Family Research Council: GOP Pledge is "Not Exceptional"
Amanda Terkel reports:
The religious right offered a hesitant embrace of the Republican Party's new "Pledge to America," with several groups saying they are happy the GOP included mentions of social issues but now expect Republicans, if they win back the majority, to follow through on their promises.
"While I have some disappointment that the pledge to honor the 'values issues' such as traditional marriage were not more clearly defined within the document, this is a significant improvement over the '94 Contact with America which was silent on the moral issues," said the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins in a statement to The Huffington Post. "The pledge is not exceptional, but it is satisfactory, as it does lay a foundation to build upon, and it moves Congressional Republicans to a place of public acknowledgment that values issues are to be a part of the conservative way forward."
The Pledge focuses much more heavily on economic issues than social ones, and according to Jon Ward of The Daily Caller, has "little of substance for the value voters movement." The preamble states, "We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity. We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values." Beyond that, however, there is very little mentioned, except plans to "permanently end taxpayer funding of abortion and codify the Hyde Amendment" and "enact into law conscience protections for health care providers, including doctors, nurses, and hospitals."
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