G.O.P. Platform 2012
Preamble:
The 2012 Republican Platform is a statement of who we are and what we believe
as a Party and our vision for a stronger and freer America.
The pursuit of opportunity has defined America from our very beginning. This
is a land of opportunity. The American Dream is a dream of equal opportunity for
all. And the Republican Party is the party of opportunity.
Today, that American Dream is at risk.
Our nation faces unprecedented uncertainty with great fiscal and economic
challenges, and under the current Administration has suffered through the
longest and most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Many Americans have experienced the burden of lost jobs, lost homes, and lost
hopes. Our middle class has felt that burden most acutely. Meanwhile, the
federal government has expanded its size and scope, its borrowing and spending,
its debt and deficit. Federalism is threatened and liberty retreats.
For the world, this has been four years of lost American leadership,
leadership that depends upon economic vitality and peace through strength.
Put simply: The times call for trustworthy leadership and honest talk about
the challenges we face. Our nation and our people cannot afford the status quo.
We must begin anew, with profound changes in the way government operates; the
way it budgets, taxes, and regulates. Jeffersonfs vision of a gwise and frugal
governmenth must be restored.
Providence has put us at the fork in the road, and we must answer the
question: If not us, who? If not now, when?
That is the choice facing the American people this November. Every voter will
be asked to choose between the chronic high unemployment and the unsustainable
debt produced by a big government entitlement society, or a positive, optimistic
view of an opportunity society, where any American who works hard, dreams big
and follows the rules can achieve anything he or she wants.
The American people possess vast reserves of courage and determination and
the capacity to hear the truth and chart a strong course. They are eager for the
opportunity to take on lifefs challenges and, through faith and hard work,
transform the future for the better. They are the most generous people on earth,
giving sacrificially of their time, talent, and treasure.
This platform affirms that America has always been a place of grand dreams
and even grander realities; and so it will be again, if we return government to
its proper role, making it smaller and smarter. If we restructure governmentfs
most important domestic programs to avoid their fiscal collapse. If we keep
taxation, litigation, and regulation to a minimum. If we celebrate success,
entrepreneurship, and innovation. If we lift up the middle class. If we hand
over to the next generation a legacy of growth and prosperity, rather than
entitlements and indebtedness.
That same commitment must be present both here at home and abroad. We are a
party that knows the difference between international acclaim and world
leadership. We will lift the torch of freedom and democracy to inspire all those
who would be free. As President Reagan issued the clarion call to gtear down
this Wall,h so must we always stand against tyranny and oppression. We will
always support and cherish our men and women in uniform who defend our liberties
with their lives.
As we embark upon this critical mission, we are not without guidance. We
possess an ownerfs manual: the Constitution of the United States, the greatest
political document ever written. That sacred document shows us the path forward.
Trust the people. Limit government. Respect federalism. Guarantee opportunity,
not outcomes. Adhere to the rule of law. Reaffirm that our rights come from God,
are protected by government, and that the only just government is one that truly
governs with the consent of the governed.
The principles written in the Constitution are secured by the character of
the American people. President George Washington said in his first inaugural
address: gThe propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that
disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has
ordained.h Values matter. Character counts.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan understand these great truths. They share a
positive vision for America – a vision of America renewed and strong. They know
Americafs best days lay ahead. It will take honest results-oriented,
conservative leadership to enact good policies for our people. They will provide
it.
We respectfully submit this platform to the American people. It is both a
vision of where we are headed and an invitation to join us in that journey. It
is about the great dreams and opportunities that have always been America and
must remain the essence of America for generations to come.
May God continue to shed his grace on the United States of America.
- Governor Bob McDonnell, Chairman
- Senator John Hoeven, Co-Chair
- Congressman Marsha Blackburn, Co-Chair
Restoring the
American Dream:Rebuilding the Economy and Creating Jobs:
We are the party of maximum economic freedom and the prosperity freedom makes
possible. Prosperity is the product of self-discipline, work, savings, and
investment by individual Americans, but it is not an end in itself. Prosperity
provides the means by which individuals and families can maintain their
independence from government, raise their children by their own values, practice
their faith, and build communities of self-reliant neighbors. It is also the
means by which the United States is able to assert global leadership. The vigor
of our economy makes possible our military strength and is critical to our
national security.
This yearfs election is a chance to restore the proven values of the American
free enterprise system. We offer our Republican vision of a free people using
their God-given talents, combined with hard work, self-reliance, ethical
conduct, and the pursuit of opportunity, to achieve great things for themselves
and the greater community. Our vision of an opportunity society stands in stark
contrast to the current Administrationfs policies that expand entitlements and
guarantees, create new public programs, and provide expensive government
bailouts. That road has created a culture of dependency, bloated government, and
massive debt.
Republicans believe in the Great American Dream, with its economics of
inclusion, enabling everyone to have a chance to own, invest, build, and
prosper. It is the opposite of the policies which, for the last three and a half
years, have stifled growth, destroyed jobs, halted investment, created
unprecedented uncertainty, and prolonged the worst economic downturn since the
Great Depression. Those policies have placed the federal government in the
driverfs seat, rather than relying on energetic and entrepreneurial Americans to
rebuild the economy from the ground up. Excessive taxation and regulation impede
economic development. Lowering taxes promotes substantial economic growth and
reducing regulation encourages business formation and job creation. Knowing
that, a Republican President and Congress will jumpstart an economic renewal
that creates opportunity, rewards work and saving, and unleashes the productive
genius of the American people. Because the GOP is the Great Opportunity Party,
this is our pledge to workers without jobs, families without savings, and
neighborhoods without hope: together we can get our country back on track,
expanding its bounty, renewing its faith, and fulfilling its promise of a better
life.
Job Creation: Getting Americans Back to Work (Top)
The best jobs program is economic growth. We do not offer yet another
made-in-Washington package of subsidies and spending to create temporary or
artificial jobs. We want much more than that. We want a roaring job market to
match a roaring economy. Instead, what this Administration has given us is 42
consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent, the longest period of high
unemployment since the Great Depression. Republicans will pursue free market
policies that are the surest way to boost employment and create job growth and
economic prosperity for all.
In all the sections that follow, as well as elsewhere in this platform, we
explain what must be done to achieve that goal. The tax system must be
simplified. Government spending and regulation must be reined in. American
companies must be more competitive in the world market, and we must be
aggressive in promoting U.S. products abroad and securing open markets for them.
A federal-State-private partnership must invest in the nationfs infrastructure:
roads, bridges, airports, ports, and water systems, among others. Federal
training programs have to be overhauled and made relevant for the workplace of
the twenty-first century. Potential employers need certainty and predictability
for their hiring decisions, and the team of a Republican President and Congress
will create the confidence that will get Americans back to work.
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
(Top)
Americafs small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, employing
tens of millions of workers. Small businesses create the vast majority of jobs,
patents, and U.S. exporters. Under the current Administration, we have the
lowest rate of business startups in thirty years. Small businesses are the
leaders in the worldfs advances in technology and innovation, and we pledge to
strengthen that role and foster small business entrepreneurship.
While small businesses have significantly contributed to the nationfs
economic growth, our government has failed to meet its small business goals year
after year and failed to overcome burdensome regulatory, contracting, and
capital barriers. This impedes their growth.
We will reform the tax code to allow businesses to generate enough capital to
grow and create jobs for our families, friends and neighbors all across America.
We will encourage investments in small businesses. We will create an environment
where adequate financing and credit are available to spur manufacturing and
expansion. We will serve as aggressive advocates for small businesses.
Tax Relief to Grow the Economy and Create Jobs (Top)
Taxes, by their very nature, reduce a citizenfs freedom. Their proper role in
a free society should be to fund services that are essential and authorized by
the Constitution, such as national security, and the care of those who cannot
care for themselves. We reject the use of taxation to redistribute income, fund
unnecessary or ineffective programs, or foster the crony capitalism that
corrupts both politicians and corporations.
Our goal is a tax system that is simple, transparent, flatter, and fair. In
contrast, the current IRS code is like a patchwork quilt, stitched together over
time from mismatched pieces, and is beyond the comprehension of the average
citizen. A reformed code should promote simplicity and coherence, savings and
innovation, increase American competitiveness, and recognize the burdens on
families with children. To that end, we propose to:
Extend the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages-commonly known as the Bush tax
cuts-pending reform of the tax code, to keep tax rates from rising on income,
interest, dividends, and capital gains;
Reform the tax code by reducing marginal tax rates by 20 percent
across-the-board in a revenue-neutral manner; Eliminate the taxes on interest,
dividends, and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers;
End the Death Tax; and Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax.
American Competitiveness in a Global Economy (Top)
American businesses now face the worldfs highest corporate tax rate. It
reduces their worldwide competitiveness, encourages corporations to move
overseas, lessens investment, cripples job creation, lowers U.S. wages, and
fosters the avoidance of tax liability-without actually increasing tax revenues.
To level the international playing field, and to spur job creation here at home,
we call for a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations
competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax
credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax. We also support
the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and
Reform, as well as the current Presidentfs Export Council, to switch to a
territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and taxed
abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home without
additional penalty.
Fundamental Tax Principles (Top)
We oppose retroactive taxation; and we condemn attempts by activist judges,
at any level of government, to seize the power of the purse by ordering higher
taxes. We oppose tax policies that divide Americans or promote class
warfare.
Because of the vital role of religious organizations, charities, and
fraternal benevolent societies in fostering benevolence and patriotism, they
should not be subject to taxation, and donations to them should continue to be
tax deductible.
In any restructuring of federal taxation, to guard against hypertaxation of
the American people, any value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to
the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the
federal income tax.
Reining in Out-of-Control Spending, Balancing the Budget, and
Ensuring Sound Monetary Policy (Top)
The massive federal government is structurally and financially broken. For
decades it has been pushed beyond its core functions, increasing spending to
unsustainable levels. Elected officials have overpromised and overspent, and now
the bills are due. Unless we take dramatic action now, young Americans and their
children will inherit an unprecedented legacy of enormous and unsustainable
debt, with the interest alone consuming an ever-increasing portion of the
countryfs wealth. The specter of national bankruptcy that now hangs over much of
Europe is a warning to us as well. Over the last three and a half years, while
cutting the defense budget, the current Administration has added an additional
$5.3 trillion to the national debt-now approximately $16 trillion, the largest
amount in U.S. history. In fiscal year 2011, spending reached $3.6 trillion,
nearly a quarter of our gross domestic product. Adjusted for inflation, thatfs
more than three times its peak level in World War II, and almost half of every
dollar spent was borrowed money. Three programs-Medicare, Medicaid, and Social
Security- account for over 40 percent of total spending. While these levels of
spending and debt are already harming job creation and growth, projections of
future spending growth are nothing short of catastrophic, both economically and
socially. And those dire projections do not include the fiscal nightmare of
Obamacare, with over $1 trillion in new taxes, multiple mandates, and a crushing
price tag.
We can preempt the debt explosion. Backed by a Republican Senate and House,
our next President will propose immediate reductions in federal spending, as a
down payment on the much larger task of long-range fiscal control. We suggest a
tripartite test for every federal activity. First, is it within the
constitutional scope of the federal government? Second, is it effective and
absolutely necessary? And third, is it sufficiently important to justify
borrowing, especially foreign borrowing, to fund it? Against those standards we
will measure programs from international population control to Californiafs
federally subsidized high-speed train to nowhere, and terminate programs that
donft measure up.
Balancing the Budget (Top)
Cutting spending is not enough; it must be accompanied by major structural
reforms, increased productivity, use of technology, and long-term government
downsizing that both reduce debt and deficits and ignite economic growth. We
must restructure the twentieth century entitlement state so the missions of
important programs can succeed in the twenty-first century. Medicare, in
particular, is the largest driver of future debt. Our reform of healthcare will
empower millions of seniors to control their personal healthcare decisions,
unlike Obamacare that empowered a handful of bureaucrats to cut Medicare in ways
that will deny care for the elderly. We must also change the budget process
itself. From its beginning, its design has enabled, rather than restrained,
reckless spending by giving procedural cover to Members of Congress. The budget
process gave us the insidious term gtax expenditure,h which means that any
earnings the government allows a taxpayer to keep through a deduction,
exemption, or credit are equivalent to spending the same amount on some program.
It also lumped a broad range of diverse programs under the heading of
gentitlement,h as if veteransf benefits and welfare checks belong in the same
category. Far worse, the process assumes every spending program will be
permanent and every tax cut will be temporary. It refuses to recognize the
beneficial budgetary impact of lower tax rates, and it calls a spending increase
a cut if it is less than the rate of inflation. Republican Members of Congress
have repeatedly tried to reform the budget process to make it more transparent
and accountable, in particular by voting for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the
Constitution, following the lead of 33 States which have put that restraint into
their own constitutions. We call for a Constitutional amendment requiring a
super-majority for any tax increase, with exceptions for only war and national
emergencies, and imposing a cap limiting spending to the historical average
percentage of GDP so that future Congresses cannot balance the budget by raising
taxes.
Inflation and the Federal Reserve (Top)
A sound monetary policy is critical for maintaining a strong economy.
Inflation diminishes the purchasing power of the dollar at home and abroad and
is a hidden tax on the American people. Moreover, the inflation tax is
regressive, punishes those who save, transfers wealth from Main Street to Wall
Street, and has grave implications for seniors living on fixed incomes.
Because the Federal Reservefs monetary policy actions affect both inflation
and economic activity, those actions should be transparent. Moreover, the Fedfs
important role as a lender of last resort should also be carried out in a more
transparent manner. A free society demands that the sun shine on all elements of
government. Therefore, the Republican Party will work to advance substantive
legislation that brings transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve,
the Federal Open Market Committee, and the Fedfs dealings with foreign central
banks. The first step to increasing transparency and accountability is through
an annual audit of the Federal Reservefs activities. Such an audit would need to
be carefully implemented so that the Federal Reserve remains insulated from
political pressures and so its decisions are based on sound economic principles
and sound money rather than on political pressures for easy money and loose
credit.
Determined to crush the double-digit inflation that was part of the Carter
Administrationfs economic legacy, President Reagan, shortly after his
inauguration, established a commission to consider the feasibility of a metallic
basis for U.S. currency. The commission advised against such a move. Now, three
decades later, as we face the task of cleaning up the wreckage of the current
Administrationfs policies, we propose a similar commission to investigate
possible ways to set a fixed value for the dollar.
Ending the Housing Crisis and Expanding Opportunities for
Homeownership (Top)
Homeownership expands personal liberty, builds communities, and helps
Americans create wealth. gThe American Dreamh is not a stale slogan. It is the
lived reality that expresses the aspirations of all our people. It means a
decent place to live, a safe place to raise kids, a welcoming place to retire.
It bespeaks the quiet pride of those who work hard to shelter their family and,
in the process, create caring neighborhoods. Homeownership is best fostered by a
growing economy with low interest rates, as well as prudent regulation,
financial education, and targeted assistance to responsible borrowers.
The collapse of the housing market over the last four years has been not only
a severe blow to the entire economy, but also a personal tragedy to millions of
Americans whose homes have lost value and to so many others who have lost their
homes. Combined with high unemployment, that decline has left countless
homeowners saddled with mortgages exceeding the value of their homes. The
response of the current Administration has done little to improve, and much to
worsen, the situation. By discouraging private sector investment, it has stalled
the housing recovery. Its massive intervention in the housing market, with the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backing nearly
all new mortgages, has hit the taxpayers with a bill for almost $200 billion to
bail out the latter two institutions. It has spent billions more on poorly
designed and ineffective housing assistance programs. Making matters worse, the
Congress, under Democrat control, enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, a massive
labyrinth of costly new regulations that deter lenders from lending to
creditworthy homebuyers and that disproportionately harms small and community
banks. As a result, home sales remain weak, investment in housing remains
depressed, construction industry jobs remain down, and mortgage lending has yet
to recover to pre-crisis levels.
Rebuilding Homeownership (Top)
We must establish a mortgage finance system based on competition and free
enterprise that is transparent, encourages the private sector to return to
housing, and promotes personal responsibility on the part of borrowers. Policies
that promote reliance on private capital, like private mortgage insurance, will
be critical to scaling back the federal role in the housing market and avoiding
future taxpayer bailouts. Reforms should provide clear and prudent underwriting
standards and guidelines on acceptable lending practices. Compliance with
regulatory standards should provide a legal safe harbor to guard against
opportunistic litigation. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a primary cause of the
housing crisis because their implicit government guarantee allowed them to avoid
market discipline and make risky investments. Their favored political status
enriched their politically-connected executives and their shareholders at the
expense of the nation. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be wound down in
size and scope, and their officials should be held to account.
The FHA, tripled in size to more than $1 trillion under the current
Administration, has crowded out the private sector and is at risk of requiring a
taxpayer bailout. It must be downsized and limited to helping first-time
homebuyers and low- and moderate- income borrowers. Taxpayer dollars should not
be used to bail out borrowers and lenders by funding principal write-downs.
While the federal government must prosecute mortgage fraud and other financial
crimes, any settlements received thereby should be directed to individuals
harmed by the misconduct, not diverted to pay for unrelated programs. FDIC
insurance for bank depositors must be preserved. However, to correct for the
moral hazard created by deposit insurance, banks should be well capitalized,
which is the best insurance against future taxpayer bailouts.
The federal government has a role in housing by enforcing non-discrimination
laws and assisting low-income families and the elderly with safe and adequate
shelter, especially through the use of housing vouchers. Homeownership is an
important goal, but public policy must be balanced to reflect the needs of
Americans who choose to rent. A comprehensive housing policy should address the
demand for apartments and multi-family housing. Any assistance should be subject
to stringent oversight to ensure that funds are spent wisely.
Infrastructure: Building the Future
(Top)
Americafs infrastructure networks are critical for economic growth,
international competitiveness, and national security. Infrastructure programs
have traditionally been non-partisan; everyone recognized that we all need clean
water and safe roads, rail, bridges, ports, and airports. The current
Administration has changed that, replacing civil engineering with social
engineering as it pursues an exclusively urban vision of dense housing and
government transit. In the vaunted stimulus package, less than six percent of
the funds went to transportation, with most of that to cosmetic gshovel-readyh
projects rather than fundamental structural improvements. All the while, the
Democratsf Davis-Bacon law continues to drive up infrastructure construction and
maintenance costs for the benefit of that partyfs union stalwarts. What most
Americans take for granted-the safety and availability of our water supply-is in
perilous condition. Engineering surveys report crumbling drinking water systems,
aging dams, and overwhelmed wastewater infrastructure. Investment in these
areas, as well as with levees and inland waterways, can renew communities,
attract businesses, and create jobs. Most importantly, it can assure the health
and safety of the American people.
The nationfs ports have become a bottleneck in international trade. Americafs
exporters sometimes use Canadian ports in order to reach the world market in a
timely manner. With the widening of the Panama Canal, our East Coast and Gulf
ports have an extraordinary opportunity to boost container traffic but require
major improvement to remain competitive receivers of large vessels.
Interstate infrastructure has long been a federal responsibility shared with
the States, and a renewed federal-State partnership and new public-private
partnerships are urgently needed to maintain and modernize our countryfs travel
lifelines to facilitate economic growth and job creation. In the last two years,
Congressional Republicans have taken the lead with initiatives like the FAA
Modernization and Reform Act; the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job
Creation Act; and the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act. The recent
highway bill reforming the federal highway program included some key reforms. It
will shorten the project approval process, eliminate unnecessary programs, and
give States more flexibility to address their particular needs. It is a return
to the principles of federalism, and it contains not a single earmark. It should
be followed by reform of the 42-year old National Environmental Policy Act to
create regulatory certainty for infrastructure projects, expedite their
timetables, and limit litigation against them.
Securing sufficient funding for the Highway Trust Fund remains a challenge
given the debt and deficits and the need to reduce spending. Republicans will
make hard choices and set priorities, and infrastructure will be among them. In
some States with elected officials dominated by the Democratic Party, a
proportion of highway funds is diverted to other purposes. This must stop. We
oppose any funding mechanism that would involve governmental monitoring of every
car and truck in the nation. Amtrak continues to be, for the taxpayers, an
extremely expensive railroad. The public has to subsidize every ticket nearly
$50. It is long past time for the federal government to get out of way and allow
private ventures to provide passenger service to the northeast corridor. The
same holds true with regard to high-speed and intercity rail across the
country.
International Trade: More American Jobs, Higher
Wages, and A Better Standard of Living (Top)
International trade is crucial for our economy. It means more American jobs,
higher wages, and a better standard of living. Every $1 billion in additional
U.S. exports means another 5,000 jobs here at home. The Free Trade Agreements
negotiated with friendly democracies since President Reaganfs trailblazing pact
with Israel in 1985 facilitated the creation of nearly ten million jobs
supported by our exports. That record makes all the more deplorable the current
Administrationfs slowness in completing agreements begun by its predecessor and
its failure to pursue any new trade agreements with friendly nations.
This worldwide explosion of trade has had a downside, however, as some
governments have used a variety of unfair means to limit American access to
their markets while stealing our designs, patents, brands, know-how, and
technology-the gintellectual propertyh that drives innovation. The chief
offender is China, which has built up its economy in part by piggybacking onto
Western technological advances, manipulates its currency to the disadvantage of
American exporters, excludes American products from government purchases,
subsidizes Chinese companies to give them a commercial advantage, and invents
regulations and standards designed to keep out foreign competition. The current
Administrationfs way of dealing with all these violations of world trade
standards has been a virtual surrender.
Republicans understand that you can succeed in a negotiation only if you are
willing to walk away from it. Thus, a Republican President will insist on full
parity in trade with China and stand ready to impose countervailing duties if
China fails to amend its currency policies. Commercial discrimination will be
met in kind. Counterfeit goods will be aggressively kept out of the country.
Victimized private firms will be encouraged to raise claims in both U.S. courts
and at the World Trade Organization. Punitive measures will be imposed on
foreign firms that misappropriate American technology and intellectual property.
Until China abides by the WTOfs Government Procurement Agreement, the United
States government will end procurement of Chinese goods and services.
Because American workers have shown that, on a truly level playing field,
they can surpass the competition in international trade, we call for the
restoration of presidential Trade Promotion Authority. It will ensure up or down
votes in Congress on any new trade agreements, without meddling by special
interests. A Republican President will complete negotiations for a Trans-Pacific
Partnership to open rapidly developing Asian markets to U.S. products. Beyond
that, we envision a worldwide multilateral agreement among nations committed to
the principles of open markets, what has been called a gReagan Economic Zone,h
in which free trade will truly be fair trade for all concerned.
A Twenty-First Century Workforce (Top)
The greatest asset of the American economy is the hard-working American. The
high rates of unemployment over the last three and a half years-disastrously
high among youth, minorities, and veterans-have thus been a tragic waste of
energy and ideas, compounded by the waste of billions in gstimulush funds with
no payoff in jobs. The chief cause has been an unprecedented uncertainty in the
American free enterprise system due to the overreaching policies of the current
Administration. Nothing matters more than getting the American people back to
work. In addition to cutting spending, keeping taxes low, and curtailing
bureaucratic red tape, we must replace outdated policies and ineffectual
training programs with a plan to develop a twenty-first century workforce to
make the most of our countryfs human capital.
It is critical that the United States has a highly trained and skilled
workforce. Nine federal agencies currently run 47 retraining programs at a total
cost of $18 billion annually with dismal results. Both the trainees in those
programs and the taxpayers who fund them deserve better. We propose
consolidation of those programs into State block grants so that training can be
coordinated with local schools and employers. That will be critically important
if States establish Personal Reemployment Accounts, letting trainees direct
resources in ways that will steer them toward long-term employment, especially
through on-the-job training with participating employers. We can accelerate the
process of restoring our domestic economy-and reclaiming this countryfs
traditional position of dominance in international trade-by a policy of
strategic immigration, granting more work visas to holders of advanced degrees
in science, technology, engineering, and math from other nations. Highly
educated immigrants can assist in creating new services and products. In the
same way, foreign students who graduate from an American university with an
advanced degree in science, technology, engineering or math should be encouraged
to remain here and contribute to economic prosperity and job creation. Highly
skilled, English-speaking, and integrated into their communities, they are too
valuable a resource to lose. As in past generations, we should encourage the
worldfs innovators and inventors to create our common future and their permanent
homes here in the United States.
Republicans believe that the employer-employee relationship of the future
will be built upon employee empowerment and workplace flexibility, which is why
Republicans support employee ownership. We believe employee stock ownership
plans create capitalists and expand the ownership of private property and are
therefore the essence of a high-performing free enterprise economy, which
creates opportunity for those who work and honors those values that have made
our nation so strong. Todayfs workforce is independent, wants flexibility in
working conditions, needs family-friendly options, and is most productive when
allowed to innovate and rethink the status quo. The federal government should
set an example in making those adaptations, especially in promoting portability
in pension plans and health insurance.
Freedom in the Workplace (Top)
The current Administration has chosen a different path with regard to labor,
clinging to antiquated notions of confrontation and concentrating power in the
Washington offices of union elites. It has strongly supported the anti-business
card check legislation to deny workers a secret ballot in union organizing
campaigns and, through the use of Project Labor Agreements, barred 80 percent of
the construction workforce from competing for jobs in many stimulus projects.
The current Administration has turned the National Labor Relations Board into a
partisan advocate for Big Labor, using threats and coercion outside the law to
attack businesses and, through gsnap electionsh and gmicro unions,h limit the
rights of workers and employers alike.
We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking gcard check,h
enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor
violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned
raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to
the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act,
which costs the taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high
wages on government projects. We support the right of States to enact
Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic
liberty. Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to
promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty. We will
aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of
union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker.
We salute the Republican Governors and State legislators who have saved their
States from fiscal disaster by reforming their laws governing public employee
unions. We urge elected officials across the country to follow their lead in
order to avoid State and local defaults on their obligations and the collapse of
services to the public. To safeguard the free choice of public employees, no
government at any level should act as the dues collector for unions. A
Republican President will protect the rights of conscience of public employees
by proposing legislation to bar mandatory dues for political purposes.
We The People: A
Restoration of Constitutional Government
We are the party of the Constitution, the solemn compact which confirms our
God-given individual rights and assures that all Americans stand equal before
the law. Perhaps the greatest political document ever written, it defines the
purposes and limits of government and is the blueprint for ordered liberty that
makes the U.S. the worldfs freest, most stable, and most prosperous nation. Its
Constitutional ideals have been emulated around the world, and with them has
come unprecedented prosperity for billions of people.
In the spirit of the Constitution, we consider discrimination based on sex,
race, age, religion, creed, disability, or national origin unacceptable and
immoral. We will strongly enforce anti-discrimination statutes and ask all to
join us in rejecting the forces of hatred and bigotry and in denouncing all who
practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, or religious
intolerance. We support efforts to help low-income individuals get a fair chance
based on their potential and individual merit; but we reject preferences,
quotas, and set-asides as the best or sole methods through which fairness can be
achieved, whether in government, education, or corporate boardrooms. In a free
society, the primary role of government is to protect the God-given,
inalienable, inherent rights of its citizens, including the rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Merit, ability, aptitude, and results
should be the factors that determine advancement in our society.
The Republican Party includes Americans from every faith and tradition, and
our policies and positions respect the right of every American to follow his or
her beliefs and underscore our reverence for the religious freedom envisioned by
the Founding Fathers of our nation and of our party. As a matter of principle,
we oppose the creation of any new race-based governments within the United
States.
A Restoration of Constitutional Order: Congress and the
Executive (Top)
We salute Republican Members of the House of Representatives for enshrining
in the Rules of the House the requirement that every bill must cite the
provision of the Constitution which permits its introduction. Their adherence to
the Constitution stands in stark contrast to the antipathy toward the
Constitution demonstrated by the current Administration and its Senate allies by
appointing gczarsh to evade the confirmation process, making unlawful grecessh
appointments when the Senate is not in recess, using executive orders to bypass
the separation of powers and its checks and balances, encouraging illegal
actions by regulatory agencies from the NLRB to the EPA, openly and notoriously
displaying contempt for Congress, the Judiciary, and the Constitutional
prerogatives of the individual States, refusing to defend the nationfs laws in
federal courts or enforce them on the streets, ignoring the legal requirement
for legislative enactment of an annual budget, gutting welfare reform by
unilaterally removing its statutory work requirement, buying senatorial votes
with special favors, and evading the legal requirement for congressional
consultation regarding troop commitments overseas. A Republican President and
Republican Senate will join House Republicans in living by the rule of law, the
foundation of the American Republic.
Protecting America is the first and most important duty of our federal
government. The Constitution wisely distributes important roles in the area of
national security to both the President and Congress. It empowers the President
to serve as Commander in Chief, making him the lead instrument of the American
people in matters of national security and foreign affairs. It also bestows
authority on Congress, including the powers to declare war, regulate commerce,
and authorize the funds needed to keep and protect our Nation. The United States
of America is strongest when the President and Congress work closely together –
in war and in peace – to advance our common interests and ideals. By uniting our
government and our citizens, our foreign policy will secure freedom, keep
America safe, and ensure that we remain the glast best hope on Earth.h
Defending Marriage Against An Activist Judiciary (Top)
A serious threat to our countryfs constitutional order, perhaps even more
dangerous than presidential malfeasance, is an activist judiciary, in which some
judges usurp the powers reserved to other branches of government. A blatant
example has been the court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several States.
This is more than a matter of warring legal concepts and ideals. It is an
assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which,
for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with
the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.
A Sacred Contract: Defense of Marriage (Top)
That is why Congressional Republicans took the lead in enacting the Defense
of Marriage Act, affirming the right of States and the federal government not to
recognize same-sex relationships licensed in other jurisdictions. The current
Administrationfs open defiance of this constitutional principle – in its
handling of immigration cases, in federal personnel benefits, in allowing a
same-sex marriage at a military base, and in refusing to defend DOMA in the
courts – makes a mockery of the Presidentfs inaugural oath. We commend the
United States House of Representatives and State Attorneys General who have
defended these laws when they have been attacked in the courts. We reaffirm our
support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man
and one woman. We applaud the citizens of the majority of States which have
enshrined in their constitutions the traditional concept of marriage, and we
support the campaigns underway in several other States to do so.
Living Within Our Means: A Constitutional Budget (Top)
Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to reform the budget
process to make it more transparent and accountable, in particular by voting for
a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, following the lead of 33 States
which have put that restraint into their own constitutions. We call for a
Constitutional amendment requiring a super-majority for any tax increase with
exceptions for only war and national emergencies, and imposing a cap limiting
spending to the historical average percentage of GDP so that future Congresses
cannot balance the budget by raising taxes.
Federalism and The Tenth Amendment
(Top)
We support the review and examination of all federal agencies to eliminate
wasteful spending, operational inefficiencies, or abuse of power to determine
whether they are performing functions that are better performed by the States.
These functions, as appropriate, should be returned to the States in accordance
with the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We affirm that all
legislation, rules, and regulations must conform and public servants must adhere
to the U.S. Constitution, as originally intended by the Framers. Whether such
legislation is a State or federal matter must be determined in accordance with
the Tenth Amendment, in conjunction with Article I, Section 8. When the
Constitution is evaded, transgressed, or ignored, so are the freedoms it
guarantees. In that context, the elections of 2012 will be much more than a
contest between parties. They are a referendum on the future of liberty in
America.
The Republican Party, born in opposition to the denial of liberty, stands for
the rights of individuals, families, faith communities, institutions – and of
the States which are their instruments of self-government. In establishing a
federal system of government, the Framers viewed the States as laboratories of
democracy and centers of innovation, as do we. To maintain the integrity of
their system, they bequeathed to successive generations an instrument by which
we might correct any misalignment of power between our States and the federal
government, the Tenth Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.
In fidelity to that principle, we condemn the current Administrationfs
continued assaults on State governments in matters ranging from voter ID laws to
immigration, from healthcare programs to land use decisions. Our States are the
laboratories of democracy from which the people propel our nation forward,
solving local and State problems through local and State innovations. We pledge
to restore the proper balance between the federal government and the governments
closest to, and most reflective of, the American people. Scores of entrenched
federal programs violate the constitutional mandates of federalism by taking
money from the States, laundering it through various federal agencies, only to
return to the States shrunken grants with mandates attached. We propose wherever
feasible to leave resources where they originate: in the homes and neighborhoods
of the taxpayers. We call on the federal government to do a systematic analysis
of laws and regulations to eliminate costly bureaucratic mandates on the States
and the people. With every right comes a responsibility. A few States and their
political subdivisions are currently in dire fiscal situations, largely because
of their spending, debt, and failure to rein in public employee unions. In the
event those conditions worsen, the federal government must not assume the State
governmentsf or their political subdivisionsf financial responsibility or
require the nationfs taxpayers to pay for the misrule of a few State
governments. Nor shall the States assume the federal governmentfs financial
responsibility.
The Continuing Importance of Protecting the Electoral
College (Top)
We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to
abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College. We recognize that an
unconstitutional effort to impose gnational popular voteh would be a mortal
threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box
in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency.
Voter Integrity to Ensure Honest Elections (Top)
Honest elections are the foundation of representative government. We support
State efforts to ensure ballot access for the elderly, the handicapped, military
personnel, and all authorized voters. For the same reason, we applaud
legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election
fraud, particularly with regard to registration and absentee ballots. We support
State laws that require proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration
to protect our electoral system against a significant and growing form of voter
fraud. Every time that a fraudulent vote is cast, it effectively cancels out a
vote of a legitimate voter.
Voter fraud is political poison. It strikes at the heart of representative
government. We call on every citizen, elected official, and member of the
judiciary to preserve the integrity of the vote. We call for vigorous
prosecution of voter fraud at the State and federal level. To do less
disenfranchises present and future generations. We recognize that having a
physical verification of the vote is the best way to ensure a fair election.
gLet ambition counter ambition,h as James Madison said. When all parties have
representatives observing the counting of ballots in a transparent process,
integrity is assured. We strongly support the policy that all electronic voting
systems have a voter verified paper audit trail.
States or political subdivisions that use all-mail elections cannot ensure
the integrity of the ballot. When ballots are mailed to every registered voter,
ballots can be stolen or fraudulently voted by unauthorized individuals because
the system does not have a way to verify the identity of the voter. We call for
States and political subdivisions to adopt voting systems that can verify the
identity of the voter.
Military men and women must not be disenfranchised from the very freedom they
defend. We affirm that our troops, wherever stationed, be allowed to vote and
those votes be counted in the November election and in all elections. To that
end, the entire chain of command, from President and the Secretary of Defense,
to base and unit commanders – must ensure the timely receipt and return of all
ballots and the utilization of electronic delivery of ballots where allowed by
State law.
We support changing the way that the decennial census is conducted, so that
citizens are distinguished from lawfully present aliens and illegal aliens. In
order to preserve the principle of one-person, one-vote, the apportionment of
representatives among the States should be according to the number of
citizens.
The First Amendment: The Foresight of Our Founders to Protect
Religious Freedom (Top)
The first provision of the First Amendment concerns freedom of religion. That
guarantee reflected Thomas Jeffersonfs Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,
which declared that no one should gsuffer on account of his religious opinion or
belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
their opinion in matters of religionc.h That assurance has never been more
needed than it is today, as liberal elites try to drive religious beliefs – and
religious believers – out of the public square. The Founders of the American
Republic universally agree that democracy presupposes a moral people and that,
in the words of George Washingtonfs Farewell Address, gOf all the dispositions
and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports.h
The most offensive instance of this war on religion has been the current
Administrationfs attempt to compel faith-related institutions, as well as
believing individuals, to contravene their deeply held religious, moral, or
ethical beliefs regarding health services, traditional marriage, or abortion.
This forcible secularization of religious and religiously affiliated
organizations, including faith-based hospitals and colleges, has been in tandem
with the current Administrationfs audacity in declaring which faith-related
activities are, or are not, protected by the First Amendment – an unprecedented
aggression repudiated by a unanimous Supreme Court in its Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
decision. We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of
all Americans and to safeguard the independence of their institutions from
government. We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a
reflection of our history and of our countryfs Judeo-Christian heritage, and we
affirm the right of students to engage in prayer at public school events in
public schools and to have equal access to public schools and other public
facilities to accommodate religious freedom in the public square. We assert
every citizenfs right to apply religious values to public policy and the right
of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without
renouncing their beliefs, removing religious symbols, or submitting to
government-imposed hiring practices. We oppose government discrimination against
businesses due to religious views. We support the First Amendment right of
freedom of association of the Boy Scouts of America and other service
organizations whose values are under assault and condemn the State blacklisting
of religious groups which decline to arrange adoptions by same-sex couples. We
condemn the hate campaigns, threats of violence, and vandalism by proponents of
same-sex marriage against advocates of traditional marriage and call for a
federal investigation into attempts to deny religious believers their civil
rights.
The First Amendment: Speech that is Protected (Top)
The rights of citizenship do not stop at the ballot box. They include the
free speech right to devote onefs resources to whatever cause or candidate one
supports. We oppose any restrictions or conditions that would discourage
Americans from exercising their constitutional right to enter the political fray
or limit their commitment to their ideals. As a result, we support repeal of the
remaining sections of McCain- Feingold, support either raising or repealing
contribution limits, and oppose passage of the DISCLOSE Act or any similar
legislation designed to vitiate the Supreme Courtfs recent decisions protecting
political speech in Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission and
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. We insist that there should be
no regulation of political speech on the Internet. By the same token, we oppose
governmental censorship of speech through the so-called Fairness Doctrine or by
government enforcement of speech codes, free speech zones, or other forms of
gpolitical correctnessh on campus.
The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms (Top)
We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a right which
antedated the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment.
We acknowledge, support, and defend the law-abiding citizenfs God-given right of
self-defense. We call for the protection of such fundamental individual rights
recognized in the Supreme Courtfs decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller
and McDonald v. Chicago affirming that right, and we recognize the individual
responsibility to safely use and store firearms. This also includes the right to
obtain and store ammunition without registration. We support the fundamental
right to self-defense wherever a law-abiding citizen has a legal right to be,
and we support federal legislation that would expand the exercise of that right
by allowing those with state-issued carry permits to carry firearms in any state
that issues such permits to its own residents. Gun ownership is responsible
citizenship, enabling Americans to defend their homes and communities. We
condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and oppose federal
licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners. We oppose legislation that
is intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of
clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban. We
condemn the reckless actions associated with the operation known as gFast and
Furious,h conducted by the Department of Justice, which resulted in the murder
of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and others on both sides of the border. We applaud
the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in holding the current
Administrationfs Attorney General in contempt of Congress for his refusal to
cooperate with their investigation into that debacle. We oppose the improper
collection of firearms sales information in the four southern border states,
which was imposed without congressional authority.
The Fourth Amendment: Liberty and Privacy (Top)
Affirming gthe right of the people to be secure in their houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,h we support pending
legislation to prevent unwarranted or unreasonable governmental intrusion
through the use of aerial surveillance or flyovers on U.S. soil, with the
exception of patrolling our national borders. All security measures and police
actions should be viewed through the lens of the Fourth Amendment; for if we
trade liberty for security, we shall have neither.
The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Private Property (Top)
The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment- gnor shall private property be
taken for public use without just compensationh-is a bulwark against tyranny;
for without property rights, individual rights are diminished. That is why we
deplore the Supreme Courtfs Kelo v. New London decision, allowing local
governments to seize a personfs home or land, not for vital public use, but for
transfer to private developers. We call on State legislatures to moot the impact
of the Kelo decision in their States by appropriate legislation or
constitutional amendments. Equally important, we pledge to enforce the Takings
Clause in the actions of federal agencies to ensure just compensation whenever
private property is needed to achieve a compelling public use. This includes the
taking of property in the form of water rights in the West and elsewhere and the
taking of property by environmental regulations that destroy its value.
The Ninth Amendment: Affirming the Peoplefs Rights (Top)
This speaks most eloquently for itself: gThe enumeration in the Constitution
of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by
the people.h This provision codifies the concept that our government derives its
power from the people and all powers not delegated to the government are
retained by the people. This is an essential feature of our governmental system,
and we therefore celebrate the grassroots rediscovery of this and other
constitutional guarantees over the last four years and welcome to our ranks all
our fellow citizens who are determined to reclaim the rights of the people that
have been ignored or violated by government.
The Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life (Top)
Faithful to the gself-evidenth truths enshrined in the Declaration of
Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn
child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We
support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to
make clear that the Fourteenth Amendmentfs protections apply to unborn children.
We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund
organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health
care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of judges who
respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We
oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment,
including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as
well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia
and assisted suicide.
Republican leadership has led the effort to prohibit the barbaric practice of
partial-birth abortion and permitted States to extend health care coverage to
children before birth. We urge Congress to strengthen the Born Alive Infant
Protection Act by enacting appropriate civil and criminal penalties on
healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment and care to an infant who
survives an abortion, including early induction delivery where the death of the
infant is intended. We call for legislation to ban sex-selective abortions –
gender discrimination in its most lethal form – and to protect from abortion
unborn children who are capable of feeling pain; and we applaud U.S. House
Republicans for leading the effort to protect the lives of pain-capable unborn
children in the District of Columbia. We call for a ban on the use of body parts
from aborted fetuses for research. We support and applaud adult stem cell
research to develop lifesaving therapies, and we oppose the killing of embryos
for their stem cells. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell
research.
We also salute the many States that have passed laws for informed consent,
mandatory waiting periods prior to an abortion, and health-protective clinic
regulation. We seek to protect young girls from exploitation through a parental
consent requirement; and we affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than
penalize, women challenged by an unplanned pregnancy. We salute those who
provide them with counseling and adoption alternatives and empower them to
choose life, and we take comfort in the tremendous increase in adoptions that
has followed Republican legislative initiatives.
Respect for Our Flag: Symbol of the Constitution (Top)
The symbol of our constitutional unity, to which we all pledge allegiance, is
the flag of the United States of America. By whatever legislative method is most
feasible, Old Glory should be given legal protection against desecration. We
condemn decisions by activist judges to deny children the opportunity to say the
Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety, including gUnder God,h in public schools
and encourage States to promote the pledge. We condemn the actions of those who
deny our children the means by which to show respect for our great country and
the constitutional principles represented by our flag.
American Sovereignty in U.S. Courts
(Top)
Subjecting American citizens to foreign laws is inimical to the spirit of the
Constitution. It is one reason we oppose U.S. participation in the International
Criminal Court. There must be no use of foreign law by U.S. courts in
interpreting our Constitution and laws. Nor should foreign sources of law be
used in State courtsf adjudication of criminal or civil matters.
The Lacey Act of 1900, designed to protect endangered wildlife in interstate
commerce, is now applied worldwide, making it a crime to use, in our domestic
industries, any product illegally obtained in the country of origin, whether or
not the user had anything to do with its harvesting. This unreasonable extension
of the Act not only hurts American businesses and American jobs, but also
subordinates our own rule of law to the legal codes of 195 other governments. It
must be changed.
Just as George Washington wisely warned America to avoid foreign
entanglements and enter into only temporary alliances, we oppose the adoption or
ratification of international treaties that weaken or encroach upon American
sovereignty.
Americafs Natural
Resources: Energy, Agriculture and the Environment
We are the party of sustainable jobs and economic growth – through American
energy, agriculture, and environmental policy. We are also the party of
Americafs growers and producers, farmers, ranchers, foresters, miners, and all
those who bring from the earth the minerals and energy that are the lifeblood of
our nationfs historically strong economy. We are as well the party of
traditional conservation: the wise development of resources that keeps in mind
both the sacrifices of past generations to secure that bounty and our
responsibility to preserve it for future generations.
Domestic Energy Independence: An gAll of the Aboveh Energy
Policy (Top)
The Republican Party is committed to domestic energy independence. The United
States and its neighbors to the North and South have been blessed with abundant
energy resources, tapped and untapped, traditional and alternative, that are
among the largest and most valuable on earth. Advancing technology has given us
a more accurate understanding of the nationfs enormous reserves that are ours
for the development. The role of public officials must be to encourage
responsible development across the board. Unlike the current Administration, we
will not pick winners and losers in the energy marketplace. Instead, we will let
the free market and the publicfs preferences determine the industry outcomes. In
assessing the various sources of potential energy, Republicans advocate an
all-of-the-above diversified approach, taking advantage of all our American
God-given resources. That is the best way to advance North American energy
independence.
Our policies aim at energy security to ensure an affordable, stable, and
reliable energy supply for all parts of the country and all sectors of the
economy. Energy security is intimately linked to national security both in terms
of our current dependence upon foreign supplies and because some of the hundreds
of billions of dollars we pay for foreign oil ends up in the hands of terrorist
groups that wish to harm us. A growing, prosperous economy and our standard of
living and quality of life, moreover, depend on affordable and abundant domestic
energy supplies.
A strong and stable energy sector is a job generator and a catalyst of
economic growth, not only in the labor-intensive energy industry but also in its
secondary markets. The Republican Party will encourage and ensure diversified
domestic sources of energy, from research and development, exploration,
production, transportation, transmission, and consumption in a way that is
economically viable and job-producing, as well as environmentally sound. When
our energy industry is revitalized, millions more Americans will find work in
manufacturing, food production, metals, minerals, packaging, transportation and
other fields – because of the jobs that will be created in, and as a result of,
the energy sector. We are determined to create jobs, spur economic growth, lower
energy prices, and strengthen our energy industry.
Our Nationfs Energy Abundance (Top)
Coal is a low-cost and abundant energy source with hundreds of years of
supply. We look toward the private sectorfs development of new, state-of-the-art
coal-fired plants that will be low-cost, environmentally responsible, and
efficient. We also encourage research and development of advanced technologies
in this sector, including coal-to-liquid, coal gasification, and related
technologies for enhanced oil recovery.
The current Administration – with a President who publicly threatened to
bankrupt anyone who builds a coal-powered plant – seems determined to shut down
coal production in the United States, even though there is no cost-effective
substitute for it or for the hundreds of thousands of jobs that go with it as
the nationfs largest source of electricity generation. We will end the EPAfs war
on coal and encourage the increased safe development in all regions of the
nationfs coal resources, the jobs it produces, and the affordable, reliable
energy that it provides for America. Further, we oppose any and all cap and
trade legislation.
All estimates of Americafs oil and natural gas reserves indicate an
incredible bounty for the use of many generations to come. At a time when
unemployment has been above 8 percent for 42 consecutive months, the longest
stretch since the Great Depression, and some 23 million Americans are either
unemployed, underemployed, or have given up on finding work, we should be
pursuing our oil and gas resources both on and offshore. It is nonsensical to
spurn real job creation by putting almost all of our coastal waters off limits
to energy exploration, while urging other nations to explore their coasts. We
call for a reasoned approach to all offshore energy development on the East
Coast and other appropriate waters, and support the right of States to a
reasonable share of the resulting revenue and royalties. We support opening the
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for energy exploration and development and ending
the current Administrationfs moratorium on permitting; opening the coastal plain
of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for exploration and production of
oil and natural gas; and allowing for more oil and natural gas exploration on
federally owned and controlled land. We support this development in accordance
with applicable environmental, health and safety laws, and regulations.
The current President personally blocked one of the most important energy and
jobs projects in years. The Keystone XL Pipeline – which would have brought much
needed Canadian and American oil to U.S. refineries – would create thousands of
jobs. The current Presidentfs job-killing combination of extremism and
ineptitude threatens to create a permanent energy shortage. We are committed to
approving the Keystone XL Pipeline and to streamlining permitting for the
development of other oil and natural gas pipelines. Nuclear energy, now
generating about 20 percent of our electricity through 104 power plants, must be
expanded. No new nuclear generating plants have been licensed and constructed
for thirty years. We call for timely processing of new reactor applications
currently pending at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The federal governmentfs failure to address the storage and disposal of spent
nuclear fuel has left huge bills for States and taxpayers. Our country needs a
more proactive approach to managing spent nuclear fuel, including through
developing advanced reprocessing technologies.
We encourage the cost-effective development of renewable energy, but the
taxpayers should not serve as venture capitalists for risky endeavors. It is
important to create a pathway toward a market-based approach for renewable
energy sources and to aggressively develop alternative sources for electricity
generation such as wind, hydro, solar, biomass, geothermal, and tidal energy.
Partnerships between traditional energy industries and emerging renewable
industries can be a central component in meeting the nationfs long-term needs.
Alternative forms of energy are part of our action agenda to power the homes and
workplaces of the nation.
Pulling the Plug on American Energy Independence: The Failure of the
Current Administration (Top)
The current Administration has used taxpayer dollars to pick winners and
losers in the energy sector while publicly threatening to bankrupt anyone who
builds a new coal-fired plant and has stopped the Keystone XL Pipeline. The
current President has done nothing to disavow the scare campaign against
hydraulic fracturing. Furthermore, he has wasted billions of taxpayersf dollars
by subsidizing favored companies like Solyndra, which generated bankruptcies
rather than kilowatts.
Since the current President took office in 2009, consumers pay approximately
twice as much for gas at the pump. Our common theme is to promote development of
all forms of energy, enable consumer choice to keep energy costs low, and ensure
that America remains competitive in the global marketplace. We will respect the
Statesf proven ability to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing, continue
development of oil and gas resources in places like the Bakken formation and
Marcellus Shale, and review the environmental laws that often thwart new energy
exploration and production. We salute the Republican Members of the House of
Representatives for passing the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act, a vital piece of
pro-growth legislation now introduced by Republicans in the Senate.
Agriculture (Top)
Abundant Harvests: Protecting Our Farmers
Agricultural production and agricultural exports are a fundamental part of
the U.S. economy, and the vigor of U.S. agriculture is central to our agenda for
jobs, growth, and prosperity. Our farmers and ranchers are responsible for
millions of jobs and for generating a trade surplus of more than $137 billion
annually. Our producers provide America with abundant food, export food to
hungry people around the world, and create a positive trade balance. Because of
their care for the land, the United States does not depend on foreign imports
for sustenance the way we depend on others for much of our energy. However,
Americans are concerned about the increasing cost of their food under the
current Administration policies that restrict energy production and raise costs
for producers due to increased regulation. Our dependence on foreign imports of
fertilizer could threaten our food supply, and we support the development of
domestic production of fertilizer. The success of our system of risk management
policies will enable farmers and ranchers to continue to feed and fuel the
nation and much of the world.
Restoring Economic Stability for Our Farmers
Uncertainty is threatening the survival of our nationfs farmers. Americafs
growers and farmers are aging and much of Americafs farmland will be passed to
the next generation of farmers with families. Uncertainties in estate and
capital gains tax laws threaten the survival of multigenerational family farms.
The proposals for tax reforms contained elsewhere in this document will make
certain that family farms will not be lost.
The Proper Federal Role in Agriculture
Agricultural producers and the jobs they generate throughout the entire food
chain must confront volatility in both the weather and the markets. We support
farm programs that enable them to manage the extraordinary risk they meet in the
fields every year. These programs should be as cost-effective as they are
functional, offering risk management tools that improve producersf ability to
operate when times are tough.
Just as all other federal programs must contribute to the deficit reduction
necessary to put our country back on a sound fiscal footing, so must farm
programs contribute to balancing the budget.
Programs like the Direct Payment program should end in favor of those, like
crop insurance, that help manage risk and are counter-cyclical in nature. We
support the historic role of the USDA in agricultural research that has
transformed farming here and around the world. Because food safety is a major
concern of the American people, we urge Congress to ensure adequate resources
for the Departmentfs responsibilities in that regard.
The U. S. Forest Service controls about 193 million acres of land and employs
30,000 workers. The Forest Service should be charged to use these resources to
the best economic potential for the nation. We must limit injunctions by
activist judges regarding environmental management. In order to secure one of
the countryfs most important natural resources, we will review the way the
Forest Service handles wildfires. This summerfs lack of rainfall over much of
agricultural America highlights the importance of access to water for farmers
and ranchers alike. We stand with growers and producers in defense of their
water rights against attempts by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to
expand jurisdiction over water, including water that is clearly not
navigable.
The productivity of Americafs farmers makes possible the generosity of U.S.
food aid efforts around the world. These programs are fragmented between the
Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
They should be streamlined into one agency with a concentration on reducing
overhead to maximize delivery of the actual goods.
The food stamp program now accounts for nearly 80 percent of the entire USDA
budget. In finding ways to fight fraud and abuse, the Congress should consider
block-granting that program to the States, along with the other domestic
nutrition programs.
Protecting Our Environment (Top)
The environment is getting cleaner and healthier. The nationfs air and
waterways, as a whole, are much healthier than they were just a few decades ago.
Efforts to reduce pollution, encourage recycling, educate the public, and avoid
ecological degradation have been a success. To ensure their continued support by
the American people, however, we need a dramatic change in the attitude of
officials in Washington, a shift from a job-killing punitive mentality to a
spirit of cooperation with producers, landowners, and the public. An important
factor is full transparency in development of the data and modeling that drive
regulations. Legislation to restore the authority of States in environmental
protection is essential. We encourage the use of agricultural best management
practices among the States to reduce pollution.
Our Republican Partyfs Commitment to Conservation (Top)
Conservation is a conservative value. As the pioneer of conservation over a
century ago, the Republican Party believes in the moral obligation of the people
to be good stewards of the God-given natural beauty and resources of our country
and bases environmental policy on several common-sense principles. For example,
we believe people are the most valuable resource, and human health and safety
are the most important measurements of success. A policy protecting these
objectives, however, must balance economic development and private property
rights in the short run with conservation goals over the long run. Also, public
access to public lands for recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, and
recreational shooting should be permitted on all appropriate federal lands.
Moreover, the advance of science and technology advances environmentalism as
well. Science allows us to weigh the costs and benefits of a policy so that we
can prudently deal with our resources. This is especially important when the
causes and long-range effects of a phenomenon are uncertain. We must restore
scientific integrity to our public research institutions and remove political
incentives from publicly funded research.
Private Stewardship of the Environment (Top)
Experience has shown that, in caring for the land and water, private
ownership has been our best guarantee of conscientious stewardship, while the
worst instances of environmental degradation have occurred under government
control. By the same token, the most economically advanced countries – those
that respect and protect private property rights – also have the strongest
environmental protections, because their economic progress makes possible the
conservation of natural resources. In this context, Congress should reconsider
whether parts of the federal governmentfs enormous landholdings and control of
water in the West could be better used for ranching, mining, or forestry through
private ownership. Timber is a renewable natural resource, which provides jobs
to thousands of Americans. All efforts should be made to make federal lands
managed by the U.S. Forest Service available for harvesting. The enduring truth
is that people best protect what they own.
It makes sense that those closest to a situation are best able to determine
its remedy. That is why a site- and situation-specific approach to an
environmental problem is more likely to solve it, instead of a national rule
based on the ideological concerns of politicized central planning. We therefore
endorse legislation to require congressional approval before any rule projected
to cost in excess of $100 million to American consumers can go into effect.
The Republican Party supports appointing public officials to federal agencies
who will properly and correctly apply environmental laws and regulations, always
in support of economic development, job creation, and American prosperity and
leadership. Federal agencies charged with enforcing environmental laws must stop
regulating beyond their authority. There is no place in regulatory agencies for
activist regulators.
Reining in the EPA (Top)
Since 2009, the EPA has moved forward with expansive regulations that will
impose tens of billions of dollars in new costs on American businesses and
consumers. Many of these new rules are creating regulatory uncertainty,
preventing new projects from going forward, discouraging new investment, and
stifling job creation.
We demand an end to the EPAfs participation in gsue and settleh lawsuits,
sweetheart litigation brought by environmental groups to expand the Agencyfs
regulatory activities against the wishes of Congress and the public. We will
require full transparency in litigation under the nationfs environmental laws,
including advance notice to all State and local governments, tribes, businesses,
landowners, and the public who could be adversely affected. We likewise support
pending legislation to ensure cumulative analysis of EPA regulations, and to
require full transparency in all EPA decisions, so that the public will know in
advance their full impact on jobs and the economy. We oppose the EPAfs
unwarranted revocation of existing permits. We also call on Congress to take
quick action to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with new greenhouse gas
regulations that will harm the nationfs economy and threaten millions of jobs
over the next quarter century. The most powerful environmental policy is
liberty, the central organizing principle of the American Republic and its
people. Liberty alone fosters scientific inquiry, technological innovation,
entrepreneurship, and information exchange. Liberty must remain the core energy
behind Americafs environmental improvement.
Reforming Government
to Serve the People
We are the party of government reform. At a time when the federal government
has become bloated, antiquated and unresponsive to taxpayers, it is our
intention not only to improve management and provide better services, but also
to rethink and restructure government to bring it into the twenty-first century.
Government reform requires constant vigilance and effort because government by
its nature tends to expand in both size and scope. Our goal is not just less
spending in Washington but something far more important for the future of our
nation: protecting the constitutional rights of citizens, sustainable
prosperity, and strengthening the American family.
It isnft enough to merely downsize government, having a smaller version of
the same failed systems. We must do things in a dramatically different way by
reversing the undermining of federalism and the centralizing of power in
Washington. We look to the example set by Republican Governors and legislators
all across the nation. Their leadership in reforming and reengineering
government closest to the people vindicates the role of the States as the
laboratories of democracy.
Our approach, like theirs, is two-fold. We look to government – local, State,
and federal – for the things government must do, but we believe those duties can
be carried out more efficiently and at less cost. For all other activities, we
look to the private sector; for the American peoplefs resourcefulness,
productivity, innovation, fiscal responsibility, and citizen-leadership have
always been the true foundation of our national greatness.
For much of the last century, an opposing view has dominated public policy
where we have witnessed the expansion, centralization, and bureaucracy in an
entitlement society. Government has lumbered on, stifling innovation, with no
incentive for fundamental change, through antiquated programs begun generations
ago and now ill-suited to present needs and future requirements. As a result,
todayfs taxpayers – and future generations – face massive indebtedness, while
Congressional Democrats and the current Administration block every attempt to
turn things around. This man-made log-jam – the so-called stalemate in
Washington – particularly affects the governmentfs three largest programs, which
have become central to the lives of untold millions of Americans: Medicare,
Medicaid, and Social Security.
Saving Medicare for Future Generations (Top)
The Republican Party is committed to saving Medicare and Medicaid. Unless the
programsf fiscal ship is righted, the individuals hurt the first and the worst
will be those who depend on them the most. We will save Medicare by modernizing
it, by empowering its participants, and by putting it on a secure financial
footing. This will be an enormous undertaking, and it should be a non-partisan
one. We welcome to the effort all who sincerely want to ensure the future for
our seniors and the poor. Republicans are determined to achieve that goal with a
candid and honest presentation of the problem and its solutions to the American
people.
Despite the enormous differences between Medicare and Medicaid, the two
programs share the same fiscal outlook: their current courses cannot be
sustained. Medicare has grown from more than 20 million enrolled in 1970 to more
than 47 million enrolled today, with a projected total of 80 million in 2030.
Medicaid counted almost 30 million enrollees in 1990, has about 54 million now,
and under Obamacare would include an additional 11 million. Medicare spent more
than $520 billion in 2010 and has close to $37 trillion in unfunded obligations,
while total Medicaid spending will more than double by 2019. In many States,
Medicaidfs mandates and inflexible bureaucracy have become a budgetary black
hole, growing faster than most other budget lines and devouring funding for many
other essential governmental functions.
The problem goes beyond finances. Poor quality healthcare is the most
expensive type of care because it prolongs affliction and leads to ever more
complications. Even expensive prevention is preferable to more costly treatment
later on. When approximately 80 percent of healthcare costs are related to
lifestyle -smoking, obesity, substance abuse-far greater emphasis has to be put
upon personal responsibility for health maintenance. Our goal for both Medicare
and Medicaid must be to assure that every participant receives the amount of
care they need at the time they need it, whether for an expectant mother and her
baby or for someone in the last moments of life. Absent reforms, these two
programs are headed for bankruptcy that will endanger care for seniors and the
poor.
The first step is to move the two programs away from their current
unsustainable defined-benefit entitlement model to a fiscally sound
defined-contribution model. This is the only way to limit costs and restore
consumer choice for patients and introduce competition; for in healthcare, as in
any other sector of the economy, genuine competition is the best guarantee of
better care at lower cost. It is also the best guard against the fraud and abuse
that have plagued Medicare in its isolation from free market forces, which in
turn costs the taxpayers billions of dollars every year. We can do this without
making any changes for those 55 and older. While retaining the option of
traditional Medicare in competition with private plans, we call for a transition
to a premium-support model for Medicare, with an income-adjusted contribution
toward a health plan of the enrolleefs choice. This model will include private
health insurance plans that provide catastrophic protection, to ensure the
continuation of doctor-patient relationships. Without disadvantaging retirees or
those nearing retirement, the age eligibility for Medicare must be made more
realistic in terms of todayfs longer life span.
Strengthening Medicaid in the States
(Top)
Medicaid, as the dominant payer in the health market in regards to long-term
care, births, and individuals with mental illness, is the next frontier of
welfare reform. It is simply too big and too flawed to be managed in its current
condition from Washington. Republican Governors have taken the lead in proposing
a host of regulatory changes that could make the program more flexible,
innovative, and accountable. There should be alternatives to hospitalization for
chronic health problems. Patients could be rewarded for participating in disease
prevention activities. Excessive mandates on coverage should be eliminated.
Patients with long-term care needs might fare better in a separately designed
program.
As those and other specific proposals show, Republican Governors and State
legislatures are ready to do the hard work of modernizing Medicaid for the
twenty-first century. We propose to let them do all that and more by
block-granting the program to the States, providing the States with the
flexibility to design programs that meet the needs of their low income citizens.
Such reforms could be achieved through premium supports or a refundable tax
credit, allowing non-disabled adults and children to be moved into private
health insurance of their choice, where their needs can be met on the same basis
as those of more affluent Americans. For the aged and disabled under Medicaid,
for whom monthly costs can be extremely high, States would have flexibility to
improve the quality of care and to avoid the inappropriate institutional placing
of patients who prefer to be cared for at home.
Security For Those Who Need It: Ensuring Retirement
Security (Top)
While no changes should adversely affect any current or near-retiree,
comprehensive reform should address our societyfs remarkable medical advances in
longevity and allow younger workers the option of creating their own personal
investment accounts as supplements to the system. Younger Americans have lost
all faith in the Social Security system, which is understandable when they read
the non- partisan actuaryfs reports about its future funding status. Born in an
old industrial era beyond the memory of most Americans, it is long overdue for
major change, not just another legislative stopgap that postpones a day of
reckoning. To restore public trust in the system, Republicans are committed to
setting it on a sound fiscal basis that will give workers control over, and a
sound return on, their investments. The sooner we act, the sooner those close to
retirement can be reassured of their benefits and younger workers can take
responsibility for planning their own retirement decades from now.
Unlike Social Security, the problems facing private pension plans are both
demographic and ethical. While pension law may be complicated, the current
bottom line is that many plans are increasingly underfunded by overestimating
their rates of return on investments. This in turn endangers the integrity of
the Pension Guaranty Benefit Corporation, which is itself seriously underfunded.
In both cases, the taxpayers will be expected to pay for a bailout. As the first
step toward possible corrective action, we call for a presidential panel to
review the private pension system in this country of only those private pensions
that are backed by the Pension Guaranty Benefit Corporation and to make public
its findings.
The situation of public pension systems demands immediate remedial action.
The irresponsible promises of politicians at every level of government have come
back to haunt todayfs taxpayers with enormous unfunded pension liabilities. Many
cities face bankruptcy because of excessive outlays for early retirement,
extravagant health plans, and overly generous pension benefits. We salute the
Republican Governors and State legislators who have, in the face of abuse and
threats of violence, reformed their State pension systems for the benefit of
both taxpayers and retirees alike.
Regulatory Reform: The Key to Economic Growth (Top)
The proper purpose of regulation is to set forth clear rules of the road for
the citizens, so that business owners and workers can understand in advance what
they need to do, or not do, to augment the possibilities for success within the
confines of the law. Regulations must be drafted and implemented to balance
legitimate public safety or consumer protection goals and job creation.
Constructive regulation should be a helpful guide, not a punitive threat. Worst
of all, over-regulation is a stealth tax on everyone as the costs of compliance
with the whims of federal agencies are passed along to the consumers at the cost
of $1.75 trillion a year. Many regulations are necessary, like those which
ensure the safety of food and medicine, especially from overseas. But no peril
justifies the regulatory impact of Obamacare on the practice of medicine, the
Dodd-Frank Act on financial services, or the EPAfs and OSHAfs overreaching
regulation agenda. A Republican Congress and President will repeal the first and
second, and rein in the third. We support a sunset requirement to force
reconsideration of out-of-date regulations, and we endorse pending legislation
to require congressional approval for all new major and costly regulations.
The bottom line on regulations is jobs. In listening to America, one constant
we have heard is the job-crippling effect of even well-intentioned regulation.
That makes it all the more important for federal agencies to be judicious about
the impositions they create on businesses, especially small businesses. We call
for a moratorium on the development of any new major and costly regulations
until a Republican Administration reviews existing rules to ensure that they
have a sound basis in science and will be cost-effective.
Protecting Internet Freedom (Top)
The Internet has unleashed innovation, enabled growth, and inspired freedom
more rapidly and extensively than any other technological advance in human
history. Its independence is its power. The Internet offers a communications
system uniquely free from government intervention. We will remove regulatory
barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation
and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new
and disruptive technologies such as mobile delivery of voice video data as they
become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem. We will resist any effort
to shift control away from the successful multi-stakeholder approach of Internet
governance and toward governance by international or other intergovernmental
organizations. We will ensure that personal data receives full constitutional
protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to
control the use of their data by third parties; the only way to safeguard or
improve these systems is through the private sector.
A Vision for the Twenty-First Century: Technology, Telecommunications
and the Internet (Top)
The most vibrant sector of the American economy, indeed, one-sixth of it, is
regulated by the federal government on precedents from the nineteenth century.
Todayfs technology and telecommunications industries are overseen by the Federal
Communications Commission, established in 1934 and given the jurisdiction over
telecommunications formerly assigned to the Interstate Commerce Commission,
which had been created in 1887 to regulate the railroads. This is not a good
fit. Indeed, the development of telecommunications advances so rapidly that even
the Telecom Act of 1996 is woefully out of date. An industry that invested $66
billion in 2011 alone needs, and deserves, a more modern relationship with the
federal government for the benefit of consumers here and worldwide.
The current Administration has been frozen in the past. It has conducted no
auction of spectrum, has offered no incentives for investment, and, through the
FCCfs net neutrality rule, is trying to micromanage telecom as if it were a
railroad network. It inherited from the previous Republican Administration 95
percent coverage of the nation with broadband. It will leave office with no
progress toward the goal of universal coverage – after spending $7.2 billion
more. That hurts rural America, where farmers, ranchers, and small business
manufacturers need connectivity to expand their customer base and operate in
real time with the worldfs producers. We encourage public-private partnerships
to provide predictable support for connecting rural areas so that every American
can fully participate in the global economy.
We call for an inventory of federal agency spectrum to determine the surplus
that could be auctioned for the taxpayersf benefit. With special recognition of
the role university technology centers are playing in attracting private
investment to the field, we will replace the administrationfs Luddite approach
to technological progress with a regulatory partnership that will keep this
country the world leader in technology and telecommunications.
Protecting the Taxpayers: No More gToo Big to Failh (Top)
For more than a century, the U.S. was the world leader in financial services.
The visionary management of capital was the lifeblood of the entire economy. By
giving responsible access to credit, it helped small businesses grow, created
jobs, and made Americans the best-housed people in history. By funding
innovation, financial services underwrote our future. Then came the financial
collapse of 2008 and a critical reassessment of the role and condition of
financial institutions – most of which, it must be said, were responsible and
healthy, especially those closest to their investors and borrowers.
In cases of malfeasance or other criminal behavior, the full force of the law
should be used. But in all cases, this rule must apply: No financial institution
is too big to fail. The taxpayers must never again be on the hook for the losses
of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The public must never again be left holding the
bag for Wall Street giants, which is why we decry the current Administrationfs
record of over-regulation and selective intervention, which has already frozen
investment and job creation and threatens to make financial institutions the
coddled wards of government.
A far better approach – protecting consumers and taxpayers alike – is
institutional transparency. Banks need to know that they could be at risk, and
investors need clear rules that are not subject to political meddling. The same
holds true for the equity market regulated by the Securities and Exchange
Commission. We propose reasonable federal oversight of financial institutions,
practical safeguards for consumers, and – what is crucial for this countryfs
economic rebound – sound spending, tax, and regulatory policies that will allow
those institutions to once again become the builders of the next American
century. We strongly support tax reform; in the event we do not achieve this, we
must preserve the mortgage interest deduction.
Judicial Activism: A Threat to the U.S. Constitution (Top)
Despite improvements as a result of Republican nominations to the judiciary,
some judges in the federal courts remain far afield from their constitutional
limitations. The U.S. Constitution is the law of the land. Judicial activism
which includes reliance on foreign law or unratified treaties undermines
American law. The sole solution, apart from impeachment, is the appointment of
constitutionalist jurists, who will interpret the law as it was originally
intended rather than make it. That is both a presidential responsibility, in
selecting judicial candidates, and a senatorial responsibility, in confirming
them. We urge Republican Senators to do all in their power to prevent the
elevation of additional leftist ideologues to the courts, particularly in the
waning days of the current Administration. In addition to appointing activist
judges, the current Administration has included an activist and highly partisan
Department of Justice. With a Republican Administration, the Department will
stop suing States for exercising those powers reserved to the States, will stop
abusing its preclearance authority to block photo-ID voting laws, and will
fulfill its responsibility to defend all federal laws in court, including the
Defense of Marriage Act.
Restructuring the U.S. Postal Service for the Twenty-First
Century (Top)
The dire financial circumstances of the Postal Service require dramatic
restructuring. In a world of rapidly advancing telecommunications, mail delivery
from the era of the Pony Express cannot long survive. We call on Congress to
restructure the Service to ensure the continuance of its essential function of
delivering mail while preparing for the downsizing made inevitable by the
advance of internet communication. In light of the Postal Servicefs seriously
underfunded pension system, Congress should explore a greater role for private
enterprise in appropriate aspects of the mail-processing system.
Protecting Travelers and their Rights: Reforming the TSA for Security
and Privacy (Top)
While the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks brought about a greater
need for homeland security, the American people have already delivered their
verdict on the Transportation Security Administration: its procedures – and much
of its personnel – need to be changed. It is now a massive bureaucracy of 65,000
employees who seem to be accountable to no one for the way they treat travelers.
We call for the private sector to take over airport screening wherever feasible
and look toward the development of security systems that can replace the
personal violation of frisking.
The Rule of Law: Legal Immigration
(Top)
The greatest asset of the American economy is the American worker. Just as
immigrant labor helped build our country in the past, todayfs legal immigrants
are making vital contributions in every aspect of our national life. Their
industry and commitment to American values strengthens our economy, enriches our
culture, and enables us to better understand and more effectively compete with
the rest of the world. Illegal immigration undermines those benefits and affects
U.S. workers. In an age of terrorism, drug cartels, human trafficking, and
criminal gangs, the presence of millions of unidentified persons in this country
poses grave risks to the safety and the sovereignty of the United States. Our
highest priority, therefore, is to secure the rule of law both at our borders
and at ports of entry.
We recognize that for most of those seeking entry into this country, the lack
of respect for the rule of law in their homelands has meant economic
exploitation and political oppression by corrupt elites. In this country, the
rule of law guarantees equal treatment to every individual, including more than
one million immigrants to whom we grant permanent residence every year. That is
why we oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by intentionally violating the
law, disadvantage those who have obeyed it. Granting amnesty only rewards and
encourages more law breaking. We support the mandatory use of the Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlements (S.A.V.E.) program – an internet-based
system that verifies the lawful presence of applicants – prior to the granting
of any State or federal government entitlements or IRS refunds. We insist upon
enforcement at the workplace through verification systems so that jobs can be
available to all legal workers. Use of the E-verify program – an internet-based
system that verifies the employment authorization and identity of employees –
must be made mandatory nationwide. State enforcement efforts in the workplace
must be welcomed, not attacked. When Americans need jobs, it is absolutely
essential that we protect them from illegal labor in the workplace. In addition,
it is why we demand tough penalties for those who practice identity theft, deal
in fraudulent documents, and traffic in human beings. It is why we support
Republican legislation to give the Department of Homeland Security long-term
detention authority to keep dangerous but undeportable aliens off our streets,
expedite expulsion of criminal aliens, and make gang membership a deportable
offense.
The current Administrationfs approach to immigration has undermined the rule
of law at every turn. It has lessened work-site enforcement – and even allows
the illegal aliens it does uncover to walk down the street to the next employer
– and challenged legitimate State efforts to keep communities safe, suing them
for trying to enforce the law when the federal government refuses to do so. It
has created a backdoor amnesty program unrecognized in law, granting worker
authorization to illegal aliens, and shown little regard for the life-and-death
situations facing the men and women of the border patrol.
Perhaps worst of all, the current Administration has failed to enforce the
legal means for workers or employers who want to operate within the law. In
contrast, a Republican Administration and Congress will partner with local
governments through cooperative enforcement agreements in Section 287g of the
Immigration and Nationality Act to make communities safer for all and will
consider, in light of both current needs and historic practice, the utility of a
legal and reliable source of foreign labor where needed through a new guest
worker program. We will create humane procedures to encourage illegal aliens to
return home voluntarily, while enforcing the law against those who overstay
their visas.
State efforts to reduce illegal immigration must be encouraged, not attacked.
The pending Department of Justice lawsuits against Arizona, Alabama, South
Carolina, and Utah must be dismissed immediately. The double-layered fencing on
the border that was enacted by Congress in 2006, but never completed, must
finally be built. In order to restore the rule of law, federal funding should be
denied to sanctuary cities that violate federal law and endanger their own
citizens, and federal funding should be denied to universities that provide
in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens, in open defiance of federal law.
We are grateful to the thousands of new immigrants, many of them not yet
citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces. Their patriotism should encourage
us all to embrace the newcomers legally among us, assist their journey to full
citizenship, and help their communities avoid isolation from the mainstream of
society. To that end, while we encourage the retention and transmission of
heritage tongues, we support English as the nationfs official language, a
unifying force essential for the educational and economic advancement of – not
only immigrant communities – but also our nation as a whole.
Honoring Our Relationship with American Indians (Top)
Based on both treaty and other law, the federal government has a unique
government-to-government relationship with and trust responsibility for Indian
Tribal Governments and American Indians and Alaska Natives. These obligations
have not been sufficiently honored. The social and economic problems that plague
Indian country have grown worse over the last several decades; we must reverse
that trend. Ineffective federal programs deprive American Indians of the
services they need, and long-term failures threaten to undermine tribal
sovereignty itself.
American Indians have established elected tribal governments to carry out the
public policies of the tribe, administer services to its tribal member
constituents, and manage relations with federal, State, and local governments.
We respect the tribal governments as the voice of their communities and
encourage federal, State, and local governments to heed those voices in
developing programs and partnerships to improve the quality of life for American
Indians and their neighbors in their communities.
Republicans believe that economic self-sufficiency is the ultimate answer to
the challenges confronting Indian country. We believe that tribal governments
and their communities, not Washington bureaucracies, are best situated to craft
solutions that will end systemic problems that create poverty and
disenfranchisement. Just as the federal government should not burden States with
regulations, it should not stifle the development of resources within the
reservations, which need federal assistance to advance their commerce nationally
through roads and technology. Federal and State regulations that thwart job
creation must be withdrawn or redrawn so that tribal governments acting on
behalf of American Indians are not disadvantaged. It is especially egregious
that the Democratic Party has persistently undermined tribal sovereignty in
order to provide advantage to union bosses in the tribal workplace.
Republicans recognize that each tribe has the right of consultation before
any new regulatory policy is implemented on tribal land. To the extent possible,
such consultation should take place in Indian country with the tribal government
and its members. Before promulgating and imposing any new laws or regulations
affecting trust land or members, the federal government should encourage Indian
tribes to develop their own policies to achieve program objectives, and should
defer to tribes to develop their own standards, or standards in conjunction with
State governments.
Republicans reject a one-size-fits-all approach to federal-tribal-State
partnerships and will work to expand local autonomy where tribal governments
seek it. Better partnerships will help us to expand economic opportunity,
deliver top-flight education to future generations, modernize and improve the
Indian Health Service to make it more responsive to local needs, and build
essential infrastructure in Indian country in cooperation with tribal neighbors.
Our approach is to empower American Indians, through tribal self-determination
and self-governance policies, to develop their greatest assets, human resources
and the rich natural resources on their lands, without undue federal
interference.
Like all Americans, American Indians want safe communities for their
families; but inadequate resources and neglect have, over time, allowed criminal
activities to plague Indian country. To protect everyone – and especially the
most vulnerable: children, women, and elders – the legal system in tribal
communities must provide stability and protect property rights. Everyonefs due
process and civil rights must be safeguarded.
We support efforts to ensure equitable participation in federal programs by
American Indians, including Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and to preserve
their culture and languages that we consider to be national treasures. Lastly,
we recognize that American Indians have responded to the call for military
service in percentage numbers far greater than have other groups of Americans.
We honor that commitment, loyalty, and sacrifice of all American Indians serving
in the military today and in years past and will ensure that all veterans and
their families receive the care and respect they have earned through their loyal
service to America.
Preserving the District of Columbia
(Top)
The nationfs capital city, a special responsibility of the federal
government, belongs both to its residents and to all Americans, millions of whom
visit it every year. Congressional Republicans have taken the lead in efforts to
foster homeownership and open access to higher education for Washington
residents. Against the opposition of the current President and leaders of the
Democratic Party, they have fought to establish, and now to expand, the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program, through which thousands of low-income children
have been able to attend a school of their choice and receive a quality
education.
D.C.fs Republicans have been in the forefront of exposing and combating the
chronic corruption among the cityfs top Democratic officials. We join their call
for a non-partisan elected Attorney General to clean up the cityfs political
culture and for congressional action to enforce the spirit of the Home Rule Act
assuring minority representation on the City Council. After decades of inept
one-party rule, the cityfs structural deficit demands congressional
attention.
As the center of our government, the District contains many potential targets
for terrorist attacks. Federal security agencies should work closely with local
officials and regional administrations like the Washington Area Metropolitan
Transit Authority. A top priority must be ensuring that all public
transportation, especially Metro rails, is functioning in the event of an
emergency evacuation. Also, to ensure protection of the fundamental right to
keep and bear arms, we call on the governing authority to pass laws consistent
with the Supreme Courtfs decisions in the District of Columbia v. Heller and
McDonald v. Chicago cases, which upheld the fundamental right to keep and bear
arms for self-defense.
We oppose statehood for the District of Columbia.
Modernizing the Federal Civil Service (Top)
The federal workforce bears great responsibilities and sometimes wields
tremendous power, especially when Congress delegates to it the execution of
complicated and far-reaching legislation. We recognize the dedication of federal
workers and the difficulty of their thankless task of implementing poorly
drafted or open-ended legislation.
Under the current Administration, the civil service has grown by at least
140,000 workers, while the number making at least $150,000 has doubled. At a
time when the national debt has increased to over $15.9 trillion under the
current Administration, this is grossly irresponsible. The American people work
too hard and too long to support a bloated government. We call for a reduction,
through attrition, in the federal payroll of at least 10 percent and the
adjustment of pay scales and benefits to reflect those of the private sector. We
must bring the 130-year old Civil Service System into the twenty-first century.
The federal pay system should be sufficiently flexible to acknowledge and reward
those who dare to innovate, reduce overhead, optimize processes, and expedite
paperwork.
Delinquency in paying taxes and repaying student loans has been too common in
some segments of the civil service. A Republican Administration will make
enforcement among its own employees a priority and, unlike the current
Administration, will name to public office no one who has failed to meet their
financial obligations to the government and fellow taxpayers.
Americafs Future in Space: Continuing this Quest (Top)
The exploration of space has been a key part of U.S. global leadership and
has supported innovation and ownership of technology. Over the last
half-century, in partnership with our aerospace industry, the work of NASA has
helped define and strengthen our nationfs technological prowess. From building
the worldfs most powerful rockets to landing men on the Moon, sending robotic
spacecraft throughout our solar system and beyond, building the International
Space Station, and launching space-based telescopes that allow scientists to
better understand our universe, NASA science and engineering have produced
spectacular results. The technologies that emerged from those programs propelled
our aerospace industrial base and directly benefit our national security,
safety, economy, and quality of life. Through its achievements, NASA has
inspired generations of Americans to study science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics, leading to careers that drive our countryfs technological and
economic engines.
Today, Americafs leadership in space is challenged by countries eager to
emulate – and surpass – NASAfs accomplishments. To preserve our national
security interests and foster innovation and competitiveness, we must sustain
our preeminence in space, launching more science missions, guaranteeing
unfettered access, and maintaining a source of high-value American jobs.
Honoring and Supporting Americans in the Territories (Top)
We honor the extraordinary sacrifices of the men and women of the territories
who protect our freedom through their service in the U.S. Armed Forces. We
welcome their greater participation in all aspects of the political process and
affirm their right to seek the full extension of the Constitution, with all the
rights and responsibilities it entails. U.S. territories face serious economic
challenges as they struggle to retain existing industries and develop new ones.
Development of local energy options is crucial to reduce their dependence on
imported fuel and promote economic stability. The Pacific territories should
have flexibility to determine the minimum wage, which has seriously restricted
progress in the private sector. A stronger private sector can raise wages,
reduce dependence on public sector employment, and lead toward local
self-sufficiency. All unreasonable economic impediments must be removed,
including unreasonable U.S. customs practices.
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be
admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state if they freely so determine. We
recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally
valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with
government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a
State, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should
be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda
sponsored by the U.S. government.
Renewing American
Values to Build Healthy Families, Great Schools and Safe
Neighborhoods
We are the party of independent individuals and the institutions they create
– families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods – to advance their ideals and
make real their dreams. Foremost among those institutions is the American
family. It is the foundation of our society and the first level of
self-government. Its daily lessons-cooperation, patience, mutual respect,
responsibility, self-reliance – are fundamental to the order and progress of our
Republic. Government can never replace the family. That is why we insist that
public policy, from taxation to education, from healthcare to welfare, be
formulated with attention to the needs and strengths of the family.
Preserving and Protecting Traditional Marriage (Top)
The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society. Its success
as an institution will determine our success as a nation. It has been proven by
both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is
best for children. Children raised in intact married families are more likely to
attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less likely to use
drugs or alcohol, engage in crime, or get pregnant outside of marriage. The
success of marriage directly impacts the economic well-being of individuals.
Furthermore, the future of marriage affects freedom. The lack of family
formation not only leads to more government costs, but also to more government
control over the lives of its citizens in all aspects. We recognize and honor
the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone,
even as we believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman must be
upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote
through laws governing marriage. We embrace the principle that all Americans
should be treated with respect and dignity.
Creating a Culture of Hope: Raising Families Beyond
Poverty (Top)
The Republican-led welfare reforms enacted in 1996 marked a revolution in
governmentfs approach to poverty. They changed the standard for policy success
from the amount of income transferred to the poor to the number of poor who
moved from welfare to economic independence. We took the belief of most
Americans – that welfare should be a hand up, not a hand out – and made it law.
Work requirements, though modest, were at the heart of this success. That is why
so many are now outraged by the current Administrationfs recent decision to
permit waivers for work requirements for welfare benefits, in other words, to
administratively repeal the most successful anti-poverty policy in memory.
Instead of undermining the expectation that low-income parents and individuals
should strive to support themselves, benefit programs like food stamps must
ensure that those benefits are better targeted to those who need help the
most.
For the sake of low-income families as well as the taxpayers, the federal
governmentfs entire system of public assistance should be reformed to ensure
that it promotes work. Each year, this system dispenses nearly $1 trillion in
taxpayer funds across a maze of approximately 80 programs that are neither
coordinated nor effective in solving poverty and lifting up families. For many
individuals collecting benefits from multiple categorical programs, efforts to
work or earn more actually result in less money in their pocket through the
resulting loss of benefits. This poverty trap would ensnare even more Americans
if Obamacare were implemented. Taking a part time job, working an extra shift,
or even just marrying someone who works, would result in a loss of benefits,
thereby discouraging the very acts necessary to achieve the American Dream.
Adoption and Foster Care (Top)
Families formed or enlarged by adoption strengthen our communities and
ennoble our nation. We applaud the Republican legislative initiatives that led
to a significant increase in adoptions in recent years, and we call upon the
private sector to consider the needs of adoptive families on a par with others.
Any restructuring of the federal tax code should recognize the financial impact
of the adoption process and the commitment made by adoptive families. The
nationfs foster care system remains a necessary fallback for youngsters from
troubled families. Because of reforms initiated by many States, the number of
foster children has declined to just over 400,000. A major problem of the system
is its lack of support, financial and otherwise, for teens who age out of foster
care and into a world in which many are not prepared to go it alone. We urge
States to work with the faith-based and other community groups which reach out
to these young people in need.
Making the Internet Family-Friendly
(Top)
Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can
destroy families. We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet and
call for reversal of the Justice Departmentfs decision distorting the formerly
accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to Internet betting.
The Internet must be made safe for children. We call on service providers to
exercise due care to ensure that the Internet cannot become a safe haven for
predators while respecting First Amendment rights. We congratulate the social
networking sites that bar known sex offenders from participation. We urge active
prosecution against child pornography, which is closely linked to the horrors of
human trafficking. Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need
to be vigorously enforced.
Advancing Americans with Disabilities (Top)
We renew our commitment to the inclusion of Americans with disabilities in
all aspects of our national life. In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the
non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities,
including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose
euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins
of society. Because government should set a positive standard in hiring and
contracting for the services of persons with disabilities, we need to update the
statutory authority for the Ability One program, a major avenue by which those
productive members of our society can offer high quality services. The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has opened up unprecedented
opportunities for many students, and we reaffirm our support for its goal of
minimizing the separation of children with disabilities from their peers. We
urge preventive efforts in early childhood, especially assistance in gaining
pre-reading skills, to help many students move beyond the need for IDEAfs
protections. We endorse the program of Employment First, developed by major
disability rights groups, to replace dependency with jobs in the mainstream of
the American workforce.
Repealing Obamacare (Top)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – was never really
about healthcare, though its impact upon the nationfs health is disastrous. From
its start, it was about power, the expansion of government control over one
sixth of our economy, and resulted in an attack on our Constitution, by
requiring that U.S. citizens purchase health insurance. We agree with the four
dissenting justices of the Supreme Court: gIn our view the entire Act before us
is invalid in its entirety.h It was the high-water mark of an outdated
liberalism, the latest attempt to impose upon Americans a euro-style bureaucracy
to manage all aspects of their lives. Obamacare has been struck down in the
court of public opinion and is falling by the weight of its own confusing,
unworkable, budget-busting, and conflicting provisions. It would tremendously
expand Medicaid without significant reform, leaving the States to assume
unsustainable financial burdens. If fully implemented, it could not function;
and Republican victories in the November elections will guarantee that it is
never implemented. Congressional Republicans are committed to its repeal; and a
Republican President, on the first day in office, will use his legitimate waiver
authority under that law to halt its progress and then will sign its repeal.
Then the American people, through the free market, can advance affordable and
responsible healthcare reform that meets the needs and concerns of patients and
providers. Through Obamacare, the current Administration has promoted the notion
of abortion as healthcare. We, however, affirm the dignity of women by
protecting the sanctity of human life. Numerous studies have shown that abortion
endangers the health and well-being of women, and we stand firmly against
it.
Our Prescription for American Healthcare: Improve Quality and Lower
Costs (Top)
We believe that taking care of onefs health is an individual responsibility.
Chronic diseases, many of them related to lifestyle, drive healthcare costs,
accounting for more than 75 percent of the nationfs medical spending. To reduce
demand, and thereby lower costs, we must foster personal responsibility while
increasing preventive services to promote healthy lifestyles. We believe that
all Americans should have improved access to affordable, coordinated, quality
healthcare, including individuals struggling with mental illness.
Our goal is to encourage the development of a healthcare system that provides
higher quality care at a lower cost to all Americans while protecting the
patient-physician relationship based on mutual trust, informed consent, and
privileged patient confidentiality. We seek to increase healthcare choice and
options, contain costs and reduce mandates, simplify the system for patients and
providers, restore cuts made to Medicare, and equalize the tax treatment of
group and individual health insurance plans. For most Americans, those who are
insured now or who seek insurance in the future, our practical, non-intrusive
reforms will promote flexibility in State leadership in healthcare reform,
promote a free-market based system, and empower consumer choice. All of which
will return direction of the nationfs healthcare to the people and away from the
federal government.
To return the States to their proper role of regulating local insurance
markets and caring for the needy, we propose to block grant Medicaid and other
payments to the States; limit federal requirements on both private insurance and
Medicaid; assist all patients, including those with pre-existing conditions,
through reinsurance and risk adjustment; and promote non-litigation alternatives
for dispute resolution. We call on State officials to carefully consider the
increased costs of medical mandates, imposed under their laws, which may price
many low-income families out of the insurance market. We call on the government
to permanently ban all federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare
plans that include abortion coverage.
To achieve a free market in healthcare and ensure competition, we will
promote price transparency so that consumers will know the actual cost of
treatments before they undergo them. When patients are aware of costs, they are
less likely to over-utilize services. We support legislation to cap non-economic
damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, thereby relieving conscientious
providers of burdens that are not rightly theirs and addressing a serious cause
of escalating medical bills. We will empower individuals and small businesses to
form purchasing pools in order to expand coverage to the uninsured. Individuals
with pre-existing conditions who maintain continuous insurance coverage should
be protected from discrimination. We support technology enhancements for medical
health records and data systems while affirming patient privacy and ownership of
health information.
Ensuring Consumer Choice in Healthcare (Top)
Consumer choice is the most powerful factor in healthcare reform. Todayfs
highly mobile work force requires portability of insurance coverage that can go
with them from job to job. The need to maintain coverage should not dictate
where families have to live and work. Putting the patient at the center of
policy decisions will increase choice and reduce costs while ensuring that
services provide what Americans actually want. We must end tax discrimination
against the individual purchase of insurance and allow consumers to purchase
insurance across State lines. While promoting gco-insuranceh products and
alternatives to gfee for service,h government must promote Health Savings
Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts to be used for insurance premiums and
should encourage the private sector to rate competing insurance plans. We will
ensure that Americafs aging population has access to safe and affordable care.
Because seniors overwhelmingly desire to age at home, we will make home care a
priority in public policy. We will champion the right of individual choice in
senior care. We will aggressively implement programs to protect against elder
abuse, and we will work to ensure that quality care is provided across the care
continuum from home to nursing home to hospice.
Supporting Federal Healthcare Research and Development (Top)
We support federal investment in healthcare delivery systems and solutions
creating innovative means to provide greater, more cost-effective access to high
quality healthcare. We also support federal investment in basic and applied
biomedical research, especially the neuroscience research that may hold great
potential for dealing with diseases and disorders such as Autism, Alzheimerfs,
and Parkinsonfs. If we are to make significant headway against breast and
prostate cancer, diabetes, and other killers, research must consider the special
needs of formerly neglected groups. We call for expanded support for the
stem-cell research that now offers the greatest hope for many afflictions – with
adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent
stem cells-without the destruction of embryonic human life. We urge a ban on
human cloning and on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos. We
support restoring the Drug Enforcement Administration ban on the use of
controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide. We oppose the FDA approval
of Mifeprex, formerly known as RU-486, and similar drugs that terminate innocent
human life after conception.
Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare (Top)
No healthcare professional or organization should ever be required to
perform, provide for, withhold, or refer for a medical service against their
conscience. This is especially true of the religious organizations which deliver
a major portion of Americafs healthcare, a service rooted in the charity of
faith communities. We do not believe, however, that healthcare providers should
be allowed to withhold services because the healthcare provider believes the
patientfs life is not worth living. We support the ability of all organizations
to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their
religious, moral or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty. We
likewise support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their
children, including mental health treatment, drug treatment, and treatment
involving pregnancy, contraceptives and abortion. We urge enactment of pending
legislation that would require parental consent to transport girls across state
lines for abortions.
Reforming the FDA (Top)
Americafs leadership in life sciences R&D and medical innovation is being
threatened. As a country, we must work together now or lose our leadership
position in medical innovation, U.S. job creation, and access to life-saving
treatments for U.S. patients. The United States has led the global medical
device and pharmaceutical industries for decades. This leadership has made the
U.S. the medical innovation capital of the world, bringing millions of
high-paying jobs to our country and life-saving devices and drugs to our
nationfs patients. But that leadership position is at risk; patients,
innovators, and job creators point to the lack of predictability, consistency,
transparency and efficiency at the Food and Drug Administration that is driving
innovation overseas, benefiting foreign, not U.S., patients. We pledge to reform
the FDA so we can ensure that the U.S. remains the world leader in medical
innovation, that device and drug jobs stay in the U.S., that U.S. patients
benefit first from new devices and drugs, and that the FDA no longer wastes U.S.
taxpayer and innovatorsf resources because of bureaucratic red tape and legal
uncertainty.
Reducing Costs through Tort Reform
(Top)
Frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits have ballooned the cost of healthcare
for the average American. Physicians are increasingly practicing defensive
medicine because of the looming threat of malpractice liability. Moreover, some
medical practitioners are avoiding patients with complex and high-risk medical
problems because of the high costs of medical malpractice lawsuits. Rural
America is hurt especially hard as obstetricians, surgeons, and other healthcare
providers are moving to urban settings or retiring, causing a significant
healthcare workforce shortage and subsequently decreasing access to care for all
patients. We are committed to aggressively pursuing tort reform legislation to
help avoid the practice of defensive medicine, to keep healthcare costs low, and
improve healthcare quality.
Education: A Chance for Every Child
(Top)
Parents are responsible for the education of their children. We do not
believe in a one size fits all approach to education and support providing broad
education choices to parents and children at the State and local level.
Maintaining American preeminence requires a world-class system of education,
with high standards, in which all students can reach their potential. Todayfs
education reform movement calls for accountability at every stage of schooling.
It affirms higher expectations for all students and rejects the crippling
bigotry of low expectations. It recognizes the wisdom of State and local control
of our schools, and it wisely sees consumer rights in education – choice – as
the most important driving force for renewing our schools.
Education is much more than schooling. It is the whole range of activities by
which families and communities transmit to a younger generation, not just
knowledge and skills, but ethical and behavioral norms and traditions. It is the
handing over of a personal and cultural identity. That is why education choice
has expanded so vigorously. It is also why American education has, for the last
several decades, been the focus of constant controversy, as centralizing forces
outside the family and community have sought to remake education in order to
remake America. They have not succeeded, but they have done immense damage.
Attaining Academic Excellence for All (Top)
Since 1965 the federal government has spent $2 trillion on elementary and
secondary education with no substantial improvement in academic achievement or
high school graduation rates (which currently are 59 percent for
African-American students and 63 percent for Hispanics). The U.S. spends an
average of more than $10,000 per pupil per year in public schools, for a total
of more than $550 billion. That represents more than 4 percent of GDP devoted to
K-12 education in 2010. Of that amount, federal spending was more than $47
billion. Clearly, if money were the solution, our schools would be
problem-free.
More money alone does not necessarily equal better performance. After years
of trial and error, we know what does work, what has actually made a difference
in student advancement, and what is powering education reform at the local level
all across America: accountability on the part of administrators, parents and
teachers; higher academic standards; programs that support the development of
character and financial literacy; periodic rigorous assessments on the
fundamentals, especially math, science, reading, history, and geography; renewed
focus on the Constitution and the writings of the Founding Fathers, and an
accurate account of American history that celebrates the birth of this great
nation; transparency, so parents and the public can discover which schools best
serve their pupils; flexibility and freedom to innovate, so schools can adapt to
the special needs of their students and hold teachers and administrators
responsible for student performance. We support the innovations in education
reform occurring at the State level based upon proven results. Republican
Governors have led in the effort to reform our countryfs underperforming
education system, and we applaud these advancements. We advocate the policies
and methods that have proven effective: building on the basics, especially STEM
subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) and phonics; ending social
promotions; merit pay for good teachers; classroom discipline; parental
involvement; and strong leadership by principals, superintendents, and locally
elected school boards. Because technology has become an essential tool of
learning, proper implementation of technology is a key factor in providing every
child equal access and opportunity.
Consumer Choice in Education (Top)
The Republican Party is the party of fresh and innovative ideas in education.
We support options for learning, including home schooling and local innovations
like single-sex classes, full-day school hours, and year-round schools. School
choice – whether through charter schools, open enrollment requests, college lab
schools, virtual schools, career and technical education programs, vouchers, or
tax credits – is important for all children, especially for families with
children trapped in failing schools. Getting those youngsters into decent
learning environments and helping them to realize their full potential is the
greatest civil rights challenge of our time. We support the promotion of local
career and technical educational programs and entrepreneurial programs that have
been supported by leaders in industry and will retrain and retool the American
workforce, which is the best in the world. A young personfs ability to achieve
in school must be based on his or her God-given talent and motivation, not an
address, zip code, or economic status.
In sum, on the one hand enormous amounts of money are being spent for K-12
public education with overall results that do not justify that spending. On the
other hand, the common experience of families, teachers, and administrators
forms the basis of what does work in education. We believe the gap between those
two realities can be successfully bridged, and Congressional Republicans are
pointing a new way forward with major reform legislation. We support its concept
of block grants and the repeal of numerous federal regulations which interfere
with State and local control of public schools.
The bulk of the federal money through Title I for low-income children and
through IDEA for disabled youngsters should follow the students to whatever
school they choose so that eligible pupils, through open enrollment, can bring
their share of the funding with them. The Republican-founded D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program should be expanded as a model for the rest of the country.
We deplore the efforts by Congressional Democrats and the current President to
kill this successful program for disadvantaged students in order to placate the
leaders of the teachersf unions. We support putting the needs of students before
the special interests of unions when approaching elementary and secondary
education reform.
Because parents are a childfs first teachers, we support family literacy
programs, which improve the reading, language, and life skills of both parents
and children from low-income families. To ensure that all students have access
to the mainstream of American life, we support the English First approach and
oppose divisive programs that limit studentsf ability to advance in American
society. We renew our call for replacing gfamily planningh programs for teens
with abstinence education which teaches abstinence until marriage as the
responsible and respected standard of behavior. Abstinence from sexual activity
is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock
pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS when
transmitted sexually. It is effective, science-based, and empowers teens to
achieve optimal health outcomes and avoid risks of sexual activity. We oppose
school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services
for abortion and contraception. We support keeping federal funds from being used
in mandatory or universal mental health, psychiatric, or socio- emotional
screening programs.
We applaud Americafs great teachers, who should be protected against
frivolous litigation and should be able to take reasonable actions to maintain
discipline and order in the classroom. We support legislation that will correct
the current law provision which defines a gHighly Qualified Teacherh merely by
his or her credentials, not results in the classroom. We urge school districts
to make use of teaching talent in business, STEM fields, and in the military,
especially among our returning veterans. Rigid tenure systems based on the glast
in, first outh policy should be replaced with a merit-based approach that can
attract fresh talent and dedication to the classroom. All personnel who interact
with school children should pass background checks and be held to the highest
standards of personal conduct.
Improving Our Nationfs Classrooms
(Top)
Higher education faces its own challenges, many of which stem from the poor
preparation of students before they reach college. One consequence has been the
multiplying number of remedial courses for freshmen. Even so, our universities,
large and small, public or private, form the worldfs greatest assemblage of
learning. They drive much of the research that keeps America competitive and, by
admitting large numbers of foreign students, convey our values and culture to
the world.
Ideological bias is deeply entrenched within the current university system.
Whatever the solution in private institutions may be, in State institutions the
trustees have a responsibility to the public to ensure that their enormous
investment is not abused for political indoctrination. We call on State
officials to ensure that our public colleges and universities be places of
learning and the exchange of ideas, not zones of intellectual intolerance
favoring the Left.
Addressing Rising College Costs (Top)
College costs, however, are on an unsustainable trajectory, rising year by
year far ahead of overall inflation. Nationwide, student loan debt now exceeds
credit card debt, roughly $23,300 for each of the 35,000,000 debtors, taking
years to pay off. Over 50 percent of recent college grads are unemployed or
underemployed, working at jobs for which their expensive educations gave them no
training. It is time to get back to basics and to higher education programs
directly related to job opportunities.
The first step is to acknowledge the need for change when the status quo is
not working. New systems of learning are needed to compete with traditional
four-year colleges: expanded community colleges and technical institutions,
private training schools, online universities, life-long learning, and
work-based learning in the private sector. New models for acquiring advanced
skills will be ever more important in the rapidly changing economy of the
twenty-first century, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Public policy should advance the affordability, innovation, and transparency
needed to address all these challenges and to make accessible to everyone the
emerging alternatives, with their lower cost degrees, to traditional college
attendance.
Federal student aid is on an unsustainable path, and efforts should be taken
to provide families with greater transparency and the information they need to
make prudent choices about a studentfs future: completion rates, repayment
rates, future earnings, and other factors that may affect their decisions. The
federal government should not be in the business of originating student loans;
however, it should serve as an insurance guarantor for the private sector as
they offer loans to students. Private sector participation in student financing
should be welcomed. Any regulation that drives tuition costs higher must be
reevaluated to balance its worth against its negative impact on students and
their parents.
Justice for All: Safe Neighborhoods and Prison Reform (Top)
The most effective forces in reducing crime and other social ills are strong
families and caring communities supported by excellent law enforcement. Both
reinforce constructive conduct and ethical standards by setting examples and
providing safe havens from dangerous and destructive behaviors. But even under
the best social circumstances, strong, well-trained law enforcement is necessary
to protect us all, and especially the weak and vulnerable, from predators. Our
national experience over the last several decades has shown that citizen
vigilance, tough but fair prosecutors, meaningful sentences, protection of
victimsf rights, and limits on judicial discretion can preserve public safety by
keeping criminals off the streets.
Liberals do not understand this simple axiom: criminals behind bars cannot
harm the general public. To that end, we support mandatory prison sentencing for
gang crimes, violent or sexual offenses against children, repeat drug dealers,
rape, robbery and murder. We support a national registry for convicted child
murderers. We oppose parole for dangerous or repeat felons. Courts should have
the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases.
In solidarity with those who protect us, we call for mandatory prison time
for all assaults involving serious injury to law enforcement officers. Criminals
injured in the course of their crimes should not be able to seek monetary
damages from their intended victims or from the public.
While getting criminals off the street is essential, more attention must be
paid to the process of restoring those individuals to the community. Prisons
should do more than punish; they should attempt to rehabilitate and institute
proven prisoner reentry systems to reduce recidivism and future victimization.
We endorse State and local initiatives that are trying new approaches, often
called accountability courts.
Government at all levels should work with faith-based institutions that have
proven track records in diverting young and first time, non-violent offenders
from criminal careers, for which we salute them. Their emphasis on restorative
justice, to make the victim whole and put the offender on the right path, can
give law enforcement the flexibility it needs in dealing with different levels
of criminal behavior. We endorse State and local initiatives that are trying new
approaches to curbing drug abuse and diverting first-time offenders to
rehabilitation.
Public authorities must regain control of their correctional institutions,
for we cannot allow prisons to become ethnic or racial battlegrounds. Persons
jailed for whatever cause should be protected against cruel or degrading
treatment by other inmates. In some cases, the institution of family-friendly
policies may curtail prison violence and reduce the rate of recidivism, thus
reducing the enormous fiscal and social costs of incarceration. Breaking the
cycle of crime begins with the children of those who are prisoners. Deprived of
a parent through no fault of their own, these youngsters should be a special
concern of our schools, social services, and religious institutions. Thirty
years ago, President Reaganfs Task Force on Victims of Crime, calling the
neglect of crime victims a gnational disgrace,h proposed a Constitutional
amendment to secure their formal rights. While some progress has been made to
rectify that situation, the need for national action still persists in the
unacceptable treatment of innocent victims. We call on the States to make it a
bipartisan priority to protect the rights of crime victims, who should also be
assured of access to social and legal services; and we call on the Congress to
make the federal courts a model in this regard for the rest of the country.
The resources of the federal governmentfs law enforcement and judicial
systems have been strained by two unfortunate expansions: the
over-criminalization of behavior and the over-federalization of offenses. The
number of criminal offenses in the U.S. Code increased from 3,000 in the early
1980s to over 4,450 by 2008. Federal criminal law should focus on acts by
federal employees or acts committed on federal property – and leave the rest to
the States. Then Congress should withdraw from federal departments and agencies
the power to criminalize behavior, a practice which, according to the
Congressional Research Service, has created gtens of thousandsh of criminal
offenses. No one other than an elected representative should have the authority
to define a criminal act and set criminal penalties. In the same way, Congress
should reconsider the extent to which it has federalized offenses traditionally
handled on the State or local level.
American
Exceptionalism
We are the party of peace through strength. Professing American
exceptionalism – the conviction that our country holds a unique place and role
in human history – we proudly associate ourselves with those Americans of all
political stripes who, more than three decades ago in a world as dangerous as
todayfs, came together to advance the cause of freedom. Repudiating the folly of
an amateur foreign policy and defying a worldwide Marxist advance, they
announced their strategy in the timeless slogan we repeat today: peace through
strength – an enduring peace based on freedom and the will to defend it, and
American democratic values and the will to promote them. While the twentieth
century was undeniably an American century – with strong leadership, adherence
to the principles of freedom and democracy our Foundersf enshrined in our
nationfs Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and a continued reliance
on Divine Providence – the twenty-first century will be one of American
greatness as well.
Todayfs adversaries are different, as are their weapons and their ideology,
but this remains the same: the unity of Americans, beyond party, in gratitude to
those who have defended our country, pursued its attackers to the ends of the
earth, and today stand vigilant guard in our cities, on our coasts, and in alien
lands. We pledge to our servicemen and women the authority and resources they
need to protect the nation and defend Americafs freedom. Continued vigilance,
especially in travel and commerce, is necessary to prevent bioterrorism, cyber
terrorism, and other asymmetric or non-traditional warfare attacks and to ensure
that the horror of September 11, 2001 is never repeated on our soil.
Our country and its way of life have enemies both abroad and within our
shores. We affirm the need for our military to protect the nation by finding and
capturing our enemies and the necessity for the President to have the tools to
deal with these threats. As history has sadly shown, even our fellow citizens
may rarely become enemies of their country. Nevertheless, our government must
continue to ensure the protections under our Constitution to all citizens,
particularly the rights of habeas corpus and due process of law.
History proves that the best way to promote peace and prevent costly wars is
to ensure that we constantly renew Americafs economic strength. A healthy
American economy is what underwrites and sustains American power. The current
Administration is weakening America at home through anemic growth, high
unemployment, and record-setting debt. We must therefore rebuild our economy and
solve our fiscal crisis. In an American century, America will have the strongest
economy and the strongest military in the world.
The Current Administrationfs Failure: Leading From Behind (Top)
The Republican Party is the advocate for a strong national defense as the
pathway to peace, economic prosperity, and the protection of those yearning to
be free. Since the end of World War II, American military superiority has been
the cornerstone of a strategy that seeks to deter aggression or defeat those who
threaten our national security interests. In 1981, President Reagan came to
office with an agenda of strong American leadership, beginning with a
restoration of our countryfs military strength. The rest is history, written in
the rubble of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain.
We face a similar challenge today. The current Administration has responded
with weakness to some of the gravest threats to our national security this
country has faced, including the proliferation of transnational terrorism,
continued belligerence by a nuclear-armed North Korea, an Iran in pursuit of
nuclear weapons, rising Chinese hegemony in the Asia Pacific region, Russian
activism, and threats from cyber espionage and terrorism. In response to these
growing threats, President Obama has reduced the defense budget by over $487
billion over the next decade and fought Republican efforts to avoid another $500
billion in automatic budget cuts through a sequestration in early 2013 that will
take a meat ax to all major defense programs.
The Dangers of A Hollow Force: The Looming Sequestration (Top)
Sequestration – which is severe, automatic, across-the-board cuts in defense
spending over the next decade – of the nationfs military budget would be a
disaster for national security, imperiling the safety of our servicemen and
women, accelerating the decline of our nationfs defense industrial base, and
resulting in the layoff of more than 1 million skilled workers. Opposition to
sequester is bipartisan; even the current Secretary of Defense has said the cuts
will be gdevastatingh to Americafs military. Yet the current President supported
sequestration, signed it into law, and has threatened to veto Republican efforts
to prevent it. If he allows an additional half trillion dollars to be cut from
the defense budget, America will be left with the smallest ground force since
1940, the smallest number of ships since 1915, and the smallest Air Force in its
history – at a time when our Nation faces a growing range of threats to our
national security and a struggling economy that can ill afford to lose 1.5
million defense-related jobs.
Leaks for Political Purposes (Top)
The current Administrationfs leaks of classified information have imperiled
intelligence assets which are vital to American security. This conduct is
contemptible. It betrays our national interest. It compromises our men and women
in the field. And it demands a full and prompt investigation by a special
counsel. Equally threatening to the long-term strength and safety of our Armed
Forces are the current Administrationfs efforts to sacrifice our national
security for political gain and a partisan agenda. We give the current President
credit for maintaining his predecessorfs quiet determination and planning to
bring to justice the man behind the 9/11 attack on America, but he has tolerated
publicizing the details of the operation to kill the leader of Al Qaeda; those
leaks exposed the tactics and techniques of our Special Operations forces and
denied our nation an unprecedented intelligence opportunity. Subsequent leaks by
senior Administration officials regarding cyber warfare, the use of drones
against Al Qaeda and its operatives, and the targeting of our enemies –
unprecedented leaks that compromised key sources and methods and damaged our
national security – served the single purpose of propping up the image of a weak
President.
A Failed National Security Strategy
(Top)
The current Administrationfs most recent National Security Strategy reflects
the extreme elements in its liberal domestic coalition. It is a
budget-constrained blueprint that, if fully implemented, will diminish the
capabilities of our Armed Forces. The strategy significantly increases the risk
of future conflict by declaring to our adversaries that we will no longer
maintain the forces necessary to fight and win more than one conflict at a time.
It relies on the good intentions and capabilities of international organizations
to justify constraining American military readiness. Finally, the strategy
subordinates our national security interests to environmental, energy, and
international health issues, and elevates gclimate changeh to the level of a
gsevere threath equivalent to foreign aggression. The word gclimate,h in fact,
appears in the current Presidentfs strategy more often than Al Qaeda, nuclear
proliferation, radical Islam, or weapons of mass destruction. The phrase gglobal
war on terrorh does not appear at all, and has been purposely avoided and
changed by his Administration to goverseas contingency operations.h
Conventional Forces in Decline (Top)
More than a century ago, Republican President Theodore Roosevelt predicted
that Americafs future was in the Pacific. That future is here today, but it can
develop peacefully only under the shield of American Naval and Air power. Yet
the current Administration plans to significantly curtail production of our most
advanced combat aircraft, decommission 6 of 60 Air Force tactical squadrons, and
eliminate critical air mobility assets, including 27 giant C-5As and 65 C-130s,
while divesting the nation of the brand new C-27.
The President plans to reduce our naval forces by retiring seven cruisers and
slowing work on amphibious ships and attack submarines, further reducing the
Navy that already has the smallest fleet since the early years of the twentieth
century. And he will reduce ground forces by separating 100,000 soldiers and
Marines – many of whom will be discharged after recently returning from combat –
and another 100,000 under the sequester.
These plans limit our strategic flexibility in an increasingly dangerous
world. The current President is repeating the disastrous cuts of the
post-Vietnam war era, putting our nation in danger of returning to the ghollow
forceh of the Carter Administration, when the U.S. military was not respected in
the world.
Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense Imperiled (Top)
We recognize that the gravest terror threat we face – a nuclear attack made
possible by nuclear proliferation – requires a comprehensive strategy for
reducing the worldfs nuclear stockpiles and preventing the spread of those
armaments. But the U.S. can lead that effort only if it maintains an effective
strategic arsenal at a level sufficient to fulfill its deterrent purposes, a
notable failure of the current Administration.
The United States is the only nuclear power not modernizing its nuclear
stockpile. It took the current Administration just one year to renege on the
Presidentfs commitment to modernize the neglected infrastructure of the nuclear
weapons complex – a commitment made in exchange for approval of the New START
treaty. In tandem with this, the current Administration has systematically
undermined Americafs missile defense, abandoning the missile defense bases in
Poland and the Czech Republic, reducing the number of planned interceptors in
Alaska, and cutting the budget for missile defense. In an embarrassing open
microphone discussion with former Russian President Medvedev, the current
President made clear that, if he wins a second term, he intends to exercise
gmore flexibilityh to appease Russia, which means further undermining our
missile defense capabilities. A Republican President will be honest and
forthright with the American people about his policies and plans and not whisper
promises to authoritarian leaders.
A strong and effective strategic arsenal is still necessary as a deterrent
against competitors like Russia or China. But the danger in this age of
asymmetric or non-traditional warfare comes from other quarters as well. With
unstable regimes in Iran and North Korea determined to develop nuclear-tipped
missiles capable of reaching the United States, with the possibility that a
terrorist group could gain control of a nuclear weapon, it is folly to abandon a
missile shield for the country.
A Twenty-First Century Threat: The Cybersecurity Danger (Top)
The frequency, sophistication, and intensity of cyber-related incidents
within the United States have increased steadily over the past decade and will
continue to do so until it is made clear that a cyber attack against the United
States will not be tolerated. The current Administrationfs cyber security
policies have failed to curb malicious actions by our adversaries, and no
wonder, for there is no active deterrence protocol. The current deterrence
framework is overly reliant on the development of defensive capabilities and has
been unsuccessful in dissuading cyber-related aggression. The U.S. cannot afford
to risk the cyber-equivalent of Pearl Harbor.
The government and private sector must work together to address the
cyberthreats posed to the United States, help the free flow of information
between network managers, and encourage innovation and investment in
cybersecurity. The government must do a better job of protecting its own
systems, which contain some of the most sensitive data and control some of our
most important facilities. As such, we encourage an immediate update of the law
that was drafted a decade ago to improve the security of government information
systems. Additionally, we must invest in continuing research to develop
cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies to protect the U.S. However, we
acknowledge that the most effective way of combating potential cybersecurity
threats is sharing cyberthreat information between the government and industry,
as well as protecting the free flow of information within the private
sector.
The current Administrationfs laws and policies undermine what should be a
collaborative relationship and put both the government and private entities at a
severe disadvantage in proactively identifying potential cyberthreats. The
costly and heavy-handed regulatory approach by the current Administration will
increase the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy and harm innovation in
cybersecurity. The government collects valuable information about potential
threats that can and should be shared with private entities without compromising
national security. We believe that companies should be free from legal and
regulatory barriers that prevent or deter them from voluntarily sharing
cyberthreat information with their government partners.
An America That Leads: The Republican National Security Strategy for
the Future (Top)
We will honor President Reaganfs legacy of peace through strength by
advancing the most cost-effective programs and policies crucial to our national
security, including our economic security and fiscal solvency. To do that, we
must honestly assess the threats facing this country, and we must be able to
articulate candidly to the American people our priorities for the use of
taxpayer dollars to address those threats.
We must deter any adversary who would attack us or use terror as a tool of
government. Every potential enemy must have no doubt that our capabilities, our
commitment, and our will to defeat them are clear, unwavering, and unequivocal.
We must immediately employ a new blueprint for a National Military Strategy that
is based on an informed and validated assessment of the potential threats we
face, one that restores as a principal objective the deterrence using the full
spectrum of our military capabilities. As Ronald Reagan proved by the victorious
conclusion of the Cold War, only our capability to wield overwhelming military
power can truly deter the enemies of the United States from threatening our
people and our national interests.
In order to deter aggression from nation-states, we must maintain military
and technical superiority through innovation while upgrading legacy systems
including aircraft and armored vehicles. We must deter the threat posed by rogue
aggressors with the assurance that justice will be served through
state-of-the-art surveillance, enhanced special operations capabilities, and
unmanned aerial systems.
We will employ the full range of military and intelligence options to defeat
Al Qaeda and its affiliates who threaten not just the West but the community of
nations. We will have a comprehensive and just detainee policy that treats those
who would attack our nation as enemy combatants. We will accept no arms control
agreement that limits our right to self-defense; and we will fully deploy a
missile defense shield for the people of the United States and for our
allies.
We will pursue an effective cybersecurity strategy, supported by the
necessary resources, that recognizes the importance of offensive capabilities.
Whether it is a nation-state actively probing our national security networks, a
terror organization seeking to obtain destructive cyber capabilities, or a
criminal networkfs theft of intellectual property, more must be done to deter,
defeat, and respond to cyberthreats.
We will restore the morale and advance the capabilities of our intelligence
community to ensure that the President and our military leaders are fully
informed in an uncertain and increasingly dangerous world. We will restore
accountability to ensure that our nationfs most sensitive information and
activities are protected appropriately.
The Department of Defense, like all government agencies, needs to be careful
to spend taxpayersf dollars wisely. We will implement sound management policies
to ensure the timely, cost-effective delivery of the tools our troops need to
fight. We reject Congressional earmarks that put personal and parochial
interests ahead of military effectiveness and the best interests of the nation.
We recognize the need for, and value of, competition within a robust industrial
base to most effectively maximize quality and drive down costs in everything the
Department buys.
Supporting our Troops, Standing By Our Heroes (Top)
The foundation of our military lies in the men and women who wear our
countryfs uniform, whether on active duty or in the Reserves and National Guard,
and the families who support them. Under no circumstances will we reveal any
secret or detail of a military operation that could put our people into
additional harmfs way. The members of our military should be treated with the
utmost respect and dignity. We reject the use of the military as a platform for
social experimentation and will not accept attempts to undermine military
priorities and mission readiness.
Consistent with this commitment, we believe compensation and conditions for
our Armed Forces in place at the time military service is initiated should be
sufficient to attract and retain quality men and women as we honor our promises
and commitments to veterans, retirees, and their families. These shall continue
and not be reduced or otherwise diminished while in service, or upon separation,
or retirement. The combat readiness of our Armed Forces is the foundation of
strength and deterrence. Readiness requires a consistent and sustained
investment in the training and re-equipping of our military personnel. We will
never assume the risk of reduced readiness, and we can never return to the
ghollowh forces of the 1970s. Combat readiness also requires that we reserve
troops for truly necessary operations by not overextending them around the
world. We recognize that drastic cuts to our militaryfs end strength pose severe
national security challenges. To avoid the overextension of our forces, we
support a larger active force and oppose cuts to the National Guard and
Reserves.
The all-volunteer force, begun on the watch of Republican Presidents, has
carried America to victory from the Caribbean and Central America to the Balkans
and Southwest Asia. We oppose the reinstatement of the draft whether directly or
through compulsory national service. We support the advancement of women in the
military, which has not only opened doors of opportunity for individuals but has
also made possible the devoted, and often heroic, services of additional members
of every branch of the Armed Forces. We support military womenfs exemption from
direct ground combat units and infantry battalions. We affirm the cultural
values that encourage selfless service and superiority in battle, and we oppose
anything which might divide or weaken team cohesion, including intra-military
special interest demonstrations. We will support an objective and open-minded
review of the current Administrationfs management of military personnel policies
and will correct problems with appropriate administrative, legal, or legislative
action.
The National Guard and Reserves are a fully operational and battle-tested
component of our Armed Forces. Many of them have heroically served for multiple
deployments resulting in inadequate time between deployments, also known as
dwell time. We pledge to maintain their manpower and equipment strength and to
ensure their members receive the pay, benefits, and adequate training to
continue their service and maintain mission readiness through Presidential
leadership and Congressional budget support. Their historic and continuing role
as citizen-soldiers is a proud tradition linking every community across America
to the cause of freedom. We affirm service membersf legal right to return to
their civilian jobs, whether in government or the private sector, and we urge
greater transition assistance to and from employers as they return to the
civilian world. Especially in light of the high unemployment rates faced by
younger Reserve and Guard members, we salute those employers who have wisely
decided that it is a smart and patriotic business decision to hire those who
have served above and beyond the call of duty.
The spiritual welfare of our troops and retired service members should be a
priority of our national leadership. With military suicides running at the rate
of one a day, with post-service medical conditions, including addiction and
mental illness, and with the financial stress and homelessness that is often
related to these factors, there is an urgent need for the kind of counseling
that faith-based institutions can best provide. We support rights of conscience
and religious freedom for military chaplains and people of faith. A Republican
Commander in Chief will protect religious independence of military chaplains and
will not tolerate attempts to ban Bibles or religious symbols from military
facilities. We will enforce and defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) in the Armed Forces as well as in the civilian world.
We call upon the entire chain of command – from the President and the
Secretary of Defense, to base and unit commanders – to ensure that our troops
and retired service members, wherever stationed, have the opportunity to vote in
the November elections, and that their ballots will be returned in time to be
properly counted. Those who fight for and defend freedom around the world must
not be disenfranchised.
Recognizing and Supporting Military Families (Top)
The families of our military personnel currently serving, retired service
members, and veterans must also be assured of the pay, health care, housing,
education, and overall support they have earned. We will ensure that the federal
government keeps its commitments to those who signed on the dotted line of
enlistment with the assurance that those promises would be kept. We must also do
more to retain the services of those service members who have borne the fight
since 2001.
We must acknowledge that as our troops have experienced repeated deployments,
so have their families. We are committed to providing programs that offer
readjustment information and counseling to our military families, and urge
States to offer support for job programs, license reciprocity, one-stop service
centers, and education programs to support these families. The nation must also
recognize the ultimate sacrifice of survivors and protect their benefits. We
will work to protect service members and their families by not overextending
their deployments.
Honoring and Supporting Our Veterans: A Sacred Obligation (Top)
America has a sacred trust with our veterans, and we are committed to
providing them and their families with care and dignity. This is particularly
true because our nationfs warriors are volunteers, who served from a sense of
duty. The work of the Department of Veterans Affairs – with a staff of 300,000 –
is essential to meet our obligations to them: providing health, education,
disability, survivor, and home loan benefit services and arranging memorial
services upon death. All its branches in those various fields must be made more
responsive, moving from an adversarial to an advocacy relationship with
veterans. To that end we will consider a fundamental change in structure to make
the regional directors of the Department presidential appointees rather than
careerists.
Our wounded warriors, whether still in service or discharged, deserve the
best medical care our country can provide. The nature of the fighting in Iraq
and Afghanistan has resulted in an unprecedented incidence of traumatic brain
injury, loss of limbs, and post-traumatic stress disorder which calls for a new
commitment of resources and personnel for its treatment and care to promote
recovery. We must make military and veteransf medicine the gold standard for
mental health care, advances in prosthetics, and treatment of trauma and eye
injuries. We must heed Abraham Lincolnfs command gto care for him who bore the
battle.h To care, as well, for the families of those who have made the ultimate
sacrifice, who must be assured of meaningful financial assistance, remains our
solemn duty.
Because the conditions of warfare have changed dramatically since the war on
terror began, todayfs veterans face new challenges. Asymmetrical or
non-traditional warfare results in a high incidence of severe conditions that
must receive high priority and call for continued research into prevention and
treatment.
We are committed to ending homelessness for our veterans. One key is to
assist their reentry into the job market as soon as possible after military
service ends. A job for a veteran is more than a source of income. It is a new
mission, with a new status, and the transition can be difficult. It is a
national scandal that veterans are one of the groups with the highest
unemployment rates. We urge the private sector to make hiring vets a company
policy and commend the many organizations that have specific programs to
accomplish this. But the federal government must take the lead by simplifying
the paper work required for a tax break for hiring a veteran and by giving vets
their assured place at the head of the training and employment line.
Every State has an office dealing with veterans. The federal Department needs
to consider these as partners in assisting vets, recognizing that those closest
to the individual can best diagnose a problem and apply a remedy. This is
especially important with regard to the determination of veteransf disability
claims. If private insurance companies can deal with car wrecks and hurricanes
within weeks or months, it is inexplicable that the federal government takes, on
average, a year to process a veteranfs claim. We urge immediate action to review
the automatic denial of gun ownership to returning members of our Armed Forces
who have had representatives appointed to manage their financial affairs.
Sovereign American Leadership in International
Organizations (Top)
Since the end of World War II, the United States, through the founding of the
United Nations and NATO, has participated in a wide range of international
organizations which can, but sometimes do not, serve the cause of peace and
prosperity. While acting through them, our country must always reserve the right
to go its own way. There can be no substitute for principled American
leadership.
The United Nations remains in dire need of reform, starting with full
transparency in the financial operations of its overpaid bureaucrats. As long as
its scandal-ridden management continues, as long as some of the worldfs worst
tyrants hold seats on its Human Rights Council, and as long as Israel is treated
as a pariah state, the U.N. cannot expect the full support of the American
people.
The United Nations Population Fund has a shameful record of collaboration
with Chinafs program of compulsory abortion. We affirm the Republican Partyfs
long-held position known as the Mexico City Policy, first announced by President
Reagan in 1984, which prohibits the granting of federal monies to
non-governmental organization that provide or promote abortion.
Under our Constitution, treaties become the law of the land. So it is all the
more important that the Congress – the Senate through its ratifying power and
the House through its appropriating power – shall reject agreements whose
long-range impact on the American family is ominous or unclear. These include
the U.N. Convention on Womenfs Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N.
Arms Trade Treaty as well as the various declarations from the U.N. Conference
on Environment and Development. Because of our concern for American sovereignty,
domestic management of our fisheries, and our countryfs long-term energy needs,
we have deep reservations about the regulatory, legal, and tax regimes inherent
in the Law of the Sea Treaty and congratulate Senate Republicans for blocking
its ratification. We strongly reject the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American
sovereignty, and we oppose any form of U.N. Global Tax. We oppose any diplomatic
efforts that could result in giving the United Nations unprecedented control
over the Internet. International regulatory control over the open and free
Internet would have disastrous consequences for the United States and the
world.
To shield members of our Armed Forces and others in service to America from
ideological prosecutions overseas, the Republican Party does not accept the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. We support statutory
protection for U.S. personnel and officials as they act abroad to meet our
global security requirements.
Protecting Human Rights (Top)
To those who stand in the darkness of tyranny, America has always been a
beacon of hope, and so it must remain. That is why we strongly support the work
of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, established by
Congressional Republicans to advance the rights of persecuted peoples
everywhere. It has been shunted aside by the current Administration at a time
when its voice more than ever needs to be heard. Religious minorities across the
Middle East are being driven from their ancient homelands, fanaticism leaves its
bloody mark on both West and East Africa, and even among Americafs Western
friends and allies, pastors and families are penalized for their religious
convictions. A Republican Administration will return the advocacy of religious
liberty to a central place in our diplomacy.
Americafs Generosity: International Assistance that Makes a
Difference (Top)
Americans are the most generous people in the world. Apart from the taxpayer
dollars our government donates abroad, our foundations, educational
institutions, faith-based groups, and committed men and women of charity devote
billions of dollars and volunteer hours every year to help the poor and needy
around the world. This effort, along with commercial investment from the private
sector, dwarfs the results from official development assistance, most of which
is based on an outdated, statist, government-to-government model, the proven
breeding ground for corruption and mismanagement by foreign kleptocrats.
Limiting foreign aid spending helps keep taxes lower, which frees more resources
in the private and charitable sectors, whose giving tends to be more effective
and efficient.
Foreign aid should serve our national interest, an essential part of which is
the peaceful development of less advanced and vulnerable societies in critical
parts of the world. Assistance should be seen as an alternative means of keeping
the peace, far less costly in both dollars and human lives than military
engagement. The economic success and political progress of former aid
recipients, from Latin America to East Asia, has justified our investment in
their future. U.S. aid should be based on the model of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, for which foreign governments must, in effect, compete for the
dollars by showing respect for the rule of law, free enterprise, and measurable
results. In short, aid money should follow positive outcomes, not pleas for more
cash in the same corrupt official pockets.
The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the cultural agenda
of the current Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries,
especially the peoples of Africa, legalized abortion and the homosexual rights
agenda. At the same time, faith-based groups – the sector that has had the best
track record in promoting lasting development – have been excluded from grants
because they will not conform to the administrationfs social agenda. We will
reverse this tragic course, encourage more involvement by the most effective aid
organizations, and trust developing peoples to build their future from the
ground up.
Combating Human Trafficking (Top)
As we approach the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued
by the first Republican President Abraham Lincoln, we are reminded to be
vigilant against human bondage in whatever form it appears. We will use the full
force of the law against those who engage in modern-day forms of slavery,
including the commercial sexual exploitation of children and the forced labor of
men, women, and children. Building on the accomplishments of the last Republican
Administration in implementing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,
we call for increased diplomatic efforts with foreign governments to root out
complicit public officials who facilitate or perpetrate this evil. We highlight
the need for greater scrutiny of overseas labor contractors to prevent the
imposition of usurious terms on temporary foreign workers brought to the United
States. Our government must address the increasing role of vicious drug cartels
and other gangs in controlling human smuggling across our southern border. The
principle underlying our Meganfs Law – publicizing the identities of known
offenders – should be extended to international travel in order to protect
innocent children everywhere.
We affirm our countryfs historic tradition of welcoming refugees from
troubled lands. In some cases, they are people who stood with us during
dangerous times, and they have first call on our hospitality.
Promoting a Free Marketplace of Ideas: Public Diplomacy (Top)
International broadcasting of free and impartial information during the Cold
War kept truth and hope alive in the Captive Nations. Today, Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio/TV Marti do the same in other lands where freedom
is unknown or endangered. We support these essential extensions of American
values and culture and urge their expansion in the Middle East. Recognizing the
vital role of social media in recent efforts to promote democracy, we support
unrestricted access to the Internet throughout the world to advance the free
marketplace of ideas.
Strengthening Ties in the Americas
(Top)
We will resist foreign influence in our hemisphere. We thereby seek not only
to provide for our own security, but also to create a climate for democracy and
self-determination throughout the Americas.
The current Administration has turned its back on Latin America, with
predictable results. Rather than supporting our democratic allies in the region,
the President has prioritized engagement with our enemies in the region.
Venezuela represents an increasing threat to U.S. security, a threat which has
grown much worse on the current Presidentfs watch. In the last three years,
Venezuela has become a narco-terrorist state, turning it into an Iranian outpost
in the Western hemisphere. The current regime issues Venezuelan passports or
visas to thousands of Middle Eastern terrorists offering safe haven to Hezbollah
trainers, operatives, recruiters and fundraisers.
Alternatively, we will stand with the true democracies of the region against
both Marxist subversion and the drug lords, helping them to become prosperous
alternatives to the collapsing model of Venezuela and Cuba.
We affirm our friendship with the People of Cuba and look toward their
reunion with the rest of our hemispheric family. The anachronistic regime in
Havana which rules them is a mummified relic of the age of totalitarianism, a
state-sponsor of terrorism. We reject any dynastic succession of power within
the Castro family and affirm the principles codified in U.S. law as conditions
for the lifting of trade, travel, and financial sanctions: the legalization of
political parties, an independent media, and free and fair
internationally-supervised elections. We renew our commitment to Cubafs
courageous pro-democracy movement as the protagonists of Cubafs inevitable
liberation and democratic future. We call for a dedicated platform for the
transmission of Radio and TV Marti and for the promotion of Internet access and
circumvention technology as tools to strengthen the pro-democracy movement. We
support the work of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba and affirm the
principles of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, recognizing the rights of Cubans
fleeing Communism.
The war on drugs and the war on terror have become a single enterprise. We
salute our allies in this fight, especially the people of Mexico and Colombia.
We propose a unified effort on crime and terrorism to coordinate intelligence
and enforcement among our regional allies, as well as military-to-military
training and intelligence sharing with Mexico, whose people are bearing the
brunt of the drug cartelsf savage assault.
Our Canadian neighbors can count on our close cooperation and respect. As
soon as possible, we will reverse the current Administrationfs blocking of the
Keystone XL Pipeline so that both our countries can profit from this vital
venture and there will no need for hemispheric oil to be shipped to China.
Advancing Hope and Prosperity in Africa (Top)
PEPFAR, President George W. Bushfs Plan for AIDS Relief, is one of the most
successful global health programs in history. It has saved literally millions of
lives. Along with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,
another initiative of President Bush, it represents Americafs humanitarian
commitment to the peoples of Africa, though these are only one aspect of our
assistance to the nations of that continent. From Peace Corps volunteers
teaching in one-room schools to U.S. Seabees building village projects, we will
continue to strengthen the personal and commercial ties between our country and
African nations.
We stand in solidarity with those African countries now under assault by the
forces of radical Islam and urge other governments throughout the continent to
recognize this threat to them as well. We support closer cooperation in both
military and economic matters with those who are under attack by forces which
seek our destruction.
U.S. Leadership in the Asian-Pacific Community (Top)
We are a Pacific nation with economic, military, and cultural ties to all the
countries of the oceanic rim, from Australia, the Philippines, and our Freely
Associated States in the Pacific Islands to Japan and the Republic of Korea.
With them, we look toward the restoration of human rights to the suffering
people of North Korea and the fulfillment of their wish to be one in peace and
freedom. The U.S. will continue to demand the complete, verifiable, and
irreversible dismantlement of North Koreafs nuclear weapons programs with a full
accounting of its proliferation activities.
We celebrate the political and economic development of most of the nations of
Southeast Asia. Their example of material progress through hard work and free
enterprise, in tandem with greater democracy should encourage their less
fortunate neighbors to set aside crippling ideologies and embrace a more humane
future. While our relations with Vietnam have improved, and U.S. investment is
welcomed, we need unceasing efforts to obtain an accounting for, and
repatriation of the remains of, Americans who gave their lives in the cause of
Vietnamese freedom. We cannot overlook the continued repression of human rights
and religious freedom, as well as retribution against ethnic minorities and
others who assisted U.S. forces during the conflict there.
South Asia (Top)
We welcome a stronger relationship with the worldfs largest democracy, India,
both economic and cultural, as well as in terms of national security. We hereby
affirm and declare that India is our geopolitical ally and a strategic trading
partner. We encourage India to permit greater foreign investment and trade. We
urge protection for adherents of all Indiafs religions. Both as Republicans and
as Americans, we note with pride the contributions to this country that are
being made by our fellow citizens of Indian ancestry. The aftermath of the last
decadefs conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has put enormous pressure on the
political and military infrastructure of Pakistan, which faces both internal
terrorism and external dangers. The working relationship between our two
countries is a necessary, though sometimes difficult, benefit to both, and we
look toward the renewal of historic ties that have frayed under the weight of
international conflict.
The imminent withdrawal from Afghanistan of the 30,000 gsurgeh troops sent
there two years ago comes weeks before this yearfs presidential election and
against the advice of the current Presidentfs top military commanders. Future
decisions by a Republican President will never subordinate military necessity to
domestic politics or an artificial timetable. Afghans, Pakistanis, and Americans
have a common interest in ridding the region of the Taliban and other insurgent
groups, but we cannot expect others to remain resolute unless we show the same
determination ourselves. We will expect the Afghan government to crackdown on
corruption, respect free elections, and assist our fight against the narcotic
trade that fuels the insurgency. We must likewise expect the Pakistan government
to sever any connection between its security and intelligence forces and the
insurgents. No Pakistani citizen should be punished for helping the United
States against the terrorists.
Taiwan (Top)
We salute the people of Taiwan, a sound democracy and economic model for
mainland China. Our relations must continue to be based upon the provisions of
the Taiwan Relations Act. America and Taiwan are united in our shared belief in
fair elections, personal liberty, and free enterprise. We oppose any unilateral
steps by either side to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Straits on the
principle that all issues regarding the islandfs future must be resolved
peacefully, through dialogue, and be agreeable to the people of Taiwan. If China
were to violate those principles, the U.S., in accord with the Taiwan Relations
Act, will help Taiwan defend itself. We praise steps taken by both sides of the
Taiwan Strait to reduce tension and strengthen economic ties. As a loyal friend
of America, Taiwan has merited our strong support, including free trade
agreements status, as well as the timely sale of defensive arms and full
participation in the World Health Organization, International Civil Aviation
Organization, and other multilateral institutions.
China (Top)
We will welcome the emergence of a peaceful and prosperous China, and we will
welcome even more the development of a democratic China. Its rulers have
discovered that economic freedom leads to national wealth. The next lesson is
that political and religious freedom leads to national greatness. The exposure
of the Chinese people to our way of life can be the greatest force for change in
their country. We should make it easier for the people of China to experience
our vibrant democracy and to see for themselves how freedom works. We welcome
the increase in trade and education alliances with the U.S. and the opening of
Chinese markets to American companies.
The Chinese government has engaged in a number of activities that we condemn:
Chinafs pursuit of advanced military capabilities without any apparent need;
suppression of human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang, and other areas; religious
persecution; a barbaric one-child policy involving forced abortion; the erosion
of democracy in Hong Kong; and its destabilizing claims in the South China Sea.
Our serious trade disputes, especially Chinafs failure to enforce international
standards for the protection of intellectual property and copyrights, as well as
its manipulation of its currency, call for a firm response from a new Republican
Administration.
Europe (Top)
The West has been the bulwark of democracy and freedom, providing hope and
faith to the oppressed around the globe. Our historic ties to the peoples of
Europe have been based on shared culture and values, common interests and goals.
Their endurance cannot be taken for granted, especially in light of the
continentfs economic upheaval and demographic changes. Ensuring the continued
vitality of our political alliance with Europe through NATO will require effort
and understanding on both sides of the Atlantic. We honor our special
relationship with the United Kingdom and appreciate its staunch support for our
fight against terrorism worldwide. We thank the several other nations of Europe
which have contributed to a united effort in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Their
sacrifice will not soon be forgotten. We are heartened by the ongoing
reconciliation in Northern Ireland and hopeful that its success might be
replicated in Cyprus.
Russia (Top)
The heroism – and the suffering – of the people of Russia over the last
century demand the worldfs respect. As our allies in their Great Patriotic War,
they lost 28 million fighting Nazism. As our allies in spirit, they ended the
Soviet terror that had consumed so many millions more. They deserve our
admiration and support as they now seek to reestablish their rich national
identity. We do have common imperatives: ending terrorism, combating nuclear
proliferation, promoting trade, and more. To advance those causes, we urge the
leaders of their government to reconsider the path they have been following:
suppression of opposition parties, the press, and institutions of civil society;
unprovoked invasion of the Republic of Georgia, alignment with tyrants in the
Middle East; and bullying their neighbors while protecting the last Stalinist
regime in Belarus. The Russian people deserve better, as we look to their full
participation in the ranks of modern democracies.
Russia should be granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations, but not without
sanctions on Russian officials who have used the government to violate human
rights. We support enactment of the Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act as
a condition of expanded trade relations with Russia.
Our Unequivocal Support of Israel
(Top)
Israel and the United States are part of the great fellowship of democracies
who speak the same language of freedom and justice, and the right of every
person to live in peace. The security of Israel is in the vital national
security interest of the United States; our alliance is based not only on shared
interests, but also shared values. We affirm our unequivocal commitment to
Israelfs security and will ensure that it maintains a qualitative edge in
military technology over any potential adversaries. We support Israelfs right to
exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two
democratic states – Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine – living
in peace and security. For that to happen, the Palestinian people must support
leaders who reject terror, embrace the institutions and ethos of democracy, and
respect the rule of law. We call on Arab governments throughout the region to
help advance that goal. Israel should not be expected to negotiate with entities
pledged to her destruction. We call on the new government in Egypt to fully
uphold its peace treaty with Israel.
The U.S. seeks a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East,
negotiated between the parties themselves with the assistance of the U.S.,
without the imposition of an artificial timetable. Essential to that process
will be a just, fair, and realistic framework for dealing with the issues that
can be settled on the basis of mutually agreed changes reflecting todayfs
realities as well as tomorrowfs hopes.
The Challenges of a Changing Middle East (Top)
We recognize the historic nature of the events of the past two years – the
Arab Spring – that have unleashed democratic movements leading to the overthrow
of dictators who have been menaces to global security for decades. In a season
of upheaval, it is necessary to be prepared for anything. That is true on the
ground in the Middle East, and it will be equally true in the next
Administration, particularly with a new President unbound by the failures of the
past. We welcome the aspirations of the Arab peoples and others for greater
freedom, and we hope that greater liberty – and with it, a greater chance for
peace – will result from the recent turmoil. Many governments in the region have
given substantial assistance to the U.S. over the last decade because they
understood that our struggle against terror is not an ethnic or religious fight,
and that violent extremists are abusers of their faith, not its champions.
On the other hand, radical elements like Hamas and Hezbollah must be isolated
because they do not meet the standards of peace and diplomacy of the
international community. We call for the restoration of Lebanonfs independence,
which those groups have virtually destroyed. We support the transition to a
post-Assad Syrian government that is representative of its people, protects the
rights of all minorities and religions, respects the territorial integrity of
its neighbors, and contributes to peace and stability in the region. We offer a
continuing partnership with the people of Iraq, who have endured extremist
terror to now have a chance to build their own security and democracy. We urge
special efforts to preserve and protect the ethnic and religious diversity of
their nation.
Iranfs pursuit of nuclear weapons capability threatens America, Israel, and
the world. That threat has only become worse during the current Administration.
A continuation of its failed engagement policy with Iran will lead to nuclear
cascade. In solidarity with the international community, America must lead the
effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability.
We express our respect for the people of Iran, who seek peace and aspire to
freedom. Their current regime is unworthy of them. It exports terror and
provided weapons that killed our troops in Iraq. We affirm the unanimous
resolution of the U.S. Senate calling for gelections that are free, fair, and
meet international standardsh and ga representative and responsive democratic
government that respects human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law.h We
urge the next Republican President to unequivocally assert his support for the
Iranian people as they protest their despotic regime. We must retain all options
in dealing with a situation that gravely threatens our security, our interests,
and the safety of our friends.
The Platform
Committee
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus
Chairman Governor Bob McDonnell
Co-Chairmen Senator John Hoeven Congressman Marsha
Blackburn
Subcommittee Chairs
Restoring the American Dream: Rebuilding the Economy and Creating
Jobs Co-Chairman Jonathan Barnett Co-Chairman Lynn Fitch Co-Chairman
Andy Puzder
We The People: A Restoration of Constitutional Government
Co-Chairman Jim Bopp Co-Chairman Jane Timken
Americafs Natural Resources: Energy,Agriculture and the
Environment Co-Chairman Mary Dye Co-Chairman Ed Whitfield
Reforming Government to Serve the People Co-Chairman Jim
Cawley Co-Chairman Rachel Kemp
Renewing American Values to Build Healthy Families,Great Schools and
Safe Neighborhoods Co-Chairman Tom Luna Co-Chairman Carolyn McLarty
Co-Chairman Sam Olens
American Exceptionalism Co-Chairman Donna Cain Co-Chairman
Jim Talent
Committee Members
Alabama: Jacqueline Curtiss Cam Ward
Alaska: Ric Davidge Debbie Joslin
American Samoa: Salote Schuster Brandon Smart
Arizona: Kip Kempton Heather Sandstrom
Arkansas: Jonathan Barnett Julie Harris
California: Andrew Puzder Audra Strickland
Colorado: Suzanne Sharkey Guy Short
Connecticut: L. Scott Frantz Themis Klarides
Delaware: Ruth Briggs King John Sigler
District of Columbia: Teri Galvez Edward Newton
Florida: Allen Bense Remedios Diaz
Georgia: Sue Everhart Sam Olens
Guam: Arthur Boyd Clark Telo Taitague
Hawaii: Lynne Hansen Philip Hellreich
Idaho: Gayann DeMordaunt Tom Luna
Illinois: Steve Kim Sharee Langenstein
Indiana: James Bopp Jr. Deborah Fleming
Iowa: Gopal T.K. Krishna Kimberly Lehman
Kansas: Beverly Caley Kris Kobach
Kentucky: Ed Whitfield Shirley Wiseman
Louisiana: Ambia Baker Tony Perkins
Maine: Linda Bean Mike Wallace
Maryland: Christian Cavey Kathy Szeliga
Massachusetts: Jay Barrows Rachel Kemp
Michigan: Krista Haroutunian Norm Shinkle
Minnesota: Kevin Erickson Juliette Jordal
Mississippi: Lynn Fitch Delbert Hosemann
Missouri: Phyllis Schlafly Jim Talent
Montana: Mark Baker Tamara Hall
Nebraska: Brian Buescher Darlene Starman
Nevada: Cynthia Kennedy Pat Kerby
New Hampshire: David Boutin Beverly Bruce
New Jersey: Aubrey Fenton Lynda Pagliughi
New Mexico: James Damron Rocky Galassini
New York: John Cahill Adele Malpass
North Carolina: Wayne King Mary Summa
North Dakota: Kyle Handegard Paul Henderson
Northern Mariana Islands: Ellsbeth Alepuyo Juan Diego Blanco
Ohio: Clarence Mingo Jane Timken
Oklahoma: Anthony Lauinger Carolyn McLarty
Oregon: Donna Cain Russ Walker
Pennsylvania: Jim Cawley Joyce Haas
Puerto Rico: Jorge San Miguel Vanessa Viera
Rhode Island: Barbara Ann Fenton Richard Ford
South Carolina: Randy Page LaDonna Ryggs
South Dakota: Mary Jean Jensen Dana Randall
Tennessee: Marsha Blackburn Chris Devaney
Texas: David Barton Denise McNamara
Utah: Margaret Dayton Brad Dee
Vermont: Rick Cochran Darcie Johnston
Virginia: Chris Stearns Kathy Terry
Virgin Islands: April Newland Herbert Schoenbohm
Washington: Mary Dye Lew Moore
West Virginia: Conrad Lucas II
Wisconsin: Daniel Feyen Susan Lynch
Wyoming: Cynthia Cloud Dan Dockstader
Platform Staff
Ben Key, Executive Director Elise Stefanik, Policy Director Bill Gribbin,
Editor Gracey Roskam, Executive Assistant Bob Dove, Parliamentarian Laura Dove,
Clerk Jeff Rosen, Counsel Tim Flanigan, Counsel Kirsten Kukowski, Press
Secretary Gary Howard, Press Secretary Leslie Rutledge, RNC Associate Counsel
Jon Waclawski, RNC Advisor and Associate Counsel Karen Portik, Graphic Designer
Marcia Brown, Production
Administrative Team: Gregg Edgar, Brian OfMalley, Mallory
Loring
Court Reporter: Raymond Heer III, Alderson Court
Reporting
Policy Staff
Economy Subcommittee Andrew Olmem Matt Weidinger
Restoring Constitutional Government Ed Corrigan William Henderson
Billy Gribbin
Energy Subcommittee Tony Eberhard Mary Neumayr
Government Reform Subcommittee George Fishman Jonathan Slemrod
Health, Education & Crime Cynthia Herrle Mike OfRielly Keith
Studdard
National Security Subcommittee Neil Bradley Robert Wilkie
Special thanks to the following for their valuable
insights:
Former Executive Directors: Ambassador John Bolton, 1984; William
Martin, 1992; Judy VanRest, 1996; Mitch Bainwol, 2000; Anne Phelps, 2004; Steven
Duffield, 2008
Former Policy Director: Candi Wolff, 2000
Senior Advisors: Tony Feather, James Tobin, Brian Noyes
Special thanks to:
Betsy Ankney, Sara Armstrong, Julia Biebighauser, Tyler Brown, Britt Carter,
Brittany Cohan, Cesar deGuzman, Sharon Day, Dirk Eyman, Mike Gilding, Wells
Griffith, Bill Harris, Anne Hathaway, Rebecca Heilig, Aly Higgins, Colleen
House, Mark Isaacson, Bettina Inclain, Jeff Larson, Jeremy Kenney, Tom Kise,
Tory Maguire, James Min, Johanna Persing, Joe Pounder, Ryan Price, Matt Sauvage,
Tim Schigel, Sean Spicer, Elizabeth Steil, Bill Steiner, Christine Samuelian,
Matt Terrill, Jennifer Voldness, Rick Wiley, Larissa Ziemann and all our
volunteers.