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Pataki Campaign Press Release - A Letter to Speaker John Boehner on Preventing a Government Shutdown

September 10, 2015

September 10, 2015

Speaker John Boehner

H-232 The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515



Dear Speaker Boehner,

Like most Americans, I was horrified by the recent videos showing Planned Parenthood officials parting out fetal tissue like a local salvage yard. It is inexcusable that a private organization that engages in such hideous behavior receives taxpayer funding. I strongly believe that the federal government should stop funding Planned Parenthood and reallocate those resources to fund real women's health priorities.

Unfortunately, there are some in our party who support a different strategy. Instead of pursuing a serious and achievable solution to defunding Planned Parenthood, they want to shut down the entire government. This is a terrible idea.

Today, the world is on the brink of chaos. Failed nation states, millions of displaced refugees flooding Europe, radical Islam expanding its powers and Iran, the number one state sponsor of terror, on the brink of an economic and diplomatic windfall. Our government needs to be functioning to protect our security and grow our limping economy. A shutdown is simply intolerable.

As frustrated as we all are by the Obama Administration, the American people want and deserve a government that works for them. They are tired of the petty bickering and the pointless back-and-forth. They want a political system based on effective compromise, not brinksmanship and shutdowns. They deserve grown-up government.

The best way to defund Planned Parenthood is to elect a Republican president who will sign a budget that defunds the organization. As a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, I am committed to doing just that.

I ask you to reject the failed approach of shutting down the government.

I hope you will join me in saying no to a shutdown and yes to creating a government that works for the American people.



Very truly yours,

George Pataki

George Pataki, Pataki Campaign Press Release - A Letter to Speaker John Boehner on Preventing a Government Shutdown Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/311971

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