[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3558-H3559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MORE ON THE PRESIDENT'S VETO OF PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BAN BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, a great Democrat who came from my State, 
perhaps one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Democratic Party 
over the last 30 or 40 years, Hubert Humphrey, once said that if you 
love your God, you must love his children.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the tragedy of the partial 
birth abortion issue and what the President has done with his veto. I 
rise to congratulate the National Conference of Catholic Bishops 
because I think they have, in very strong words, expressed on behalf 
not only of Catholics but I think of millions of Americans that have 
conscience of both political parties the outrage of this grisly 
procedure and the action of the President by vetoing it, keeping it 
legal here in the United States.
  This is not a Republican issue. It is not a Democrat issue. It 
certainly is not just a Catholic issue. I think it is an issue about 
our basic humanity and how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
  I would like to read for the Record a letter from a gentleman in 
Texas. For those who may be watching, I would be happy to make 
available to them a copy of this letter as well as a letter from the 
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, because they are both 
extremely powerful letters. I think all Americans should have an 
opportunity to read them.

                              {time}  1745

  I want to read this for the record, Mr. Speaker:

     Hon. Bill Clinton.
       Dear Mr. President: On Wednesday evening, when I learned 
     that you had vetoed the partial birth abortion bill, I felt 
     stunned and angry, but mostly I felt betrayed. Betrayal is a 
     strong word. However, President Clinton, this is the anguish 
     that I and many Democrats across the nation feel now.
       As a dedicated Democrat, I believed Bill Clinton during the 
     primary campaign in Texas in 1992 and in the general election 
     as our nominee when you vowed to protect the rights of 
     individuals and to forge an era of the new Democrat, an era 
     that would avoid the extremism of either side.
       I campaigned for that Bill Clinton and stood proudly in the 
     cold in Washington at your inauguration when you gave your 
     message of hope for those who have no voice. But Wednesday, 
     with your veto, you ignored the rights of the innocent little 
     children and literally sentenced them, thousands probably 
     before this madness is brought to an end, to their deaths.
       Unlike the debate over abortion that has been ongoing for 
     decades, this procedure is clearly the brutal taking of a 
     human life. The right-to-choose position of the Democratic 
     Party has largely been driven by the belief that a fetus 
     cannot survive outside the mother's womb. But in this case, 
     medical evidence is clear that these babies could survive, 
     but are destroyed in the most vicious and inhumane way 
     possible. Our society demands that even dogs be destroyed in 
     a more humane fashion.
       For what purpose, Mr. President, did you do this? To 
     satisfy a minority of extremists whose votes you would have 
     gotten anyway? And please, consider again your 
     rationalization that you acted to ``protect the safety of the 
     mother,'' when the bill permitted an exception if a doctor 
     deemed the procedure was necessary to save the mother's life. 
     You know full well that the bill would not have received the 
     support of the Council on Legislation of the American Medical 
     Society and 73 Democrats in the house if it did not. Mr. 
     President, with all due respect, there is no valid reason for 
     your action, ethically or politically. And it is certainly 
     inconsistent with your positions that you have taken.
       Your presence and comments in Oklahoma last week on the 
     anniversary of the bombing tragedy reflected your deep 
     concern for those who perished, especially the children. Yet, 
     you signed the death certificate on Wednesday for countless 
     equally innocent children. Several weeks ago I saw you 
     visibly shaken when speaking of the mass murder of the 
     children in Scotland. You had a chance, with your vote, to 
     prevent a much greater tragedy. Mr. President, you chose 
     instead to trade those future lives for votes that you 
     perceive are crucial to your reelection.
       In the past three years I have seen you time and time again 
     speak out to the thousands, maybe millions, of young 
     Americans who have been lost to the streets in a life of 
     murder, destruction and mayhem, of drugs and disease.

  Mr. Speaker, I would like to put the full text of this letter in the 
Record.
  The letter referred to is as follows:

                                                  El Paso, TX,

                                                   April 12, 1996.
     Hon. Bill Clinton,
     President of the United States, Washington, DC.
       Dear President Clinton: Wednesday evening when I learned 
     that you had vetoed the partial-birth abortion bill, I felt 
     stunned and angry. But mostly, I felt betrayed.
       Betrayal is a strong word. However, President Clinton, this 
     is the anguish that I and many Democrats across the nation 
     feel now. As a dedicated Democrat, I believed Bill Clinton 
     during the primary campaign in Texas in 1992, and in the 
     general election as our nominee when you vowed to protect the 
     rights of individuals and to forge an era of the New 
     Democrat. An era that would avoid extremism of either side. I 
     campaigned for that Bill Clinton and stood proudly in the 
     cold in Washington at your inauguration when you gave your 
     message of hope for those who had no voice. But Wednesday, 
     with your veto, you ignored the rights of innocent little 
     children and literally sentenced them (thousands probably 
     before this madness is brought to an end) to their deaths.

[[Page H3559]]

       Unlike the debate over abortion that has been ongoing for 
     decades, this procedure is clearly the brutal taking of a 
     human life. The right-to-choose position of the Democratic 
     Party has largely been driven by the belief that a fetus 
     cannot survive outside the mother's womb. But in this case, 
     medical evidence is clear that these babies could survive--
     but are destroyed in the most vicious and inhumane way 
     possible. Our society demands that even dogs be destroyed in 
     a more humane fashion.
       For what purpose, Mr. President, did you do this? To 
     satisfy a minority of extremists whose votes you would have 
     gotten anyway? And please, consider again your 
     rationalization that you acted to ``protect the safety of the 
     mother'', when the bill permitted an exception if a doctor 
     deemed the procedure necessary to save a mother's life. You 
     know full well the bill would not have received the support 
     of the Council on Legislation of the American Medical Society 
     and 73 Democrats in the House if it did not. Mr. President, 
     with all due respect, there is no valid reason for your 
     action, ethically or politically. And, it is certainly 
     inconsistent with other positions you have taken.
       Your presence and comments in Oklahoma last week on the 
     anniversary of the bombing tragedy reflected your deep 
     concern for those who perished, especially the children. Yet, 
     you signed the death certificate on Wednesday for countless, 
     equally innocent children. Several weeks ago I saw you 
     visibly shaken when speaking of the mass murder of children 
     in Scotland. You had a chance, with your vote, to prevent a 
     much greater tragedy. Mr. President, you chose instead to 
     trade those future lives for votes that you perceived are 
     crucial for your re-election.
       In the past three years I have seen you time and time again 
     speak out to the thousands, maybe millions of young Americans 
     who have been lost to the streets in a life of murder, 
     destruction and mayhem, of drugs and disease. You have 
     pleaded with them to have respect for human life. But with 
     this veto, you did the opposite. And we, as party officials, 
     have been put in the untenable position of having to live 
     with that decision.
       Mr. President, I cannot and will not support this action. 
     Therefore, I cannot in good conscience support your 
     candidacy.
       As I contempleted this matter over these past days, I was 
     reminded of the words of the late President Kennedy when he 
     said, ``Sometimes party loyalty asks too much.'' Thus, it is 
     with regret and sorrow that on this date, I have submitted my 
     resignation as a member of the Texas State Democratic 
     Executive Committee and Chair of the Mexican-American Caucus. 
     I have informed our State Chairman, Bill White. While I do 
     not intend to actively support of vote for any Republican or 
     Independent candidate. I will be asking other Democrats to 
     consider withholding their support of your candidacy while 
     continuing to support Democrats for other offices.
           Very truly yours,
                                                  Jose R. Kennard,
     State Committeeman, District 29.

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