"Next week, as the Senate begins to address this year's budget, I will join with Senator Jim DeMint, in sponsoring an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on earmarks. The American public has spoken: No More 'Bridges to Nowhere.' We should begin now.

"I call on my Democratic colleagues, Senators Clinton and Obama, to join me in supporting the DeMint amendment and make this a bipartisan effort to return the budget to a focus on genuine national priorities. And, in the spirit of openness and transparency in government, I call on them to fully disclose all of their earmark requests while serving in the U.S. Senate.

"I am committed to reforming the federal government. I hope that all those seeking higher office will support change in the right direction by taking action to rein in wasteful spending and begin to restore the trust in government that the American people demand."