Site icon The Daily Signal

Citing Virginia Election Losses, Conservatives Demand Congress Follow Through on Promises

Prominent conservatives penned a letter demanding Congress to follow through on campaign promises. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan lead the Senate and House. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom)

Conservatives are calling for Republicans in Congress to fulfill their campaign promises by supporting President Donald Trump’s spending proposal and to not enact amnesty in a year-end deal with Democrats.

A letter released Monday and signed by 44 conservative leaders explains that Virginia is “in ruins” after Republican losses at both the statewide and local level earlier this month. The leaders warn that the Republican majority in the House could be in jeopardy next.

“Your consultants and managers are out of excuses—and your conservative grassroots are running out of both patience and time,” the letter states. “So stop panicking and start legislating.”

The letter criticizes Republicans—who control both chambers of Congress—for making deals with the Democrats that hurt the GOP agenda in the long run. The letter warns Republicans not to fall in line with the agenda of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Congress, the letter says, is heading toward a path in December that will lift “the domestic spending caps set in 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) debt deal, allowing ballooning trillion dollar deficits in future years,” will give amnesty to the illegal immigrants who came as minors, will give “billions of dollars of bailouts” to insurance companies, and will only allot a small amount of funding for Trump’s border wall.

The letter is signed by the leaders of many conservative organizations, such as Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring; Jenny Beth Martin, chairman of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund; and Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, of Liberty Consulting.

The letter also calls on Congress to repeal Obamacare in 2018 and says that what happened in Virginia was just an “aftershock” with more to follow.

Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government, an organization that works to prevent the expansion of government, helped write the letter and also signed it. He said the circumstances behind the current Congress is disappointing as they have failed on their platform promises, and because of this, the Republican majority is in danger.

“The truth is this letter is designed to really reach a hand out to the Republicans who are floundering and say, ‘We’ll help you find your way back to where you were when you got elected,’” Manning said. “We’re hoping they’ll pull up alongside us, and we’ll be able to fulfill the promise of the Republican majority, which was a limited government promise.”

Here is the full text of the letter with signatories:

November 20, 2017

Dear Senator/Member of Congress,

Virginia is in ruins. Your House majority trembles with fear of what 2018 holds for them. Your chances of picking up Senate seats are fading as fast as a lobbyist’s handshake. Your consultants and managers are out of excuses – and your conservative grassroots are running out of both patience and time. So stop panicking and start legislating: Make America Great Again by supporting Trump’s Budget, opposing reckless spending, and killing any amnesty deal.

Earlier this year, President Trump proposed a responsible budget that balances within 10 years, restores critical funding to our national defense priorities and border wall, and cuts wasteful domestic spending. Republican leaders in Congress appear ready to discard that 2016 election mandate. Indeed, despite their majorities in both houses of Congress, they are poised to make yet another bad deal with the Democrats.

The stage is set for enacting the Schumer-Pelosi agenda under Republican auspices – and you all know it. Unless the rank and file of the Republican membership takes a stand now, you will be presented with this Christmas departure package:

Lifting the domestic spending caps set in 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) debt deal, allowing ballooning trillion dollar deficits in future years
DACA amnesty that could give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants
Billions of dollars in bailouts (known as CSRs) for insurance companies, many of which are experiencing record profits, token funding for a border wall, a mockery of the $4.1 billion the President requested.

That year-end deal would squander President Trump’s hard fought electoral victory. It would so alienate your conservative base that the Old Dominion’s electoral disaster could be replicated from coast to coast.

Our organizations represent every part of the Conservative Freedom agenda, from tax cuts to social issues, from regulatory reform to national security. We unite on three priorities that must be achieved by the end of the year: tax reform to spur economic growth, restoring defense funding after years of neglect, and putting our country back on a sustainable fiscal path. In control of Congress and the Presidency for the first time in a decade, Republicans must reverse the leftist policies that threaten our economy, our military, and the hopes of the American people.

We respectfully offer this warning. Voters around the nation still feel ignored by the leadership on Capitol Hill. After almost a year in power, it seems you no longer intend to restore constitutional government, Well, do you? If so, please consider this message a check-list toward that goal. The American people took seriously your campaign promises. You should too. You should cut wasteful spending, rebuild our national defense, and stop amnesty. And we expect you to follow President Trump’s call to finally repeal Obamacare in 2018, which is hurting millions of Americans with sky-high premiums and loss of quality health care.

One year ago the election of Donald Trump hit official Washington like an earthquake. What happened in Virginia on November 7th was only an aftershock, one of many that surely lie ahead. Ignore their message at your peril. The opportunity, if you act with daring and integrity, is unlimited both for our majority and for our mandate to bring Conservative Freedom to America.

Signed (organizations are for identification purposes only),

Colin A. Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring

Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West (US Army, Retired), Member, 112th US Congress

Anne Schlafly Cori, Chairman, Eagle Forum

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks

Jenny Beth Martin, Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund

Brigitte Gabriel, Founder & Chairman, ACT for America

The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell, Chairman, Constitutional Congress, Inc.

David Bozell, President, ForAmerica

Frank Gaffney, President, Center for Security Policy

Allen Roth, Vice Chairman, New York State Conservative Party

Ginni Thomas, Liberty Consulting

Rick Manning, President, Americans For Limited Government

Sandy Rios, Director of Governmental Affairs, American Family Association

J. Christian Adams, Attorney

Bob Adams, President, Revive America PAC

George Rasley, Managing Editor, ConservativeHQ.com

Jessie Jane Duff, Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps (ret), Senior Fellow, London Center for Policy Research

Becky Gerritson, President, Wetumpka TEA Party (AL)

James Simpson, Author, Investigative Journalist

Stella Morabito, Author

Steve Albertson, TheBullElephant.com

Philip B. Haney, DHS Founding Member, CBP Officer (Retired)

Paul Caprio, Director Family PAC Federal & One Nation Under God Foundation

Elaine Donnelly, Livonia, Michigan

Gayle Trotter, President, American Womens Alliance, Inc.

Dr. Tim Daughtry, Author and Consultant

Jake Hoffman, Rally Forge Consulting

Karen Vaughn, Gold Star Mother, Author, Speaker

Amy Kremer, Co-chair, Women for Trump

Christopher C. Hull, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Center for Security Policy

Robert K. Fischer, Meeting Coordinator, Conservatives of Faith

Clare M. Lopez, VP for Research & Analysis, Center for Security Policy

Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Benway (US Army, Retired), Co-Founder, Special Operations Speaks

Dran Reese, President, The Salt and Light Council

Carol Taber, President, Family Security Matters (Family Security Foundation, Inc)

Rose Sullivan, General Manager, Family Security Matters (Family Security Foundation, Inc)

Nancy Kennon, Director of Operations, Family Security Matters (Family Security Foundation, Inc)

Kenneth R. Timmerman, Author

Eileen Watts, Delaware County, Ohio, DCRWC Vice President, Central Committee Member, Ohio United 4 America Co-Founder

Gerrye Johnston Founder/CEO Women for Democracy in America, Inc. D/b/a/ Men and Women for a Representative Democracy in America

Kimberly Fletcher, President & Founder, HomeMakers for America

Marvina Case, Texans United for America and Mom’s March USA

Mrs. Avis Marjean, Cisco-Met, Cedar Hills, Utah

Exit mobile version