Subject: RE: 2016 GOP Platform / Blackburn
From: "Lykins, Tyler" <[email-masked]>
To: "Brinster, Jeremy" <[email-masked]>, RRResearch_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 08:16:33 -0700

Sheesh. She alluded to something of this nature last month, but didn't mention specific policy ideas.

Marsha Blackburn Said It's Important To Entertain Ideas From New Voters This Primary Season To "Keep Those People Interested." "Expect some esoteric planks, tossed in with those with more broad support, said Tennessee U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn. This presidential election has drawn in new voters, and it's important to entertain their ideas 'and keep those people interested,' said Blackburn, who was co-chair of the platform committee last cycle. 'I think this is going to be healthy,' she said." [Bloomberg, 4/21/16<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-04-21/republicans-face-prospect-of-platform-free-for-all-at-convention>]

From: Brinster, Jeremy
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 11:12 AM
To: RRResearch_D
Subject: 2016 GOP Platform / Blackburn

I wanted to flag that 2012 GOP platform committee co-chair Marsha Blackburn was asked about Donald Trump's Muslim ban being a part of the 2016 GOP Platform, and what she said was below. I also wanted to highlight quotes from an Amicus Brief she signed onto for the Obergefell case, which she did under the name of the 2012 Platform committee Co-Chair. It's pretty nuts.

Platform

Marsha Blackburn On Donald Trump's Proposed Muslim Ban Becoming A Part Of The Republican Platform: "There Will Be Great Debate And Conversation Around These Issues." KORNACKI: "If he tries to put [a Muslim Ban] in the Republican Party's platform, would you be okay with that?" BLACKBURN: "Well, I chaired the platform committee...in 2012, and there will be great debate and conversation around these issues. The point is, do the American people want us to temporarily halt that program so that we know who is coming in the country and that we have a vetting program to verify that individuals are who they say they are. Now, most people want to see some common sense vetting brought to this process. Is it a platform plank? I would say probably not. I would say dealing with the immigration issue at large is probably be going to a platform plank, winning the war against ISIS is something that you want to see there, and making certain that we know who is coming into our country...Senator Sessions has done a great job leading the discussion on that specific issue." [MSNBC Live, MSNBC, 5/6/16]

Marsha Blackburn On Donald Trump's Proposed Muslim Ban Becoming A Part Of The Republican Platform: "The Point Is, Do The American People Want Us To Temporarily Halt That Program So That We Know Who Is Coming In The Country And That We Have A Vetting Program To Verify That Individuals Are Who They Say They Are." KORNACKI: "If he tries to put [a Muslim Ban] in the Republican Party's platform, would you be okay with that?" BLACKBURN: "Well, I chaired the platform committee...in 2012, and there will be great debate and conversation around these issues. The point is, do the American people want us to temporarily halt that program so that we know who is coming in the country and that we have a vetting program to verify that individuals are who they say they are. Now, most people want to see some common sense vetting brought to this process. Is it a platform plank? I would say probably not. I would say dealing with the immigration issue at large is probably be going to a platform plank, winning the war against ISIS is something that you want to see there, and making certain that we know who is coming into our country...Senator Sessions has done a great job leading the discussion on that specific issue." [MSNBC Live, MSNBC, 5/6/16]

Marsha Blackburn On Donald Trump's Stopping Syrian Refugees From Entering The Country: "Most People Want To See Some Common Sense Vetting Brought To This Process. Is It A Platform Plank? I Would Say Probably Not." KORNACKI: "If he tries to put [a Muslim Ban] in the Republican Party's platform, would you be okay with that?" BLACKBURN: "Well, I chaired the platform committee...in 2012, and there will be great debate and conversation around these issues. The point is, do the American people want us to temporarily halt that program so that we know who is coming in the country and that we have a vetting program to verify that individuals are who they say they are. Now, most people want to see some common sense vetting brought to this process. Is it a platform plank? I would say probably not. I would say dealing with the immigration issue at large is probably be going to a platform plank, winning the war against ISIS is something that you want to see there, and making certain that we know who is coming into our country...Senator Sessions has done a great job leading the discussion on that specific issue." [MSNBC Live, MSNBC, 5/6/16]

Marsha Blackburn On The 2016 Republican Platform: "I Would Say Dealing With The Immigration Issue At Large Is Probably Be Going To A Platform Plank, Winning The War Against ISIS Is Something That You Want To See There, And Making Certain That We Know Who Is Coming Into Our Country." KORNACKI: "If he tries to put [a Muslim Ban] in the Republican Party's platform, would you be okay with that?" BLACKBURN: "Well, I chaired the platform committee...in 2012, and there will be great debate and conversation around these issues. The point is, do the American people want us to temporarily halt that program so that we know who is coming in the country and that we have a vetting program to verify that individuals are who they say they are. Now, most people want to see some common sense vetting brought to this process. Is it a platform plank? I would say probably not. I would say dealing with the immigration issue at large is probably be going to a platform plank, winning the war against ISIS is something that you want to see there, and making certain that we know who is coming into our country...Senator Sessions has done a great job leading the discussion on that specific issue." [MSNBC Live, MSNBC, 5/6/16]

Blackburn Obergefell Amicus Brief

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Cited A 1984 Study Claiming That Only 0.5 Percent Of Gay Male Couples "Maintained Sexual Fidelity." "Second, same-sex marriage is much less sexually exclusive. A study of 156 male couples in relationships that had lasted from 1 to 37 years showed that only one half of one percent (0.5%) maintained sexual fidelity. David P. McWhirter, Andrew Mattison, The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop 150, 156 (1984). The study concludes that 'the expectation of 16 outside (sexual) activity was the rule for male couples and the exception for heterosexual couples.'" [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Argued That Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Would Mean "Encouraging The Growth Of Government And Removing A Key Bulwark Against Government, Particularly Tyrannical And Totalitarian Ones." "The Republican Party supported traditional marriage and family because it is the foundation for free society, and undermining it, by any means, undermines traditional family formation, thereby encouraging the growth of government and removing a key bulwark against government, particularly tyrannical and totalitarian ones." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Argued That Welfare Programs Like Food Stamps "Often Undermined The Family And Increased Dependence On And The Growth Of Government." "Recognizing the vital role a husband and father often plays in the family, and the substantial cost to the family of loss of a key member, the Republican Party supported a limited government role in ensuring such families succeed despite their loss. And these government programs did not encourage family breakup. The breakup occurred due to death in war. Such is not the case for some welfare programs. The Republican Party opposed the adoption of both President Johnson's Aid to Families with Dependent Children(AFDC) program, which expanded the welfare program to cover all unmarried parents with children, see Republican Party Platform of 1968 at 25841 ('Welfare and poverty programs will be drastically revised to liberate the poor from the debilitating dependence which erodes self-respect and discourages family unity and responsibility'), and Johnson's 'Great Society' food stamp program expansion, which ballooned during his term from 424,000 participants to 2.2 million...Such programs often undermined the family and increased dependence on and the growth of government." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Argued That Welfare Programs Launched Under President Johnson "Often Drove Fathers Out Of Their Children's Homes." "Such programs often undermined the family and increased dependence on and the growth of government. The black community offers a case study justifying these concerns...However, the Johnson administration rejected Moynihan's recommendations and launched welfare programs that often drove fathers out of their children's homes." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Argued That Welfare Programs Launched Under President Johnson Led To A Rise In Out-Of-Wedlock Births Among Black Americans Because They "Reinforced Dependency On Government And Undermine The Family." "In 1960, 23 percent of black children were born out of wedlock (a level that seemed alarmingly high to Moynihan). Bryce Christensen, Time for A New 'Moynihan Report'? Confronting the National Family Crisis, The Family in America, Vol. 18, No. 10 (Oct. 2004), available at http://profam.org/pub/fia/fia_1810. htm. By 1987, after 15 years of the War on Poverty welfare programs of the Great Society, out-of-wedlock births rose to 62 percent. Id. At the same time, the marriage rate of black women ages 25 to 29 plummeted from 60 percent to 32 percent. Id. 'And just as Moynihan had predicted, this unraveling of the black family incubated a nightmarish brood of social problems-crime, abuse, academic failure, economic distress, homelessness, and physical and mental illness.' Id. Moynihan identified 'a tangle of pathology' that he said characterized the community, including 'delinquency, joblessness, school failure, crime, and fatherlessness.' Homes, supra. This occurred because the government's response, rather than strengthening families, instead listened to critics that ridiculed the report as a racist effort to blame the victim and so pursued its 'War on Poverty' with programs directed not at reforming the family but instead reinforced dependency on government and undermine the family." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn Argued That Michelle Obama's Childhood Neighborhood, Once Filled With "Traditional" Families, Transformed Into "The Most Dangerous Block In Chicago" Because Welfare Programs "Often Encouraged Single-Parent Households And Thereby Encouraged A Culture Of Dependency." "First Lady Michelle Obama was born in 1964 in Parkway Gardens in Chicago and lived there for two years before moving with her family closer to Lake Michigan in 1965. Her family was a traditional one: 'the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table. I had a very stable, conventional upbringing, and that felt very safe to me.' ... Now, the Parkway Gardens area is referred to as 'O' Block-so named for 20-year-old gang member Odes Perry gunned down there in 2011. It was the most dangerous block in Chicago between 2011 and 2014, with 19 shootings. Why the difference? According to local preacher Rev. Cory Brooks, '(t)he environment was family-focused . . . People were working. When you eliminate all those things from a community-men not in the household and education failing-it will be a drastic difference than what the first lady of the United States and her family experienced.' Frank 9 Main, The Most Dangerous Block In Chicago, Chicago SunTimes (Oct. 31, 2014)... Unlike a program providing financial support to military families that lost a parent or spouse due to war, these programs often encouraged single-parent households and thereby encouraged a culture of dependency to which the Republican Party objects." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]

Blackburn Amicus Brief: Marsha Blackburn: "Women Are More Likely Than Men To Initiate Divorce Because Of Their Different Emotional Makeup." "The diminished presence of these qualities in same-sex marriages-stability and sexual exclusivity-is likely tied to the absence of a third quality: the socializing influence of the opposite sex. As evidenced above, men tend to be more sexually permissive than women and are more likely to have numerous sexual partners without a woman in the relationship. Mark Regnerus, Yes, Marriage Will Change-and Here's How, The Witherspoon Institute (June 7, 2013), available at http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/06/10325/. And women are more likely than men to initiate divorce because of their different emotional makeup. Id. The complementary, tempering effect of the opposite sex is simply not present in same-sex marriages." [Amicus Curiae, Case 14-556, U.S. Supreme Court, 4/2/15<http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/he2012RepublicanNationalConventionCommitteeonthePlatform.pdf>]