If you missed the Georgia GOP State Convention June 4th in Augusta one of the highlights was a resolution passed by the delegates to “Get Back to Basics” of the Republican Party principles
Read by State Senator Josh McKoon, who had to pause for numerous applause breaks, the resolution runs down almost all the conservative agenda that didn’t make it through the Georgia Legislature in 2016. The only one I can think of that it missed, as was pointed out by one observant delegate, was American Law for American Courts.
Below is the text of this most excellent resolution since we have no idea how long it will take the State GOP to post it on their own website.
A Resolution On Getting Back to the Basics of Republican Principles
WHEREAS, during the 2002 elections, Republicans promised the voters of Georgia that, if given the chance to lead, they would do things differently from the Democrats during their previous 130 years of governance, and
WHEREAS, over the last fourteen years there appears to be many elected Republicans who have lost focus on the vision they offered the voters of Georgia; including a stalwart defense of individual rights, greater transparency, lower taxes, and more limited government, and
WHEREAS their oaths of office task them with defending the U.S. and Georgia constitutions, wherein reside our “Bill of Rights”, which protects (but does not grant) our God-given rights, and
WHEREAS, of those rights, those protected by the First and Second Amendments are foundational to the other rights, and thus they cannot be degraded and/ or lessened in their importance, and
WHEREAS, the Georgia legislature passed, by significant margins, the Free Exercise Protection Act, which incorporated the language, protections, and principles of the Pastor Protection Act (PPA), the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) supported overwhelmingly by the 2015 GAGOP Convention, and the First Amendment Defense Act (F ADA), with the language consistent with the federal RFRA which has been in place for several decades without controversy, and
WHEREAS, the recent legislative session failed to act to override the Governor’s veto of HB 757, which reestablished the principle that state and local governments must show a “compelling” state interest before infringing upon the constitutionally-protected rights of an individual or corporate body, and that any restrictions of said rights must extend only so far to achieve stated compelling government interest, and
WHEREAS the recent legislative session failed to act to override the Governor’s veto of HB859 a bill expanding 2nd Amendment protections for law-abiding citizens on college campuses, which are currently “gun-free” zones, understanding that criminals, by definition, do not obey laws, and therefore a failure to eliminate these restrictions leaves our citizens on college campuses vulnerable to continued attacks by violent criminals who commit assaults, rapes, and murders; and
WHEREAS Georgia citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights should not be presumed by government to be guilty of ill intent, and
WHEREAS the 2015 Georgia Republican Party Convention urged the Georgia legislature to take action to establish English as the constitutional official language of state government, and to take action to end the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal aliens, and the Georgia Senate passed legislation to achieve these aims but the Georgia House of Representatives failed to consider either measure; and
WHEREAS, instead of the more open and transparent governance as promised the people of Georgia, the state Senate rules allow for non-recorded floor votes, and the state House has returned to allowing representatives to vote the machines for other representatives so a failure to vote is not recorded, and
WHEREAS, recent legislative and administrative action did not decrease the size of Georgia’s budget as Republicans promised voters if they were awarded control of state government, and instead the budget was increased by a billion dollars, with no additional funds for transportation, and passing the largest tax increase in Georgia history of almost an additional billion dollars for transportation funding, thus giving the appearance that
the legislative and executive Republican Party leadership has lost the vision of principled, conservative leadership they promised, as revealed by the failure to conduct the state’s business upon these principles,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the delegates of the Georgia Republican Party convention to call upon our elected Republican legislators, and our Governor, to get back to the basics of republican principles and demonstrate what true Republican leadership is; namely, limited, transparent government; lower taxes, reduced regulations, true individual liberty to exercise publicly and privately our religious beliefs and rights to free speech, thus creating an environment that encourages the individual to pursue the American Dream while knowing that their First, Second, and all constitutional rights will be protected, rather than be limited in our rights to the interpretation favored by Big Business, Hollywood, and Chambers of Commerce;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of the 2016 Georgia Republican Party convention is authorized and directed to transmit a copy of this resolution to Governor Nathan Deal, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Speaker of the House David Ralston, and each Republican member of the Georgia General Assembly.
Upon passage of this resolution at the State Convention or by State Committee we request this resolution shall be posted for a minimum of five years on the GAGOP website in a readily accessible location as a downloadable document.