From the DCCC:
In the midst of Barbara Comstock’s Republican Party kicking off its weeklong Trump-mania in Cleveland yesterday, convention delegates also voted to adopt the GOP’s platform, “a startlingly backward” and downright reckless vision for our country. This fall, Barbara Comstock will not only be sharing a ticket with Donald Trump and the dangerous policies he promotes, but will be running on a Republican Party platform that includes numerous proposals that are out of step with Virginians.
The Republican Party’s newly-adopted platform includes provisions to: defund Planned Parenthood and limit Virginia’s families access to women’s health care and cancer screenings, block common sense legislation to keep suspected terrorists from getting deadly weapons, keep hardworking Americans from getting a raise, and advance Trump’s reckless, costly, and unworkable border wall proposal.
If Trump were to become president, this platform reveals what he would ask Republican House members to pass.
“Barbara Comstock put her Republican Party over the good of our country when she stood by as Donald Trump became the Republican Party’s reckless standard bearer,” said Jermaine House of the DCCC. “Now, Barbara Comstock is standing by once again as her Party adopts a ‘most extreme,’ ‘retrograde,’ and out of touch statement of priorities, which would be as disastrous in action as it is offensive to Virginians in principle. This November, voters will reject Barbara Comstock, Donald Trump, and a Republican brand that puts their extreme party politics over people.”
Lowlights of Barbara Comstock’s party platform include:
| Building A Border Wall: The Republican platform includes the central policy proposal of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump: the construction of a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.According to the platform text, a border wall “must cover the entirety of the southern border.” Such a proposal would cost upwards of $25 billion.
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| Opposed To Women’s Healthcare: The Republican platform builds on what was included in the 2012 platform, calling for completely defunding Planned Parenthood andestablishing a so-called “personhood” amendment to the Constitution: “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.” The Republican platform mentions abortion some three dozen times and the anti-choice Susan B Anthony List called it the “strongest pro-life platform in the Republican Party’s history.”
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Barbara Comstock Has Now Voted Five Times To Defund Planned Parenthood. [Vote #505, 9/18/15; Vote #504, 9/18/15; Vote #527, 9/30/15; 10/7/15; Vote #568, 10/23/15; Vote #6, 1/6/16]
Comstock Voted For Personhood Bill To Put Restrictions On Common Forms of Birth Control. In February 2012, Comstock voted in favor of HB 1, a so-called personhood bill, over strong opposition to the bill. Opponents argued that the broad measure could prohibit birth control. The bill passed 66 to 32 in the Virginia House of Delegates. [Washington Post, 2/13/12; HB 1, 2012 Session, 2/14/12]
Comstock Endorsed By Susan B. Anthony List. [SBA List, accessed7/19/16]
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| Anti-Equality & Insulting Single Parents: The Republican platformembraces notions of “traditional” heterosexual marriage, shockingly referring to it as “natural” marriage. The platform falsely claims children not of “traditional two-parent households” are less healthy, more likely to use drugs and more likely to commit crimes. While clearly out of step with the public, party activists and the social conservative wing of the Party continue to exert their influence to make sure that language included in the platform rejects a more open, inclusive approach to LGBT equality.
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Comstock “Has Consistently Opposed Same-Sex Marriage.” “The main line of attack on Comstock from Marshall and Wasinger is that she is insufficiently socially conservative. She has consistently opposed same-sex marriage and abortion, and among her supporters are such undoubted social conservatives as Mary Ellen Bork, Eugene Scalia, and Rick Santorum.” [National Review,2/17/14] |
| Pro-Discrimination Against Single Moms, LGBT Individuals:The Republican platform includes support for the First Amendment Defense Act, an extreme bill that would legalize discrimination, opening the door to allow employers to fire single moms or LGBT individuals without cause. The editorial board of the Des Moines Register slammed the bill as “ridiculous” legislation that “would create a mess.”
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| Discriminatory Practices Like Conversion Therapy: Included in the platform’s opposition to gay marriage is another insertion that affirms the right of parents to prescribe “therapy”, a clear allusion to conversion therapy and an addition that was strongly advocated for by Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council.
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| Opposing Commonsense Gun Safety Measures: The Republican platform was written to opposecommonsense no fly, no buy legislation that would prevent suspected terrorists from buying firearms. The platform also explicitly defends the types of weapons used in recent shootings, including Newtown, Aurora, San Bernardino and Oregon.
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Comstock Voted 22 Times To Block No Fly, No Buy Legislation.[H Res 539, Vote #646, 12/01/15; H Res 542, Vote #653, 12/02/15; H Res 546, Vote #666, 12/03/15; H Res 556, Vote #682, 12/09/15; HR 2130, Vote #685, 12/09/15; Motion,Vote #688, 12/10/15; H Res 560,Vote #690, 12/11/15; H Res 579,Vote #2, 1/06/16; H Res 580, Vote #4, 1/06/16; H Res 581, Vote #21, 1/07/16; H Res 783, Vote #304, 6/15/16; H J Res 88, Vote #337, 6/22/16; H Res 796, Vote #343, 7/05/16; H Res 793, Vote #345, 7/05/16; H Res 794, Vote #347, 7/05/16; H Res 803, Vote #352, 7/06/16; HR 4361, Vote #375, 7/06/16; H Res 809, Vote #387, 7/07/16; H Res 820, Vote #406, 7/12/16; H Res 89, Vote #408, 7/12/16; HR 4768, Vote #415, 7/12/16; H Res 822, Vote #439, 7/13/16]
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| Anti-Military Women: The Republican platform opposeswomen in combat and including women in Selective Service.
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