Subject: Excerpts from Congressional Press Call on the GOP Autopsy and Donald Trump as the Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2016 20:49:22 +0000

For Immediate Release

March 17, 2016

Contact: DNC Press - 202-863-8148

Excerpts from Congressional Press Call on the GOP Autopsy and Donald Trump as the Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee

WASHINGTON - Today, House Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, Rep. Judy Chu (Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus), Rep. Andre Carson (Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus) and Jason Rae (DNC Youth Council chair) hosted a press call discussing the Republican Party's vitriolic and divisive rhetoric on women and communities of color, as demonstrated by the GOP frontrunner and presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

This week marks the three year anniversary of the Republican National Committee's "Growth and Opportunity Project," also known as the GOP Autopsy Report, following their 2012 election losses. In an effort to win future elections, the RNC vowed to be more inclusive and to take steps to show respect for the rights of immigrants, women and minorities. Instead of embracing the Autopsy's recommendations, Republicans continued to spew divisive rhetoric and support damaging policies, all of which have contributed to the rise of Donald Trump.

Here are some excerpts from the press call, as prepared for delivery:

House Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra:

Republicans running for the highest office of the land today are preaching anger and bitterness, working to exclude entire communities of Americans from their 2016 visions.

Senator Ted Cruz has said undocumented immigrants should "absolutely" be deported. He stressed this to a man in Iowa, who questioned his immigration policy.

Governor John Kasich has mocked granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants and likened it to cutting a line at a concert. He said and I quote, "I don't favor citizenship because, as I teach my kids, you don't jump the line to get into a Taylor Swift concert."

Donald Trump has claimed that Mexican immigrants are quote "bringing drugs and they are bringing crime, they're rapists." And he has called for a "big beautiful wall" that would rip families who have worked hard in our country for years apart.

Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus:

At a campaign rally in Iowa, Donald Trump mocked Asians using a fake, broken-English accent. Both he and Jeb Bush have referred to the children of immigrants as "anchor babies." Carly Fiorina resorted to stereotyping an entire culture for political gain by saying<http://time.com/3897081/carly-fiorina-china-innovation/>, "The Chinese can take a test, but what they can't do is innovate. They are not terribly imaginative. They're not entrepreneurial."

The autopsy recommended that Republicans get on board with immigration reform. But instead of immigration reform, Ted Cruz proposed deporting<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/22/ted-cruz-says-hed-deport-all-illegal-immigrants-us/> all 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the US (including children and DREAMers) and an end to birthright citizenship. All of the candidates have said they would get rid of DACA and DAPA.

All of the GOP presidential candidates oppose safe and legal abortion and/or want to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that a large number of women across the country depend on for essential health services. John Kasich actually defunded Planned Parenthood in his state last month.

Rep. Andre Carson, Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus:

We shouldn't be surprised that Donald Trump's vicious campaign tactics have vaulted him to the top of the Republican primary field. By inciting violence at his rallies, encouraging the crowd to beat up a Black Lives Matter protester, and waffling on whether or not to denounce the KKK, Trump knows exactly what he's doing, and it's shameful.

There are certainly no moderates in the GOP field. Senator Cruz once bragged that his first political contribution was to the late Senator Jesse Helms, a strident opponent of civil rights legislation. He also led the fight at as Texas Solicitor General to limit voter registration efforts in communities of color, vigorously defending a discriminatory law against a civil rights lawsuit.

Governor Kasich relaxed the time limit on food stamps in predominately white communities while keeping the limits in place for struggling communities of color, and he doubled-down on Mitt Romney's offensive comments to the NAACP about African-Americans voting for Democrats because they want - quote "free stuff" - end quote.

Jason Rae, (DNC Youth Council chair):

Ted Cruz stands with Kim Davis in discriminating against LGBT Americans and has called the Supreme Court's marriage equality decision "utterly lawless", "illegitimate", "contrary to the Constitution", and "among the darkest hours of our nation."

On the court's marriage equality decision, [Donald Trump] has said, "if I'm elected, I would be very strong in putting certain judges on the bench that I think maybe could change things."

Make no mistake: the party of Trump is still the party of intolerance and discrimination. And young voters are still rolling their eyes.

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