2H 0 H1H2 VALUES VOTER HANDBOOK H H H H iVOTE VALUES.ORG 100 DAYS TO IMPACT THE NATION INSIDE: – PRESIDENTIAL VOTER GUIDE – Which presidential candidate represents your Values? – CONGRESSIONAL SCORECARD – Do your senators and representative deserve your vote? ® The stakes in the 2012 election could not be higher. With policies emanating from Washington DC that challenge our historic understanding of religious liberty and force millions of Americans to violate their religious beliefs—the implications of this election are hard to overstate. So which path will Americans choose, and more importantly, how should Christians be involved? 1. Be Informed At Family Research Council we believe it is incumbent upon Americans of religious conviction to be informed and engaged citizens. Voting our values is one important and tangible way that we bear witness to our faith and serve our fellow man. To help you better understand the policies affecting your faith, family and freedom, and the many candidates who stand poised to play a role in shaping those policies, we are pleased to present our 2012 Values Voter Handbook. We designed this resource to provide you with all the information you need to cast an informed, values based vote this election cycle for those candidates running for federal office. This booklet combines both our Presidential Voter Guide and our Congressional Vote Scorecard with documentation to show where the major candidates stand on the issues and how your elected representatives voted in the 1st session of the 112th Congress. 2. Vote Your Values Up and down the ticket, men and women are seeking your vote for local, state and federal offices.But do they merit your support? Before you prayerfully cast your vote, join with Americans from across the nation and declare that you will be a Values Champion this fall, and only support those candidates who share and advocate for your cherished values: Protect Life ~ Honor Marriage ~ Respect Religious Liberty Make the Values Champion pledge by going online at iVoteValues.org. and encourage others to do the same. 3. Multiply Your Impact – 100 Days to Impact the Nation It’s estimated that of the 60 million committed Christians in America, only half are registered to vote. With so many elections being decided by just a few percentage points, helping these believers get informed and engaged could make a tremendous difference for our nation. 2 iVOTE VALUES.ORG On July 1, FRC will be kicking off 100 Days to Impact the Nation. The hundred 100 DAYS days represents the time remaining for Americans to register to vote before TO IMPACT THE the election. But in order to register and encourage these believers to vote their NATION values, we need your help. Once you’ve signed the Values Pledge, here’s how you can make an impact: PRAY You’ve taken the iPLEDGE2VOTE challenge, now join us in prayer for our nation, elected officials, and for a surge of values voters at the polls. PREPARE AND PARTICIPATE Prepare by registering and encouraging t ow others to vote. Also, participate in the election by voting for candidates that will uphold Biblical values. Encourage your friends and family to sign the pledge at iVoteValues.org. 100 DAYS Be a part of our 100 Day focus. Keep an eye on your email box for specific instructions on how you can register voters. Better yet, log on today at iVoteValues.org and click on the “take action” tab and start impacting your nation! Also, talk to your pastor about conducting a Voter Registration drive at your church. The Voter Impact Toolkit is designed to help equip you for voter registration, education, and action. In it you will find answers to frequently asked questions, legal do’s and don’ts, practical “How To” help on a number of action steps, and a reference section full of helpful resources. Go to iVoteValues.org to order this toolkit. Thank you for standing with us to promote voter registration over these 100 days. May God bless you and your family, and may God bless America. Standing, (Eph 6:13) Check out the Values Voter Video Series covering these important Tony Perkins issues : President LIFE P.S. To learn more about our efforts, MARRIAGE go to iVoteValues.org where you can view the Values Voter video series and RELIGIOUS receive more information about voter LIBERTY registration initiatives. THE ECONOMY VOTING 3 2012 Values Voter Presidential Voter Guide ® Barack Obama Mitt Romney TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTION SUPPORT1 OPPOSE2 Do you support or oppose taxpayer funding of abortions? GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPORT3 OPPOSE4 Do you support or oppose giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood? TAXPAYER FUNDING OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC 5 6 STEM CELL RESEARCH SUPPORT OPPOSE Do you support or oppose the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research? BAN HUMAN CLONING Do you support or oppose federal legislation prohibiting human cloning of all kinds, OPPOSE7 SUPPORT8 both “therapeutic” and “reproductive”? FULL REPEAL OF THE ESTATE TAX OPPOSE9 SUPPORT10 Do you support or oppose the repeal of the federal estate tax? PARENTAL CHOICE IN EDUCATION OPPOSE11 SUPPORT12 Do you support or oppose parental rights in education (educational choice)? STATE MARRIAGE AMENDMENTS 13 14 Do you support or oppose the state constitutional amendments preserving natural marriage? OPPOSE SUPPORT FEDERAL DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT 15 16 Do you support or oppose enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)? OPPOSE SUPPORT MARRIAGE AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION Do you support or oppose a marriage protection amendment to the U.S. Constitution OPPOSE17 SUPPORT18 that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman? ENDA - SPECIAL EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS BASED UPON SEXUAL BEHAVIOR Do you support or oppose the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act? SUPPORT19 OPPOSE20 APPOINTMENT OF CONSERVATIVE JUSTICES Do you support or oppose strict constructionist judges? OPPOSE21 SUPPORT22 MILITARY SOCIAL ENGINEERING SUPPORT23 SUPPORT24 Do you support or oppose open homosexuality in the military? GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF HEALTHCARE 25 26 Do you support or oppose the healthcare law known as “Obamacare”? SUPPORT OPPOSE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 27 28 Do you support or oppose protection for institutions, organizations, and individuals OPPOSE SUPPORT from having the government force them to violate their moral or religious beliefs? Go to www.iVoteValues.org for more 2012 election information sources: page 15 frc action VOTE SCORECARD 112th congress Dear Voter and Friend of the Family: This Vote Scorecard for the First Session of the 112th Congress outlines votes on legislation and nominations that FRC Action either supported or opposed. It provides you with information about the way your elected Representatives and Senators voted on key issues affecting the family. In reaction to the radical liberal agenda of President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress, the 2010 elections brought sweeping changes to Congress. The House of Representatives regained a Republican majority as well as a pro-family and pro-life majority. Pro-life stalwart Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) went so far as to declare this House the “most pro-life” in living memory. In the Senate, while changes were not as drastic as in the House of Representatives, there were substantial conservative gains. Although liberals maintained a majority, it was no longer a filibuster proof one. Conservatives in the 112th Congress faced many challenges, including a divided government and a liberal majority in the Senate. The House of Representatives successfully voted twice to deny taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States. Unfortunately, these efforts were blocked by the liberal majority in the Senate. The House also passed the “No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act” by a wide bipartisan majority to remove abortion from the Obama health care law, and they voted to repeal and defund the widely unpopular health care law which was pushed through Congress last year. Once again, these efforts have languished in the Senate. At the same time, the government spending bills for fiscal year 2011 were never passed last year. It has been over 1,000 days since the U.S. Senate has passed a regular-order budget. Instead, the government was kept afloat through temporary spending measures. This led to the public debate over a “government shutdown” in the Spring of 2011. We scored negatively a three week spending bill because it did not restore the long-standing “Dornan Amendment,” a ban on government funding for abortion in the District of Columbia that the pro-abortion led 111th Congress rescinded in 2010. While the House full-year spending bill (H.R. 1) restored the Dornan Amendment, the Senate rejected the bill. This led to additional short-term spending measures all of which continued The House of Representatives the taxpayer funding of abortion provision, while the debate raged over spending levels for 2011. The three week measure successfully voted twice to deny we opposed did pass the House, but with increased opposition taxpayer funding to Planned among pro-life Republicans. We believe this growing opposition led to a restoration of the D.C. abortion funding ban in the Parenthood 5 final 2011 spending bill when a deal was struck, and the bill became law on April 15. While scoring the vote on the three week measure was seen as controversial by some, it was no less controversial than a pro-life majority in the House allowing for direct government funding of abortion to continue. We believe scoring the short-term measure helped restore the policy in the final 2011 spending bill. Since the vote, we now know that government funds were used to kill over 300 unborn babies during the time the Dornan Amendment had been removed, and we believe that restoring the policy has protected the lives of many more children.