Editing Contract with America (section)

{{Short description|1994 Republican legislative agenda}}
{{Distinguish|Contract from America}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}}
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The '''Contract with America''' was a legislative agenda advocated by the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] during the [[1994 United States House of Representatives elections|1994 congressional election]] campaign. Written by [[Newt Gingrich]] and [[Dick Armey]], and in part using text from former president [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[1985 State of the Union Address]], the contract detailed the actions the Republicans promised to take if they became the majority party in the [[United States House of Representatives]] for the first time in 40 years. Many of the contract's policy ideas originated at [[the Heritage Foundation]], a conservative [[think tank]].<ref name="gayner">{{cite web |last=Gayner |first=Jeffrey |date=October 12, 1995 |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/the-contract-with-america-implementing-new-ideas-in-the-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323102923/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Lecture/The-Contract-with-America-Implementing-New-Ideas-in-the-US |url-status=unfit |archive-date=March 23, 2010 |title=The Contract with America: Implementing New Ideas in the U.S. |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |access-date=February 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ocregister.com/news/tea-87402-ocprint-party-armey.html |title=The Buzz |work=Orange County Register |date=September 6, 2010}}</ref>

The Contract with America was introduced six weeks before the 1994 congressional election, the first [[midterm election]] of President [[Bill Clinton]]'s [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|administration]], and was signed by all but two of the Republican members of the House and all of the party's non-incumbent Republican congressional candidates.

The contract described the plan of the congressional representatives, seeking to nationalize the congressional election. Its provisions represented the view of many conservative Republicans on the issues of reducing the size of government, cutting taxes, and both [[tort reform]] and [[welfare reform]].

The [[1994 United States elections|1994 elections]] resulted in Republicans gaining 54 House and 8 [[U.S. Senate]] seats, flipping both chambers. The contract was seen as a triumph by party leaders such as Minority Whip [[Newt Gingrich]], [[Dick Armey]], and the [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservative movement]].