Rep Greg Walden (R-OR) endorses path to citizenship
GOP House campaign chief says abortion ban is no blunder
With eyes on 2014, Rep. Greg Walden is focused on defeating the "slippery seven" -- those he sees as vulnerable Democrats in historically red states.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) endorses path to citizenship
WASHINGTON — The chief of the GOP's congressional campaign committee dismissed the idea that House passage of an abortion ban this week was a political blunder opening the door to a fresh series of Democratic charges that the Republicans were waging a "war on women."
"We were all horrified about what happened with Dr. (Kermit) Gosnell," an abortion doctor convicted of first-degree murder in Philadelphia last month, said Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Whether you're a man, a woman in America, watching that murder trial take place and seeing what happened — as a parent, it's horrifying. So I don't think too many Americans are upset with the notion that after five months of pregnancy that you should allow a child to be born and not aborted."
In an interview with "Capital Download," USA TODAY's weekly newsmaker video series, Walden immediately tried to turn the question to other issues.
"But you know what Americans are really concerned about, whether they're men or women?" he asked. "Do they have a job? What's going to happen with their heath care under Obamacare as it rolls out?"
That was precisely the point that Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and others made during Tuesday's debate, ridiculing Republicans for spending time on an abortion measure that would never pass the Senate and be signed into law instead of focusing on issues such as jobs and the economy.
"That's one vote in one day," Walden replied. "The next day, we're debating the Farm Bill." The House voted mostly along party lines to approve a ban on almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
On immigration, Walden said he was hopeful a deal could be reached and legislation passed, and he endorsed the inclusion of a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million immigrants now in the United States illegally. "If they pay a fine, if they true up in all their areas and then go to the back of the line, there's probably a way then that they can get there," he said.
As campaign chairman, Walden is particularly focused on defeating a handful of Democratic incumbents who have managed to survive in Republican districts that have elected and re-elected them despite voting for George W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. They are Ann Kirkpatrick and Ron Barber of Arizona, John Barrow of Georgia, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, Jim Matheson of Utah and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.
"I call them the slippery seven," he said.
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