By The Iowa Statesman
Every day, we read through our email inbox in order to present you with the information from the political press releases that are most pertinent to you.
Short disclaimer: not all candidates send out press releases to us, so if your favorite isn’t showing up here, don’t get mad at us. We have told them all that we’d be more than happy to publish their releases. Also, we only make minor edits to clean up grammar and punctuation; the language and tone come directly from the campaigns themselves.
So, let’s rifle through today’s Morning Dump …
Ted Cruz raises $1.1 million in 22 hours after debate
Following his strong showing in the CNBC Presidential Debate, Senator Ted Cruz announced that his campaign had raised $1,125,978 in the first 22 hours after the debate. The average donation was $54.
“This level of support shows just exactly how energized and excited people are by our campaign,” said Cruz. “Whether it’s on the stage or on the stump, we are telling the truth to the American people about how broken and unaccountable Washington is, and how it’s going to take consistent conservative leadership to get America back on track. We are seeing conservatives begin to coalesce around my campaign. It’s Tea Party groups, libertarians, evangelicals, social conservatives, and millions more who have been disappointed by the career politicians and lobbyists of the Washington Cartel. People want to unite behind someone who will take on Washington and I believe that’s why we’re seeing such tremendous support.”
The fundraising haul comes after the recent announcement that the Cruz campaign has more than 77,000 volunteers signed up across the nation. Following the debate 790 new people signed up to volunteer.
Huckabee’s Iowa team growing
Republican presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s grassroots momentum in critical early states is swelling, with key additions to his army of activists and volunteers. Huckabee is building the largest grassroots operation in the GOP field.
“From Sioux City to Cedar Rapids, Davenport to Des Moines, we are mobilizing a powerful grassroots operation that will carry us through the Iowa Caucuses and beyond. Brick-by-brick, hundreds of commonsense conservatives are joining our team as I campaign hard across Iowa,” said Gov. Huckabee.
Huckabee now has 229 county leaders and 79 county chairs, including 81 newly-announced leaders in Iowa. Since his announcement, Gov. Huckabee has held 82 events and visited 62 counties across the Hawkeye State.
King introduces resolution in support of defense of Israel
U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA 4) released the following statement after introducing H. Res. 500 which states the United States House of Representatives pledged support for the State of Israel in its efforts to maintain its sovereignty.
“Israel is a strong ally and loyal friend of the United States,” said King. “When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came before Congress earlier this year he made a powerful case to us, America and the rest of the world about how the Iran Nuclear deal puts Israel’s very survival at stake. He said that the people of Israel are finished standing by passively while the threats to their livelihood and country continue.
The Iran Nuclear deal is one of the most dangerous deals of our time. It starts the nuclear arms race in the Middle East. For this reason, I am introducing a resolution to express the sense of the House of Representatives that the State of Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian hostility and that the House of Representatives pledges to support Israel in its efforts to maintain its sovereignty and national security.
We, the United States, must stand with Israel every step of the way. I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation and bring this resolution to the House floor for a vote. A vote for H.Res. 500 is a vote for the support of Israel.”
U.S. Rep. David Young (R-IA 3) is the only other member of the Iowa delegation that has signed onto the bill.
To view the original bill text, click here.
Cruz gains support of another key Baptist leader
Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz today announced the personal endorsement of Dr. Paul Chappell, a nationally recognized leader of independent Baptist Christians.
“I am humbled and grateful to have the support of Dr. Chappell,” said Cruz. “All across the country, people of faith are waking up to realize that their values are not being represented in Washington. I am encouraged by Dr. Chappell’s leadership in getting Christians to understand that they must get involved.”
Cruz went on to point out that if even a fraction of evangelicals who routinely don’t vote were to turnout, they could change Washington almost overnight.
“I have long admired Senator Cruz’s courage, especially on issues of concern to Christians.” Dr. Chappell said. “The time has come for men and women of faith to rally around righteous leaders. Our culture is wrestling with questions about life and death and good and evil, and churches and Bible-believing Christians must not be silent on such matters.”
Dr. Paul Chappell is the senior pastor at Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, California, which under his leadership has grown from an average attendance of twenty to become one of the largest independent Baptist churches in the country. He is also founder and president of West Coast Baptist College and Lancaster Baptist Schools. In 2000, Dr. Chappell led Lancaster Baptist Church in launching a publications ministry, Striving Together Publications, to provide leadership training materials and Christian growth resources to other local churches.
“We are thrilled to have the personal support of Pastor Chappell, and look forward to working with the more than 3 million independent Baptists promoting our shared Biblical values,” said Reverend Rafael Cruz, father of Ted Cruz.
Dr. Chappell has authored 29 books, in addition to Sunday school materials and booklets. He hosts the annual Spiritual Leadership Conference, a large gathering of independent Baptists each year, with more than 2,000 pastors and attendees from all 50 states. Dr. Chappell and his wife Terrie married in 1980 and have four adult children – who are all serving the Lord in ministry with their spouses – and eight grandchildren.
Ernst gains enough support to tackle WOTUS rule
On the heels of U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) recent work to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval, S.J. Res. 22, that would scrap the expanded “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule, Senator Ernst has secured enough support to ensure the Senate can consider the bill without a filibuster. Senator Ernst’s efforts to stop the expanded definition of WOTUS will be taken up in the next week or two.
Last month, Senator Ernst led a group of 49 fellow Senators in introducing an effort to eliminate the WOTUS rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, which expands the scope of federal authority over land and waterways. After securing strong support from her colleagues through a discharge petition, the Senate will now have to consider Senator Ernst’s S.J. Res. 22 in opposition of this harmful WOTUS rule.
She said:
“I am pleased the Senate will now move forward with our efforts to confront this ill-conceived and harmful WOTUS rule; we must eliminate unnecessary confusion and red tape for our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small businesses. These efforts are the next necessary steps in pushing back against this blatant power grab, and I’m optimistic it will head to the President’s desk where he will be forced to decide between the livelihood of our rural communities nationwide and his unchecked federal agency.”
According to an analysis by the Iowa Farm Bureau, an expanded definition of the WOTUS rule would expand EPA and ACE jurisdiction to more than 97 percent of Iowa.
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