The Republican Study Committee (RSC) announced Thursday a framework of economic and social principles intended to “restore the American family” and to act as the “foundation of a pro-family conservative agenda when Republicans win back the House majority.”
The initiative comes as the nation grapples with declining birth rates, dwindling marriage rates, increasing numbers of fatherless children or children raised in single parent homes, parents struggling under the pressure of the “two-income trap,” and the radically progressive racial, sexual, and ideological content being taught to school children.
The RSC highlights all of these things as worrying trends, warning that ignoring these trends will result in the undermining of the American experiment.
“The root of many of our nation’s greatest challenges is the rapid erosion of strong families,” RSC Chairman Jim Banks said. “By empowering parents and investing in America’s children, we allow prosperity for future generations. If we want to protect and strengthen our nation, conservatives in Congress must be committed to promoting a pro-family agenda when Republicans win back the House.”
The RSC named ten principles that should guide the work of “Restoring the American Family.” These efforts include protecting children from “far-left ideologies” and from the internet, supporting policies that give flexibility to working families, enabling parents to make decisions about their children, supporting a “flexible and pluralistic approach to childcare,” eliminating policies that discourage family formation, reforming foster care and the adoption system, and supporting efforts to end abortion.
“The American family is in a dire state and flawed government policy has accelerated its decline,” the RSC said. “To that extent, these wounds are skin deep. Conservatives can halt and then reverse these trends by undoing the anti-family policies of the last decades and enacting policies to Restore the American Family.”
“Can a nation with fewer births than ever before be pro-life?” the RSC asked. “Can a country be prosperous, if the traditional single-earner model is an unattainable luxury? Is American meritocracy alive and well, if over half of children are raised in family structures that disadvantage them at birth?”
The initiative is supported by the American Principles Project, Eagle Forum, and the Fifth & Freedom Coalition, as well as the Family Policy Alliance, Catholic Vote, Students for Life, and a slew of other groups that highlight the importance of the family.
“Under the current Administration, American families are struggling,” warned Craig DeRoche, President and CEO of Family Policy Alliance. “Parents are being forced to defend their rights and fight radical ideologies in their children’s schools. Female athletes are being forced to give up their opportunities to males in favor of a political agenda. And preborn children are not yet fully protected under the law.”
“American families deserve better,” he said as he endorsed the RSC initiative. “This Initiative is foundational in rebuilding an America where families flourish. We urge Congress to implement policies aligned with this vision, and we look forward to the day when America’s families do not just survive, they thrive.”