Club for Growth Honors Tom Feeney with Defender of Economic Freedom Award

(Washington, D.C.) - Pat Toomey, President of The Club for Growth, the nation's leading free-market advocacy organization with over 40,000 members, announced that Tom Feeney has earned the annual Defender of Economic Freedom award for 2007. The award honors members of Congress who have a strong voting record on economic growth issues.

"With his score of 98, Tom Feeney is a champion of the pro-growth agenda," said Club for Growth president Pat Toomey. "As 1 of 55 congressional members to earn this award, Tom Feeney demonstrates a strong commitment to economic freedom and free-market principles."

The award is based on certain votes that the Club for Growth tracks on its scorecard. The study included a comprehensive examination of each lawmaker's record on pro-growth policies and computed an Economic Growth Score on a scale of 0 to 100. A score of 100 indicates the highest support for pro-growth policies. Those lawmakers scoring 90 or higher receive the Defender of Economic Freedom award.

"The scorecard is an important tool in providing the general public the opportunity to see how their representative and senators vote," Mr. Toomey added. "These bills promote economic growth and create more jobs for all Americans. We hope that in each year to come, support for commonsense, economic principles will continue to grow, allowing more members to earn this award and more Americans to benefit."

The rating examines legislative actions that reflect the Club for Growth's immediate pro-economic growth policy goals, including:

-Fighting against tax increases
-Death tax repeal
-Cutting and limiting government spending
-Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
-Expanding free trade
-Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
-Replacing the current tax code
-School choice
-Regulatory reform and deregulation