Chris Christie to Speak at CPAC 2014

Katie Pavlich | February 03, 2014 7:15 AM

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will speak at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference taking place March 6-8 just outside of Washington D.C. CPAC is the country's largest annual gathering of conservatives with more than 10,000 attendants. Chris Moody over at Yahoo News has the scoop:

“We are very excited to announce that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will speak at CPAC 2014," American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas told Yahoo News. "At this year's CPAC - and through our theme 'ACU's Golden Anniversary: Getting It Right for 50 Years' - we will celebrate how conservatism has shaped our past and look to the future with excitement. This will be the year that conservatives begin pulling the nation back from the brink of Barack Obama's disaster with a movement that inspires, unites, and discovers new solutions to our current challenges.”

Last year many accused the American Conservative Union, the organizers of the event, of snubbing Christie by not offering him a speaking slot at the convention. Christie wasn't extended a speaking invitation due to his support of a pork filled Hurricane Sandy "relief" bill and for his criticism of House leadership who demanded the bill be cleaned up before passing. The first version of the bill included billions of dollars in pet projects like Amtrak, Alaska fisheries, funding for Homeland Security and more. After the Sandy Relief bill was finally passed, Christie attempted to rewrite his history on the issue.

“This past year he strongly advocated for the passage of a $60+ billion pork barrel bill, containing only $9 billion in disaster assistance and he signed up with the federal government to expand Medicaid at a time when his state can ill afford it, so he was not invited to speak,” ACU Chairman Al Cardenas told POLITICO last year. “Hopefully he will be back in top form next year. We would be delighted to invite him again in that case.”