Party platform · 1994

Contract with America

Signed by 367 Republican candidates on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, the Contract promised that a Republican House majority would, on its first day, require that all laws applying to the rest of the country apply equally to Congress, cut committee staff by one-third, order an independent audit of Congress and adopt other reforms. It pledged votes within the first 100 days on ten bills, including a balanced budget amendment and line-item veto, anti-crime and welfare reform measures, tax relief, national defense, legal reform and congressional term limits.

Why it matters

Republicans won the House for the first time in 40 years in the 1994 midterm elections, and the new majority brought every item to a vote within 100 days. Several became law, including the Congressional Accountability Act and, after two presidential vetoes, welfare reform in 1996, while the term limits and balanced budget amendments failed.

Read the full text at presidency.ucsb.edu

Official GOP Position1994 House Republicans

What the Republican Party says, sourced directly to party platforms and official party documents. It records the party’s position and is not an independent conclusion.

Subjects

elections congress limited government welfare reform term limits

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