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News Friday, Aug 17 2018

Brat Receives “Worst For Women” Award, Is Targeted by Campaign

Aug 17, 2018

American Bridge and UltraViolet PAC have launched a new campaign targeting U.S. Rep. Dave Brat for being one of the worst members of Congress for women in the entire country. Today, the organizations delivered a “Worst for Women” award to Brat’s district office in Glen Allen. This campaign highlights more than a dozen members of Congress as the “Worst for Women” with digital ads and a new micro-site featuring an inaugural legislative scorecard.

The most alarming parts of Brat’s specific record when it comes to women can be seen here

A Virginian activist concerned with Brat’s dangerous and extreme agenda presented the “Worst for Women” award to Rep. Brat’s office in Glen Allen today:


UltraViolet PAC and American Bridge delivered a Worst for Women
award to Dave Brat’s office in Glen Allen today.

The Worst for Women campaign has involved a five-figure digital buy, and it directs persuadable female voters to learn about the unaccpetable actions of members like Brat on the Worst for Women micro-site, here: https://worstforwomen.com/.

Brat touts Trump’s dangerous and extreme agenda—voting in line with Trump as much as 89 percent of the time. He has consistently voted to repeal health care, to protect the special interests and profits for the 1%, to defund Planned Parenthood, and against a woman’s right to choose. Brat is threatening the lives of women across the country—particularly women of color, rural women, and low-income women.

To create the list of the ‘Worst for Women’ candidates, American Bridge and UltraViolet PAC conducted an analysis of the voting records from the 114th Congress and 115th Congress and narrowed down a list of those who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to defund Planned Parenthood, for the GOP tax scam, against a minimum wage hike, and for an unconstitutional abortion ban. The groups also took into consideration other parts of the members’ records and histories, including sexist remarks or discriminatory practices.

“Dave Brat’s atrocious record of trying to cost women their healthcare, working to deprive them of basic rights, and refusing to ever be anything but a yes-man to the most anti-woman president in our lifetime make him one of the worst members of Congress for women,” said American Bridge spokeswoman Amelia Penniman. “As Republicans tried to force Trumpcare on the country, Brat mocked women constituents who voiced their opposition to Virginians losing health coverage. Dave Brat is arrogant, out of touch, and dangerous – and he’s set for a reckoning.”

“Women are poised to play a key role in November. We don’t intend to let that opportunity slip by,” said Shaunna Thomas, executive director of UltraViolet PAC, a leading national women’s organization. “Each and every one of these Congress members is an active threat to women in every respect, whether in their access to health care, fair workplace protections, or protections and recourse for survivors of gendered violence. It’s not just about these members’ demonstrated misogyny—it’s their undermining of low-income women, women of color, and immigrant women in federal policy.”

American Bridge and UltraViolet PAC have run digital ads on Facebook linking Brat and other members of Congress with the very worst votes they have cast against women and are sourced back to the new micro-site and legislative scorecard so voters can learn more about these reckless individuals’ support for some of the most extreme anti-woman, racist, anti-immigrant, and homophobic elements of government today. For example, Congressman Brat once mocked constituents who were concerned about attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying “The women are in my grill no matter where I go,” and accusing them of being paid protesters.

Votes and positions included in the Worst for Women scorecard are:

  • Repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Dave Brat voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA has been an overwhelming win for women. It provided health care coverage for many low-income women who previously could not afford it. It ended the industry practice of charging women more than men for insurance policies. It required maternity and newborn care benefits in individual market health plans. It provided free preventive services for women, including contraception and breast pumps for nursing mothers. It protected domestic violence survivors from insurance penalties. It has saved countless women’s lives.
  • GOP Tax Scam. Dave Brat voted for the GOP tax scam that provided billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% of Americans—of which women are only a fraction. The tax reform bill forced working women and families to pay for benefits for big business and wealthy elites while threatening critical programs for women, including Medicaid, Medicare, child care, housing assistance, Pell Grants, funds for combating violence against women, and more.
  • Planned Parenthood and Title X. Dave Brat repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood and to dismantle Title X, the successful nearly 50 year old family planning program serving four million patients. Planned Parenthood provides preventive care, contraception, cancer screenings, and more for millions of men and women each year.
  • Minimum wage and workers’ protections. All of these members voted against a raise in the minimum wage—which has been stuck at $7.25 for nearly a decade. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women and in some states it’s as much as three-quarters. Many of these members are opposed to simple workers’ protections like paid sick days, paid family leave, and pay equity laws. Glenn Grothman once led the fight against pay equity in his state, noting, “money is more important for men.” Karen Handel openly stated, “I do not support a livable wage.”
  • 20 week abortion ban without protections. These members all put politics over women’s lives when they voted for an unconstitutional ban on nearly all abortions after 20 weeks. It also put “onerous reporting requirements” on rape and incest victims and employed junk science that misled Americans.
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American Bridge 21st Century is a progressive research and communications organization committed to holding Republicans accountable for their words and actions and helping you ascertain when Republican candidates are pretending to be something they’re not.

UltraViolet PAC is a community of over one million people spanning every state and congressional district who fight to end sexism and expand equality at the ballot box and beyond.


Published: Aug 17, 2018

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