Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines led multiple GOP senators in demanding an end to contracts with Citibank Friday, citing its intentions to facilitate “abortion tourism.”
In a letter to the Senate sergeant-at-arms, Daines (the founder and chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus) and others wrote: “Citi’s decision to finance abortion tourism for its employees, in brazen circumvention of State law, shows a reckless disregard for the lives of preborn children and disdain for the will of the people of the States in which Citi acts as an employer,” expressing the group’s “deep concern” about the bank.
Sens. Roger Marshall, Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Roger Wicker, Mike Braun, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Rick Scott, and James Lankford signed the letter alongside the Montana senator.
“The U.S. Senate should not be administered through a company that facilitates abortion on demand and promotes a woke, pro-abortion agenda,” they wrote.
Sen. Hyde-Smith told the Washington Examiner, “Beyond showing a disregard for the unborn, Citibank’s decision to finance abortion tourism for its employees is a brazen evasion of state laws and a violation of longstanding federal policy. As such, the Senate should discontinue its association with this company.”
The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for distributing credit cards to members of the Senate, as well as various leadership and committee offices that finance “flights, office supplies, and other goods using taxpayer funds,” according to the letter.
The Washington Examiner did not receive a response from Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Karen Gibson’s office. In response to anti-abortion bills in several states, Citi told shareholders in a March 15 letter that “beginning in 2022 we provide travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources.”
The new policy, revealed in its annual proxy statement, reportedly finances travel and hotels for employees who are seeking abortions.
CEO Jane Fraser wrote in 2021 that she plans to make Citi a “bank with a soul.”
