From Republican Congressman Joe Pitts:

"When the government ignores the will of the people, a high level of frustration is to be expected. But that frustration needs to be channeled into political activity, not threats and violence. I urge those who opposed this bill to remember that history and fiscal reality will prove them right. And I urge the citizens of this country who are angry to remember that they are on the right side of this debate and they should act accordingly. In America, that is what elections are for.

Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, joined 18 fellow Republicans on a letter calling for a one-year moratorium on earmark requests for Republican members.

The letter calls for an immediate Republican Conference meeting to discuss the moratorium.

"Out of control earmarks are a symptom of our larger inability to balance the federal budget and we cannot wait any longer to control spending," Pitts said in a written statement. "We need to come together as a conference and take a stand for fiscal responsibility."

Pitts has a history of standing against out-of-control spending, voting against one-third of appropriations bills when Republicans controlled Congress because they spent too much.

Rep. Pitts has not requested earmarks since 2007.

Read more about the moratorium effort in Roll Call.

U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-PA 16, released the following statement on the election of Republican Scott Brown to fill the remaining three years left in the term of Sen. Ted Kennedy:

"This is a strong signal that Congress has its priorities wrong. The American people want us to focus on job creation but instead the Administration and Congress has been spending all its energy trying to push through an expensive and extremely unpopular healthcare bill and massive spending bills that are bankrupting our country. The only new jobs created by the health care bill would be for government bureaucrats. I think Scott Brown will be a great Senator and I know his first priority will be getting the people of our nation and his state working again."

U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, wants to set the record straight about the latest bogus announcement by the Obama Administration that it has "created or saved" 650,000 jobs.

Earlier this week, The Associated Press reported that the official count of "created or saved" jobs from the $787 billion stimulus was 25,000. It's amazing what you can do with numbers.

Obama released figures from his economic team stating that more than 40,000 jobs have been "created or saved" in Pennsylvania by passage of the stimulus bill, according to Pitts.

Nationwide 650,000 jobs have been "created or saved" at the cost of approximately $1.2 million each, Pitts says. Economists agree that the figure of jobs "saved" is misleading and is not a legitimate economic measure, Pitts says.

Pennsylvania has lost nearly 200,000 jobs in just the past year alone. Nationwide, more than 15 million Americans are out of work. The unemployment rate in the U.S. stands at a 27-year high.

Rep. Pitts' statement follows:

"Once again the administration is claiming that the wasteful $787 billion stimulus bill has 'saved' a distinct number of jobs. The White House has produced a number that is meaningless. There is no way to count jobs that weren't lost. I could just as easily come up with a formula to count the jobs that have been lost due this Administration’s policies on energy, health, and taxation.

"The truth is, unemployment is nearly two percent higher than the President projected. The administration’s website right now shows only one job saved in the entire 16th Congressional District. I understand that these numbers may be updated later today but they certainly won’t change very much. Right now this website shows that one job was created at the cost of $277,000 in government contracts.

"The government cannot create jobs, but it can make is easier or harder for employers to increase their payroll. With job-killing tax hikes in health care reform and the energy legislation being considered in Congress right now, how can we expect employers to invest in their business with confidence?"

Congressman Joe Pitts (PA-16) has been awarded the "Defender of Economic Freedom" award from The Club for Growth, a leading free-market advocacy organization.

The award, presented by Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, honors members of Congress who have "a strong voting record on economic growth issues."

Pitts, a Republican, is one of only 13 members of Congress (and the only one from Pennsylvania) to receive a perfect score. (Does it surprise you that all 13 honorees are Republicans?)

"Receiving the 'Defender of Economic Freedom' award is a great honor," Pitts said in a statement. "The best way to get our economy growing again is to free business owners and investors from burdensome government regulations and taxes. More government intrusion into the marketplace is not going to create more jobs."

More from the Club for Growth:

The award is based on certain votes in 2008 that the Club for Growth tracks on its scorecard. The study also 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 rating examines legislative actions that reflect the Club for Growth's immediate pro-economic growth policy goals, including cutting and limiting government spending, lowering taxes, expanding free trade, regulatory reform, and deregulation.

As if there weren't enough blogs to choose from on the Internet, politicians are now getting into the act.

Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, has announced he has started his own blog.

Pitts says the blog is "one more way to keep in touch with constituents."

The blog is linked to Pitts' official Congressional Web site, www.house.gov/pitts/

"I hope to use this blog as just one more way for me to keep in touch with the constituents I represent in the 16th District," Pitts said in a statement. "I hope you'll stop by often and I'll be sure to keep it updated."

Pitts, first elected to Congress in 1996, is one of the more media-savvy members of Congress. He regularly posts videos on YouTube and writes a regular column distributed to local newspapers, including The Pottstown Mercury.

"I'll use the blog to let you all know what I think about the important issues before Congress," Pitts said on his first post today. "I'll post statements about legislation, videos of floor speeches, and pictures of my activities in Pennsylvania as well as Washington, D.C."