From the McAuliffe campaign:
“At last night's debate, Ken Cuccinelli refused to clearly condemn the threat of a government shutdown as a bargaining chip to push an ideological agenda. He has focused his career on fighting divisive ideological battles and is about to bring Senator Ted Cruz, the leader of the shutdown movement, to Virginia,” said McAuliffe spokesperson Josh Schwerin. “Ken Cuccinelli nearly killed the entire state budget in Virginia over his battle to defund Planned Parenthood. It's time for Ken Cuccinelli to give Virginians the straight answer they deserve.”
In February 2008, the AP reported, “The state budget for the next two years was almost killed Wednesday in a partisan Senate duel of strained rhetoric and parliamentary maneuvering… The Senate vote, normally no more than a procedural milepost, remained in doubt for hours over a Republican amendment that eliminated state support for nonprofit abortion clinics.” [AP, 2/28/08]
Family Foundation Touted Cuccinelli Award, Cited His Fight to Defund Planned Parenthood, “ShutDown Senate for Over Four Hours”
In November 2008, the Family Foundation posted on its blog, “Also last evening, The Family Foundation was thrilled to present the 2008 Legislator of the Year Award to Virginia Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Centreville). Cuccinelli fought to defund Planned Parenthood in the 2008 General Assembly by introducing a budgetamendment in the Senate. That fight shut down the Senate for over four hours while Republicans and Democrats fought within their own caucuses. Ultimately, the vote was a 20-20 tie with Lt. Governor Bolling casting the deciding vote in favor of the amendment. The budget amendment, unfortunately, was not included in the final budget. Senator Cuccinelli has been an advocate for property rights, life, marriage and many other values in his time in the state Senate. We were pleased to be able to honor him.” [Family Foundation Blog,11/22/08]
Following Year, Cuccinelli Introduced Another Budget Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood
In 2009, Cuccinelli introduced a floor amendment to budget bill SB 850 that would defund PlannedParenthood. His amendment stated, “No expenditures from general, special or other non-general fund sources may be made out of any appropriation by the General Assembly to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof.” The amendment was rejected. The budget bill passed the Senate 36-4, with Cuccinelli voting No but it failed to pass the House. [SB 850, Cuccinelli Amendment, 2009]
Cuccinelli Laughed While Introducing His Amendment To Block Funding For “The Largest Abortion Provider In America,”Planned Parenthood
In February 2009, Cuccinelli said on the Senate floor while introducing his amendment: “I’d be happy to read it for anybody who’d [laughs] like to hear it. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. This floor amendment is essentially the same as I’ve put forward last year. It’s a language amendment to block the use of appropriations to flow to Planned Parenthood or any of its affiliates. Self-explanatory. This would obviously block money from going to the largest abortion provider in America to provide them overhead support or anything else. And I hope we will support the amendment again this year.” [Senate Floor Footage, 2/18/09]
Cuccinelli Argued Planned Parenthood Wanted Funding for Sex Ed to Expose “Our Children” to their “Abortion on Demand” Services
In March 2008, Cuccinelli wrote, “Planned Parenthood's sex-ed programs in our schools are what a marketing executive might call a ‘loss leader,’ used to introduce their organization and all it has to offer, e.g., abortion on demand, to our children.” [Cuccinelli Letter to the Editor, Virginian-Pilot, 3/07/08]
In September 2013, WJLA reported, “Asked about the looming prospects of a government shutdown, Cuccinelli was asked about the tactic of Ted Cruz, who’s doing everything in his power to get Obamacare defunded. He more or less skirted the question. 'I’d like to see Obamacare pulled out of federal law,' he said, 'but we’ve got to keep moving forward.'” [WJLA, 9/25/13]
TODD: You didn’t answer the Ted Cruz portion here. So do you support—?
CUCCINELLI: I said I don’t want the federal government to shut down.
TODD: So you don’t support his effort, what he is doing?
CUCCINELLI: Well, he finished sort of a filibuster today, and at some point you’ve got to vote. So…
TODD: So you don’t support what he is doing?
CUCCINELLI: Well, I’d like to see Obamacare pulled out of federal law, but you know we’ve got to keep moving forward and make compromises to get the budget going.
Senator Cruz to campaign for Cuccinelli on October 5th. [The Run 2016, 8/25/13]
Cruz Filmed Ads Trying To Pressure Republican Senators To Support Plan To Shut Down The Government In September 2013, the Washington Post reported, “In August, Cruz and Lee filmed ads for the Senate Conservatives Fund. The spots ran in states with GOP senators, trying to pressure them to support the plan to shut down the government. Cruz and DeMint traveled nationwide trying to rally conservative activists to pressure Republicans. It worked in the House, where several dozen members forced Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to retreat from his plan to pass a stopgap government funding bill without strict restrictions on health-care funding. Instead, Boehner allowed the Cruz-backed language to pass last week. Cruz issued a thank-you message but noted that he had little chance of success in the Senate.” [Washington Post, 9/23/13]
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