Washington, D.C. - Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, the nation's leading free-market advocacy organization with over 36,000 members, today announced the unveiling of the Club's first annual Congressional Scorecard to allow its members and the public the ability to monitor the actions and voting behavior of members of Congress on economic growth issues.

"This scorecard is an important tool in providing the general public the opportunity to see how their Representative and Senators vote," said Toomey.

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 of higher receive the "Defender of Economic Freedom" award.

"We are delighted that 7 Representatives and 3 Senators scored a perfect 100%, with another 20 Representatives. and 6 Senators scoring 90% or above," Toomey said. "These Members of Congress demonstrate a strong commitment to economic freedom and free-market principles."

Those scoring 100% include: Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Mike Pence (R-IN), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Ed Royce (R-CA) and Todd Akin (R-MO) and Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John Sununu (R-NH) and Jim DeMint (R-SC).

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

• Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
• 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

Whenever possible, the Club sent a "key vote" alert to each member of Congress prior to an expected roll call vote of pending legislative action that we planned to include in the scorecard.

"We are excited about this scorecard launch and commend the 36 Members of Congress who earned the 'Defender of Economic Freedom' Award," Toomey concluded. "It is our hope that in each year to come, support for common sense, economic principles will continue to grow, allowing more Members to earn this award."