[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WOMEN FORCIBLY STERILIZED

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a tragic story of an 
outrageous misuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars believed to go to foreign 
aid.
  Recently a government campaign in the country of Peru revealed how 
USAID taxpayer dollars have been used over the past 2 years. What were 
these dollars used for, you ask: Community buildup, economic 
development, money to buy clean, sanitary medical conditions? No. Our 
taxpayer dollars have been put to use under the USAID banner for 
forced, mandatory, and coerced sterilization of poor Peruvian women.
  Have these women chosen such paths for their reproductive futures? 
Have they been able to discuss options with their families and 
husbands? No. Without notification and without consent, U.S.-funded 
operatives perform these sterilizations in filthy, primitive conditions 
just to meet a mandated quota.
  Women have been degraded. Indeed, women have died because of this 
policy in the name of population control, and under the guise of family 
planning America has exported horror to women abroad.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress should end taxpayer funding of such atrocities, 
once and for all.

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