[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 9, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1401) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for 
     military activities of the Department of Defense, to 
     prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal years 2000 
     and 2001, and for other purposes:

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the 
Sanchez-Morella-Lowey amendment. American women have a constitutionally 
protected right to choose. We must protect this right.
  The Sanchez-Morella-Lowey amendment would reverse the ban on 
privately funded abortion services at U.S. military bases overseas. 
This amendment would provide servicewomen and military wives who live 
on American overseas military bases, the same access to health care as 
their United States based colleagues. The women we station overseas are 
already making great sacrifices for their country by leaving behind 
their family, friends, and community. We should not deny them their 
constitutional rights nor access to reproductive services.
  This amendment would not expend Federal funds for abortion services. 
This amendment would not require health care professionals who oppose 
abortion to provide this medical service owing to their moral principle 
or as a matter of conscience. This amendment would return this policy 
to where it previously stood for many years under both Republican and 
Democratic administrations. The Department of Defense supports this 
amendment. Simply put, this amendment would allow women stationed 
overseas to use their own funds at overseas military hospitals to 
exercise their constitutional right to obtain abortion services. 
Current policy forces women who seek reproductive services to wait 
until they return to America or to seek out illegal and unsafe 
procedures near where they are stationed. Therefore current policy 
often jeopardizes their health and lives.
  While I certainly respect my colleagues' views on the question of 
abortion, the fact is that women do have a right to choose that option, 
in consultation with their family, their doctors, and their God, and we 
should not make that decision more dangerous for them.
  In the interest of making abortions safe when necessary, I urge my 
colleagues to vote to support the Sanchez-Morella-Lowey amendment. By 
allowing the Department of Defense to move ahead on this, we will 
ensure the safety of the American women we have stationed overseas. We 
have a responsibility to do this.

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