Sen. Hawley Proposes Over a Dozen Amendments in 1st Conservative Challenge to Dem Budget Bill
Democrats who support a $3.5 trillion bill to throw money at leftist policies will first have to take a stand against the police and patriotism.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri made those two items high on his list of 15 amendments to the spending bill Democrats have vowed to ram home through the Senate with no Republican support using a procedural gimmick known as reconciliation
“The Democratic Party is attempting to pass what could be the most radical left-wing legislation this country has ever seen — and they’re rushing it through Congress, hoping no one notices,” Hawley said, according to a news release.
Hawley was the first Republican to respond to the $3.5 trillion budget bill, according to Townhall, and said extremists are running the show in Washington with Democrats in control of the White House and Congress.
“Joe Biden and his allies in the Senate want to ram through a multi-trillion-dollar budget that lays the groundwork for their far-left agenda, like amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, the Green New Deal, and a sweeping takeover of the American family by the federal government,” he said.
“The Senate is not just a rubber stamp for this kind of insanity. I will make sure that my colleagues lining up to support this agenda are held accountable.”
Debate on the bill began Monday after Democrats won the first round of voting in the Senate.
I just voted NO on the first installment of Joe Biden’s massive left wing agenda – no to gender identity mandates, no to the Green New Deal, no to CRT “racial equity” mandates, no to decimating the energy sector – YES to America
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 10, 2021
Although Republicans lack the ability to stop the legislation, Democratic opposition to key amendments could loom large when leftist senators try to explain their positions to centrist voters.
For example, Hawley is calling for an amendment to the bill that would fund the hiring of 100,000 new police officers.
“American families aren’t safe, but they deserve to be. And they can be if we will act. This is not the time to defund the police or vilify them, but to support the brave men and women in blue – and put more of them on the streets. Immediately,” Hawley said, according to a news release.
Coming at a time when Americans across the nation are up in arms over critical race theory being jammed down the throats of children and service members, one of Hawley’s amendments would ban such training for federal workers.
Hawley also is proposing an amendment that would “promote patriotic education in K-12 schools and teach students to love America.”
“Over the past year, Americans have watched stunned as a radical ideology spread through our country’s elite institutions — one that teaches America is an irredeemably racist nation founded by white supremacists. Now it has found its way into our children’s schools,” Hawley said in July, according to a news release.
“We cannot afford for our children to lose faith in the noble ideals this country was founded on. We have to make sure that our children understand what makes this country great, the ideals of hope and promise our Founding Fathers fought for, and the love of country that unites us all.”
One of Hawley’s amendments includes a parent tax credit for working families that rewards work and marriage, and others would ban government-run universal pre-kindergarten and child care.
Several amendments will address Hawley’s pro-life agenda, including protecting the Hyde amendment and protections for health care workers so they are not forced to perform abortions.
Another would protect “conscience rights by preventing healthcare providers from being forced to perform, provide, or refer for gender transition or reassignment surgeries, procedures, or medications.”
Further amendments Hawley will propose would restrict federal funding for K-12 schools that do not resume in-person instruction as well as for those that require COVID-19 vaccines for students and force students to don masks.
Hawley will also seek to defund the World Trade Organization, keep American taxpayer-funded research from being shared with China, and provide desperately needed mental health resources to rural areas.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made it clear Republicans plan to make the mammoth bill a core issue in next year’s mid-term elections, according to Reuters.
“This is why we have elections,” Graham said. “In 2022, this idea will be on the ballot, and my goal and my Republican colleagues’ is to fight like hell.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
