Memo for the Movement

Transcription

1 Conservative Action Project The Conservative Action Project (CAP), founded in 2008 by many conservative leaders with former Attorney General Edwin Meese III serving as the Founding. CAP is currently chaired by Mr. Alfred S. Regnery and is designed to facilitate conservative leaders working together on behalf of common goals. Participants include the CEOs of over 100 organizations representing all major elements of the conservative movement-economic, social and national security. Memo for the Movement Conservatives Agree with Trump: Never Again Should Congress Pass an Omnibus Boondoggle, and Never Again Should He Sign One April 9, 2018 Washington, D.C. Congress recently passed, and the signed, a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that gives Democrats everything they want while violating key conservative principles on both policy and process. By relinquishing control of the process to Democrats, the Republican leadership allowed many provisions in the bill to stand out as clear violations of the promises that Republicans made to voters. They include the following: $500 million for Planned Parenthood. Full funding for sanctuary cities. $20 billion for Amtrak, including money for Sen. Schumer s New York-New Jersey Gateway Tunnel. Language prohibiting construction of the wall along the Mexican border, and only $1.6 billion for repairs to the existing. A gun control provision that could be used to disarm law-abiding Americans. Maintains the status quo on Obamacare. The text of 24 unrelated bills that were added without debate or amendments. Spending increases that are twice as high as any request made by Obama, at a time when Trump s nominees to run various programs are being slow-walked through the Senate. The 2,232-page bill was made public less than 24 hours before House members were asked to vote, in direct violation of the House s 72-hour rule. The rule reflects a promise that Republicans made in their Pledge to America to allow at least three legislative days for Members of Congress and the public to read bills before a vote. No more hiding legislative language, they wrote. Legislation should be understood by all interested parties before it is voted on. Moreover, the House Rules Committee blocked attempts by any Members to offer amendments. In the Senate, there was very little debate, and no amendments. Though seven budgetary points of order laid against the legislation, none of these points of order were challenged or debated. A

2 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion bill passed the Congress 48-hours after it was introduced with minimal debate and without Members being allowed to offer any changes. Trump rightly called the bill ridiculous, and called out Members of both chambers for the hasty, haphazard way the bill was passed. He also pledged that he would never sign another bill like this again. We support the in this regard and will insist that this promise is kept. We call upon the Congress to fulfill its constitutional role with more transparency, deliberation, and thoughtfulness. Appropriations bills should be given ample time for consideration, debate and amendments. Omnibus spending bills should be the rare exception, instead of norm. Specifically, once an individual appropriations bill is passed by the House, the Senate should schedule time for its consideration and allow time for consideration, debate and amendments. The Senate, in particular, should prioritize the debate, amendment and passage of individual appropriations bills over wasting time in endless quorum calls. Future funding bills should restore the spending caps signed by Obama in 2011 to force fiscal discipline onto the government. They should fully fund the border wall, defund sanctuary cities and, at a minimum, defund Planned Parenthood and apply Hyde and conscience protections across the government, as Republicans have been promising to do for decades. Finally, the bill should not include extraneous bills that grow government, and bills that do should be subject to executive-led recession in the areas where money cannot be responsibly spent. Republicans have long promised that, if they were given congressional majorities, they would use that mandate to affect positive change across the government. Sadly, we are seeing even worse spending, process, and policy outcomes than we saw with a Democratic president. This is untenable. We urge the Republican majority to prioritize their promises over expediency, and we call on Trump to reject future efforts that do not meet his expectations, or the expectations of the voters who elected him. The Honorable Edwin Meese III Former Attorney General Ronald Reagan Alfred S. Regnery, Conservative Action Project, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund Thomas E. McClusky March for Life Action Wesley Denton Former Communications Director Senator Jim DeMint (SC) Jenny Beth Martin Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio The Honorable Colin A. Hanna Let Freedom Ring, Inc. The Honorable Jim DeMint U.S. Senate Former Member, South Carolina

3 Ed Corrigan Vice, Conservative Action Project Former Executive Director, Senate Steering Committee The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop Former White House Advisor Ronald Reagan Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.) Executive Vice Family Research Council The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Former Chief Domestic Advisor Ronald Reagan The Honorable Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, Council for National Policy The Honorable David McIntosh U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Indiana Michael A. Needham Chief Executive Officer Heritage Action for America James C. Dobson Ph.D. Founder & Family Talk Rebecca Hagelin Secretary Council for National Policy Jack Park None Conservative Activist and Donor Jason S. Jones Movie to Movement C. Preston Noell III Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. Rachel Bovard Former Policy Director Senate Steering Committee William L. Walton CNP Action, Inc. Diana Banister and Partner Shirley & Banister Public Affairs Adam Brandon FreedomWorks Cleta Mitchell, Esq. The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Constitutional Congress, Inc. The Honorable Donald J. Devine Former Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Ronald Reagan Bob Adams Revive America PAC Richard H. Wright CEO Andrews Consulting Preston Hawkins Herbert Hawkins Company David Williams Taxpayers Protection Alliance Samuel Casey Managing Director & General Counsel Jubilee Campaign

4 Kevin Freeman Founder NSIC Institute Tim Wildmon American Family Association Martha Boneta VCS Christopher Malagisi Editor in Chief Conservative Book Club Elaine Donnelly Center for Military Readiness James L. Martin Founder/ 60 Plus Association Ted Baehr and CEO Christian Film and Television Commission / Movieguide Linwood Bragan Executive Director CapStand Council for Policy & Ethics Rod D. Martin Founder and CEO The Martin Organization, Inc. Haley E. Martin The Martin Foundation Jerry Melvin Former Dean Florida House of Representatives Norman Singleton Ron Paul s Campaign for Liberty Bob Carlstrom The Carlstrom Group, LLC The Honorable Mike Spence Founding Conservative Republicans of California Charles Copeland Intercollegiate Studies Institute Jim Backlin Vice of Legislative Affairs Christian Coalition of America Allen Hebert American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston Saulius "Saul" Anuzis 60 Plus Association Donna Hearne CEO Constitutional Coalition Tim LeFever Capitol Resource Institute Sherri R. Martin Executive Vice The Martin Organization, Inc. Shawn A. Mitchell Former National Chaplain National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) Evelio Silvera Campaign for the American Future Jeremy Cerone CEO EliteSafe Inc.

5 Diane Stover Ohio Values Voters, Inc. Seton Motley Less Government William Pascoe Managing Partner Antietam Communications The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State Representative Col. Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret) Emeritus Civitas Institute Peter J. Thomas The Conservative Cacus Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. Washington Bureau Chief Infowars.com The Honorable Belden Bell Legacy Co-Chair The Heritage Foundation Kay R. Daly Coalition for a Fair Judiciary Anne Schlafly Cori Eagle Forum The Honorable Gary L. Bauer American Values The Honorable Michael R. Long State NYS Conservative Party Ron Robinson Young America s Foundation Paul J. Gessing Rio Grande Foundation Robert K. Fischer Meeting Coordinator Conservatives of Faith Willes K. Lee National Federation of Republican Assemblies The Honorable James C. Miller III Budget Director for Reagan Sal Russo Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Tea Party Express Caroline Lewis Owner Percipio Communications Steve Berger Pastor Grace Chapel Chad Connelly Faith Wins Dr. Richard Rounsavelle Trustee Media Research Center Ralph A. Rebandt, II Lead Pastor/Police Chaplain Oakland Hills Community Church/Michigan Police Chiefs E.C. Sykes Managing Director Aslan Capital Fund

6 Lewis K. Uhler National Tax Limitation Committee All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only. Please feel free to reproduce, publish, or quote from this memo, or any part thereof. No attribution to the Conservative Action Project or any of the signers is necessary.