[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10974-H10975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ASSISTED SUICIDE FUNDING RESTRICTION ACT OF 1996

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Hall] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1996. It is a bill that 
will safeguard our Nation against the use of Federal tax dollars to 
subsidize or promote the practice of assisted suicide.
  Now, this bill is the product of a bipartisan effort--we have over 
100 signatures, and no one has turned me down as a cosponsor, we just 
have not had the time to get around to every office--

[[Page H10975]]

with supporters from both sides of the aisle, and overwhelming support 
from the public.
  This legislation is needed, Mr. Speaker, in light of recent court 
actions. Assisted suicide, or ``aiding, abetting or encouraging the 
suicide of another,'' is a criminal offense in 40 States. Yet two 
Federal appeals courts, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the 2d 
Circuit Court of Appeals, have ruled assisted suicide is a 
constitutional right. One State has already chosen to actually legalize 
assisted suicide, and while that law has not taken effect in that State 
yet, the 9th Circuit Court could reinstate it any day, and that State's 
Medicaid director has publicly stated that Medicaid, which is a Federal 
program funded by Federal tax dollars, will pay for assisted suicide.
  Unless the Supreme Court disagrees with these opinions, physician-
assisted suicide could become a legal and a routine practice throughout 
our country. Taxpayers could be funding assisted suicides, no matter 
how strong their conscientious objections were and how much they 
objected to the practice itself.
  Polling shows us that a majority of Americans, 83 percent, oppose 
assisted suicide. This legislation will preempt the use of taxpayer 
dollars by preventing programs such ad Medicaid, Medicare, Indian 
health care, the military health care system, the Federal employees 
benefits plans and other Federal programs from paying for assisted 
suicide, euthanasia or mercy killing of an individual.
  This bill does not affect the patient's right to reject or to 
discontinue medical treatment. It respects the wishes of the patient 
and it respects the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. It 
does not affect recognized modes of pain relief. Doctors will be able 
to continue to administer pain medication in any dose necessary to 
control pain. This bill permits full funding of this type of relief and 
any other type of medically recognized comfort or pain care that does 
not assist in the killing of patients.
  The sum, Mr. Speaker, this legislation has the modest goal of keeping 
the Federal Government out of the business of euthanasia and out of the 
business of using taxpayer money for assisted suicide. I urge my 
colleagues to give their support to this bill, the Assisted Suicide 
Funding Restriction Act of 1996.

                          ____________________