Washington, D.C. – After an electoral cycle in which Republican candidates faced unending criticism and lost seats over their support for the Ryan Budget, Republican Rep. Steve Southerland tripled down and voted for the Ryan Budget yet again.

His dogged pursuit of such an extreme plan will again provide Democrats with compelling arguments to demonstrate to voters just how out of touch Steve Southerland is.

“In voting for the Ryan Budget, Steve Southerland made his dangerous priorities abundantly clear: end the Medicare guarantee and force seniors to pay more for health care while cutting trillions in taxes for the wealthy and forcing the middle class to pay potentially thousands more every year,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC. “Congressman Southerland could not be more wrong. And House Majority PAC will be there to make sure voters in Florida know all about how extreme and out-of-touch Southerland is.”

The political peril of House Republicans embracing the Ryan Budget is well documented. In fact, just last week, writing in National Journal, Major Garrett set the stage in noting, “[House Republicans] will again back a budget that did not help their nominee win the presidency and cost them House seats…”

And on the Daily Rundown last week, NBC’s Chuck Todd asked rhetorically whether House Republicans were concerned about tripling down on the plan to gut Medicare because, “you’re not winning on that issue.”

Rep. Southerland is one of House Majority PAC’s top 10 Republican targets.

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Washington, D.C. – With over 500 days having passed since its expiration, the Tea Party House Republican leadership finally caved, allowing a vote on the Violence Against Woman Act that passed the Senate two weeks ago by an overwhelmingly bipartisan 78 to 22 margin.

But, shockingly, Steve Southerland voted against renewing the comprehensive, bipartisan Violence Against Women Act, an extremely successful program that has reduced incidents of domestic violence by more than half since it was first implemented.

In fact, despite Republicans’ much-touted attempt to rebrand their party and expand their appeal with women voters, 138 House Republicans joined to continue the war on women and oppose VAWA’s renewal.

“Rather than affirm support for women facing the grave threat of domestic violence, Steve Southerland voted to play partisan political games and wage another battle in the ongoing Republican war on women,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC.

Southerland is one of House Majority PAC’s top 10 GOP targets.

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Washington, D.C. – With just four days remaining until the March 1 sequester deadline, the effect of those mandatory cuts on Floridians became increasingly clear. And Rep. Steve Southerland’s message to the Florida middle class families, students, seniors, soldiers, law enforcement officials and job seekers who will be affected? Tough luck.

In Florida alone:

• Approximately 31,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed;
• Nearly 7,450 fewer children will receive vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and tetanus due to reduced vaccination funding;
• Up to 1,500 fewer victims of domestic violence will be served due to cuts in Violence Against Women Act funding; and
• There will be a loss of approximately $3.8 million in funds that provide meals for seniors.

Nationwide, sequestration could mean longer airport security lines, fewer FBI agents, a meat & poultry shortage, reduced first-responder capacity, smaller unemployment checks, closed national parks – and the loss of up to 2 million jobs.

“Florida families, seniors, students and law enforcement officials are just days away from facing devastating cuts foisted being upon them by a dysfunctional Tea Party Republican Congress that refuses to ask the wealthy to pay just a little bit more,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC. “Instead of allowing these damaging cuts to go into effect, Steve Southerland should be standing up for middle class Florida families.”

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Washington, D.C. – Despite its passage in the Senate days ago by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin, the Tea Party House still has not taken up the Violence Against Women Act. In fact, according to Speaker John Boehner today, “no decision has been made” on when to bring the bill up for a vote in the House.

Incidents of domestic violence have decreased by over 50 percent since the Violence Against Women Act, which expired in September 2011, was first implemented. And even though the Violence Against Women Act has been languishing for months, the Tea Party House hasn’t moved this bill forward.

“Steve Southerland and the Tea Party House have a clear choice: renew this critically important domestic violence funding or continue the political tug-of-war that leaves victims in limbo,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC.

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Washington, D.C. – With Republicans working overtime to rebrand their party in light of the GOP’s abysmal standing with women, the question remains: will Rep. Steve Southerland stand in the way of long-delayed renewal of the Violence Against Women Act?

Although the Violence Against Women Act expired in September 2011, Tea Party House leaders chose not to renew this critical domestic violence prevention funding. Yet just today the Senate passed the bill with an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin, 78 to 22.

It’s now up to the House to act in order to, as the Seattle Times wrote, ‘not squander a second chance to save lives’ because ‘the abused and battered have no time for political games.’

“Rather than renew this critically important domestic violence prevention funding that provides assistance to victims and helps prosecute their abusers, Tea Party House Republicans chose to stand in the way,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC. “The question now remains: Will Steve Southerland and the Tea Party House continue the war on women and ‘squander a second chance to save lives’?”

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