Dear Friends,
Our legislation department sent the following update to our leaders last night – thank you for your “prayer and action” on these key issues. The battle is far from over!
Blessings,
Penny Nance
Chief Executive Officer
Dear State Leaders,
The House, by a vote of 260-157, and the Senate, by a vote of 81-19, averted further threats of a government shutdown and funded the government through September 30.
The bill relied on Democrat support in the House to get across the finish line, because 59 Republicans opposed the deal reached by President Obama, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), because the bill failed to significantly cut spending, and didn’t protect the pro-life/pro-family policies included in H.R. 1.
As part of the agreement, the House and Senate also debated and voted on separate resolutions to defund ObamaCare and Planned Parenthood. The resolution to defund Planned Parenthood passed the House 241-185 and to defund ObamaCare 240-185.
In the Senate, the resolutions to defund ObamaCare and to defund Planned Parenthood both failed to garner the 60 votes needed, as we had expected. The vote to defund Planned Parenthood was 42-58 (five Republicans: Scott Brown [Massachusetts], Susan Collins [Maine], Mark Kirk[Illinois], Lisa Murkowski [Alaska] and Olympia Snowe [Maine] all opposed) and the vote to defund ObamaCare was 47-53 (strictly along party lines).
The House has now started debate on the 2012 Budget. These budget debates will likely be much more contentious than the battle over funding the government. Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and the Republican Study Committee (RSC) have both introduced budgets that provide a crucial blueprint to getting our country back on the right fiscal track.
We have sent a letter to the Hill urging Members of Congress to support these budget resolutions and ensure the long-term fiscal health of our country. As these debates continue, we will provide you continued updates.
Sincerely,
Shari Rendall
Director of Legislation and Public Policy
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee