Oklahoma's Tom Cole, Republicans Make 'Pledge to America'

By Samantha Hayes, CNN|NEWS 9 Contributor

WASHINGTON -- Republicans in the U.S. House have unveiled their legislative agenda for the next Congress, which includes their top priority of repealing the health care reform bill passed in March.

Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole co-wrote the 21-page "Pledge to America."

The agenda includes several spending cuts:

• Repeals health care reform bill
• Weekly votes on spending cuts
• Cut Congress' budget
• Net hiring freeze on non-security federal employees
• Vote on every regulation costing more than $100 million
• Cancels unspent funding authorized by economic stimulus bill
• Rolls back spending to levels before stimulus and bailout legislation

President Obama criticized the Republican agenda on Wednesday, before it was officially unveiled at a hardware store in Virginia.

"The Republicans running for Congress, they want the next two years to look like the eight years before I took office," the president said. "The chair of one of their campaign committees already told us their intentions. He said that if the other party takes control of Congress, they plan to pursue -- and I'm quoting here -- the 'exact same agenda'."

If the "Pledge to America" sounds a lot like the "Contract with America" from 1994, that's the intent.

This is an updated version, but includes many more items and broad policy goals like tougher sanctions against Iran. It does not include specific bills that would be introduced and passed if Republicans gain control of the House.

The GOP would need to pick up 39 seats to win a majority in the U.S. House, and ten seats to control the U.S. Senate.

More:

• Read the GOP's "Pledge to America"