Social conservative Republicans to outline their agenda on Thursday

Hoping to get their issues back on the front page of the GOP agenda, socially conservative Republicans will introduce their wish list on Thursday to the House Republican Conference.

The House Values Agenda, crafted by Values Action Team (VAT) Chairman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), has five major components: life, religious liberty, marriage, parental rights and protecting children.

{mosads}Bills on each issue will be introduced later this year.

Pitts spokesman Andrew Cole said that, for now, the agenda will be encouraged on an internal conference level rather than in a large rollout, citing the importance of keeping the conference firmly focused on energy.

 “Rep. Pitts himself continues to talk about energy as the No. 1 issue affecting his constituents,” Cole said. “He just knows that values issues should always be an important part of what conservatives are working toward.”

Much of the legislation on the values agenda has been introduced in previous Congresses, but it highlights issues — such as abortion and gay marriage — that some social conservatives have felt have been ignored by Republicans this election year. Social issues were a huge component of President Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004.

The package also includes several bills aimed at regulating indecent programming and protecting children from online predators.

Like the previous GOP agendas, Cole said, Pitts hopes the bills will give members more tools to show their constituents they are discussing “the issues American families care about.”

The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), has been criticized for being too liberal on issues that social conservatives consider important.

McCain, who opposes abortion rights and voted against the GOP’s marriage amendment, met with conservatives last month in Cincinnati to assure them he would champion their causes publicly.

Cole said Pitts hopes the agenda will encourage members to prevent conservative values from getting lost in the shuffle.

“That’s definitely the purpose of the agenda — to ensure these values issues gain the attention he believes they deserve,” Cole said.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said Pitts’s agenda would help Republicans draw a bright line between their principles and those of their Democratic colleagues.

“Rep. Joe Pitts’s values agenda is a terrific addition to the toolbox of policies that Republican members and candidates will use this year to draw sharp contrasts with the Democrats on issues that are important to the American people,” Steel said.