH, support any amendment in Committee, or on the Floor of the House, that eliminates an earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision that does not comply with this pledge.