August 19, 2014

Dear Mr. Cahill,

It has come to our attention that you served on the Republican National Committees Platform
Committee in 2012 and that the final platform document which you rubberstamped espoused
extreme anti-gay, anti-women, and anti-gun control positions. For example:

! The platform included what The New York Times called strict anti-abortion language,
effectively prohibiting abortions in all cases.

! The platform reiterated the GOPs ideological opposition to same-sex marriage, and
said efforts to make it legal were an assault on the foundations of our society.

! The platform opposed common sense gun laws limiting the capacity for firearm clips and
magazines, and endorsed so-called Stand Your Ground rights which have been
widely criticized for enabling racially motivated violence.

This platform is way too extreme for New York. Given your opposition to the Womens
Equality Act, recent contributions from anti-gay and anti-choice donor Sean Fieler, and
opposition to the SAFE Act, New York voters deserve to know whether you still stand by the
RNC platform.

We call on you to renounce the RNCs 2012 platform or explain what steps you took to defeat
these offensive planks. Anything short of an outright repudiation of the aforementioned
platform positions is a clear sign that you are in fact too extreme for New York.

Sincerely,

Andrea Miller
President
NARAL Pro-Choice New York

Leah Gunn Barrett
Executive Director
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence [501(c)(4)]

Eunic Ortiz
President
Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC
CHECK THE FACTS


Republicans emphatically approved a toughly worded party platform at
their national convention Tuesday that would ban all abortions and gay
marriages, reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program
Associated Press, 8/28/12

Womens Reproductive Health

Abortion

New York Times HEADLINE: G.O.P. Approves Strict Anti-Abortion Language In Party
Platform [New York Times, 8/21/12]

GOP Approved Platform Language That Called For A Constitutional Amendment
Outlawing Abortion With No Explicit Exceptions For Cases Of Rape And Incest. Even as
the Republican establishment continued to call for Representative Todd Akin of Missouri to drop
out of his Senate race because of his comments on rape and abortion, Republicans approved
platform language on Tuesday calling for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with no
explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest. [New York Times, 8/21/12]

Reproductive Health And Family Planning Services

GOP Platform Opposed Funding Reproductive Health Service Organizations Such As
Planned Parenthood. The GOP Platform, which listed Cahill as a Committee Member, said:
We oppose using public revenue to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which
perform or advocate it and it will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion
coverage. [Republican Party Platform, August 2012]

Marriage Equality

The GOP Platform Said That Redefinition Of Marriage In Several States Was An Assault
On The Foundations Of Our Society. The GOP Platform, which listed Cahill as a Committee
Member, said: A blatant example has been the court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several
States. This is more than a matter of warring legal concepts and ideals. It is an assault on the
foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually
every civilization has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural
values. [Republican Party Platform, August 2012]

The GOP Platform Defined Marriage As A Union Between A One Man And One Woman.
The GOP Platform, which listed Cahill as a Committee Member, said: We reaffirm our support
for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as a the union of one man and one woman.
[Republican Party Platform, August 2012]

Gun Control

Bullet Capacity

GOP Platform Opposed Limiting The Capacity Of Clips Or Magazines For Firearms. The
GOP Platform said: We oppose legislation that is intended to restrict our Second Amendment
rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered
Clinton Gun Ban. [Republican Party Platform, August 2012]

AP: Republicans Called For Unlimited Bullet Capacities In Guns, A Defiant Response
To Criticism That Followed Shootings From Colorado And Arizona. Republicans have
strengthened the pro-gun-rights portion of their party platform, including a new call for unlimited
bullet capacities in guns, in a defiant response to criticism that followed recent mass shootings at
a Colorado cinema and an Arizona congresswoman's gathering. [Associated Press, 8/30/12]

Stand Your Ground

The 2012 Platform Endorsed Stand Your Ground Rights For Gun Owners. The 2012
platform, approved this week by GOP convention-goers who nominated Mitt Romney for
president, also endorses stand your ground rights for gun owners. That legal concept, which
says gun bearers dont have to retreat if they feel threatened in a public place, drew national
attention after Februarys fatal shooting of an unarmed Florida teenager by a neighborhood
watch volunteer. [Associated Press, 8/30/12]

Immigration

Leadership

Fox News Latino: The Platform Stance On Immigration Is The Brainchild Of Kansas
Secretary Of State Kris Kobach, The Chief Architect Of The Countrys Most
Controversial State Immigration Laws, Including Arizonas SB 1070, Key Parts Of Which
The U.S. Supreme Court Struck Down. [Fox News Latino, 8/23/12]

Border Fence, In-State Tuition And Sanctuary Cities

Politico: The Platform Committee Overwhelmingly Voted To Add Language Proposed By
Kobach Which Called For The Completion Of A Border Fence, The End Of In-State
Tuition For Illegal Immigrants And An End To Sanctuary Cities. The platform committee
overwhelmingly voted to add language proposed by [Kris] Kobach calling for the completion of
a border fence, the end of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and an end to sanctuary cities.
[Politico, 8/21/12]

The Platform Called For A Double-Walled Fence Along The Mexican Boarder And An
End To Federal Lawsuit That Challenged State Immigration Laws. It calls for a double-
walled fence along the Mexican border, and an end to federal lawsuits challenging state
immigration laws. (Despite rampant concerns about racial profiling and other civil-rights
abuses in states such as Arizona and Alabama, the Department of Justice would be told to
stay out; nothing to see there.) [New York Times, 8/23/12]

Self-Deportation

The GOP Platform Drafting Committee Adopted A Self Deportation Immigration
Solution. The Republican platform drafting committee has adopted the self-deportation
immigration solution that Mitt Romney embraced during the primaries. [New York Times,
8/23/12]

Self-Deportation Was The Idea To Force 11 Million Undocumented Immigrants To
Leave The County By Making Them Miserable. This is the idea that it is not only
possible to force 11 million undocumented immigrants to leave the country by making them
miserable, but also desirablepresumably because Americans are itching to get back to farm
labor, domestic and restaurant work, small-scale entrepreneurship and other backbreaking,
minimal-wage jobs that illegal immigrants have stolen from them. [New York Times,
8/23/12]

E-Verify

New York Times: The Platform Calls For The Federal Government To Force Businesses
In Every State To Use The E-Verify Electronic Database To Check The Immigration
Status Of New Hires. [New York Times, 8/23/12]