MONONGAHELA, Pa.—Flanked by fellow House Republicans, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) unveiled the party’s “Commitment to America” plan on Sept. 22 to an enthusiastic crowd at a manufacturing plant located south of Pittsburgh.
The platform was developed with input from Republicans nationwide, reflecting a mission to provide guidance from House members at the local level all the way to the most prominent Republican leaders, according to multiple representatives at the event.
Representing the culmination of a year of work, the “Commitment to America” follows the plan of former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America,” which helped the GOP win a majority in the House in the 1994 midterms.
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The plan includes four categories—“An Economy That’s Strong,” “A Nation That’s Safe,” “A Future That’s Built on Freedom,” and “A Government That’s Accountable.”
It features policies to fight abortion, reduce crime, curb inflation, secure the U.S.–Mexico border and minimize illegal immigration, and ensure that only biological women are able to participate in women’s sports, among other objectives. A “Parents’ Bill of Rights” in the plan is important “because you will have a say in your kids’ education,” McCarthy said.
The first piece of legislation to reach the House floor would “repeal 87,000 IRS agents,” he said to an approving audience, alluding to one of the measures in the Inflation Reduction Act that Biden signed in August.
The “Commitment to America” is designed to be a blueprint for governing in 2023. Although Democrats currently have a majority in the House, Republicans feel confident that they'll regain control of the chamber when midterm election results are announced on Nov. 8.
Elections are being held for every seat in the House. At least 212 districts lean Republican while 192 favor Democrats, the Cook Political Report announced on Sept. 21. The organization rates 31 districts as toss-ups.
“Democrats control Washington. They control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and they control the committees and the agencies,” McCarthy said. “They have no plan to fix all the problems they created, so you know what, we’ve created a ‘Commitment to America.’
“We want an economy that is strong. That means you can fill up your tank. You can buy the groceries. You have enough money left over to go to Disneyland and save for a future—that the paychecks grow, they no longer shrink.
“We have a plan for a nation that’s safe. That means your community will be protected. Your law enforcement will be respected. Your criminals will be prosecuted. We believe in a future that’s built on freedom—that your children come first.”
McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) promised strict oversight into China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccinations, the illegal immigration crisis, and the flood of fentanyl into the United States.
“We will give Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas a reserved parking spot, he will be testifying so much about this,” Scalise said, referencing the secretary of Homeland Security.
Jordan, who was first elected to Ohio’s 4th Congressional District in 2007, is expected to decisively win another term on Nov. 8.
“We went from a secure border to no border. We went from safe streets to record crime. We went from $2 gas to $5 gas, and we went from stable prices to a 41-year-high inflation rate,” he told The Epoch Times. “Those are the four big issues, not to mention what the left has done to your liberty, your First Amendment free speech rights, your Second Amendment rights, your Fourth Amendment due process rights, and your right to direct the upbringing and education of your children.
“That’s the essence of this campaign. That’s the essence of our ‘Commitment to America.’ It’s about fixing those issues and protecting your freedom.”
In a Twitter post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) spokesman Henry Connelly bashed McCarthy’s blueprint for “doubling down on an extreme MAGA agenda.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who panned National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott’s “11 Point Plan to Rescue America,” praised McCarthy on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/LeaderMcConnell/status/1572970929545781250
Gingrich, who met with House Republicans a day before the platform was announced, called the plan “more sophisticated” than his 1994 outline that led to the end of Democratic control in the House.
“Keep focused on the commitment. Talk about it over and over and over again,” Gingrich told reporters on Sept. 21. “The theory is, you talk about it until you can’t stand it, and [at] about that point, the voters are starting to know what’s going on.”
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, agreed.
“Campaigns are twofold,” Emmer told The Epoch Times. “You have to hold your opponent accountable. We have all these Democrats who said that they were going to go to Washington as moderate problem solvers. They were going to reach across the aisle and get things done. And they were going to fire Nancy Pelosi.
“Well, they didn’t do any of that.
“With the ‘Commitment to America,’ we are holding Democrats accountable for all these failures and incompetence that has really hurt the American public.”
Before the plan can be implemented, Republicans must win in November—a feat that Jordan believes will happen.
“From my background in sports, I learned a long time ago that you should never be overconfident. Yet it’s important to confidently campaign with a message that says what we will do if we win,” he told The Epoch Times. “We’ll see on Nov. 8, but I believe we’re going to win, and then we’ll start delivering on our commitment.”
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