Dold and Historically-Unproductive Republican Congress Head on Vacation
Republicans, including Rep. Bob Dold, prioritized Planned Parenthood defunding and efforts to hide dark money donors over pressing issues
NORTHBROOK, IL— Fresh off the “longest summer recess in at least three decades” and after less than three-weeks at “work,” Bob Dold and the Republican House leadership are throwing in the towel on one of the shortest and least productive Congressional sessions ever.
Instead of tackling the important issues, Dold and the Republicans spent their time and energies over the past two years:
- Launching a Politically-motivated Investigation into Planned Parenthood – Bob Dold joined the attacks, offering an amendment to defund and investigate Planned Parenthood clinics.
- Casting Pointless Votes to Repeal Obamacare – Bob Dold again supported repeal of the Affordable Care Act as part of the extreme Republican budget proposal.
- Voting to Hide Dark Money Political Donors – Bob Dold voted to protect the identities of wealthy individuals, secretive special interest groups, and even foreign entities making anonymous “dark money” donations to finance political campaigns.
The critical issues that were left unaddressed by the Republican Congress:
- Any Gun Safety Legislation – The Republican Congress responded to horrific shootings in Orlando and elsewhere with shameful indifference. Bob Dold sided with his party 28 times to block Democratic efforts to secure a vote on commonsense gun safety legislation and refused to sign a petition that would bring the bill to the floor over his party’s objections.
- 2017 Budget – Despite large majorities in both houses of Congress, the Republicans again resorted to a short-term funding fix instead of a long-term, responsible budget.
- No Comprehensive Immigration Reform – Speaker Ryan kept his promise: there was no immigration reform in the 114th Congress. Despite Speaker Ryan’s vocal declaration that he would block immigration reform, Dold decided to join Ryan’s inner circle advisory group and continues to support his obstructionist leadership.
“Instead of tackling the real problems facing the country, Bob Dold and the Republicans have spent their time trying to defund Planned Parenthood clinics and casting pointless show votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, all while passing legislation to hide the identities of the dark money special interests that are bankrolling their campaigns,” said Schneider for Congress spokesman Steven Kirsch. “Bob Dold needs to explain why he continues to vote with the extreme Republican leadership that is obstructing commonsense gun safety legislation and comprehensive immigration reform.”