[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 16, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H2189-H2203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2002 AND 2003
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). Pursuant to House Resolution
138 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration
of the bill, H.R. 1646.
{time} 1036
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of
the bill (H.R. 1646) to authorize appropriations for the Department of
State for fiscal years 2002 and 2003, and for other purposes, with Mr.
LaHood in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 printed
in House Report 107-62.
Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Hyde
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment made in order by the
rule.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 4 offered by Mr. Hyde:
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Page 27, strike line 9 and all that follows through line 2
on page 30.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 138, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and a Member opposed, the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lantos) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment.
This amendment will greatly improve the bill by deleting a provision
that would require the United States to subsidize abortionists and
abortion lobbyists in foreign countries. That provision was adopted by
a very close vote in committee; and it would overturn President Bush's
benign and sensible policy, the Mexico City policy as it is called,
that puts a wall of separation between U.S. family planning programs
and the international abortion industry. Taxpayer dollars should not be
used to export abortions.
Mr. Chairman, opponents of our amendment have had some harsh and
misleading things to say about the Mexico City policy. First, they say,
without any evidence, that it is an anti-family planning policy; yet
the Mexico City policy does not cut by one penny the $425 million the
United States spends every year promoting family planning overseas. And
the Mexico City policy strengthens family planning programs by ensuring
that U.S. funds are directed to groups that provide genuine family
planning, which is something entirely distinct from abortion.
The opponents of the Mexico City policy like to call it a gag rule.
They say it violates the right of free speech, although a Federal
appellate court has held it is fully consistent with the first
amendment. Everybody has a right to free speech, but nobody has an
absolute right to Federal tax dollars. The right to free speech does
not include the right to have the taxpayers buy a word processor.
Organizations that work for the United States in foreign countries
are our partners and our representatives in these countries. In a very
real sense they are our ambassadors. Their advocacy in these countries
on issues closely related to the U.S. programs they administer, as well
as other activities such as the actual performance of abortions, is
inevitably going to be associated with the United States. So must we
use tax dollars to facilitate abortions overseas?
Specifically, among the most important stated purposes of U.S. family
planning programs overseas is to reduce the number of abortions by
providing contraception instead. The U.S. has no obligation to
administer these programs through agents who fundamentally disagree
with this goal. Would we hire casino lobbyists to run an anti-gambling
campaign or a distillery to run an anti-alcohol campaign? It makes no
sense to hire abortionists or abortion lobbyists to run programs that
are aimed at reducing abortions.
Opponents of our Mexico City amendment also argue that U.S. family
planning grantees should be allowed to perform and promote abortion so
long as the abortion-related activities are carried out with their own
money rather than U.S. grant money. This is nothing other than a
bookkeeping trick. It ignores the fact that money is fungible. When
money is given to an organization, it inevitably enriches and empowers
all its activities.
U.S. support also enhances the domestic and the international
prestige of the organization by giving it an official U.S. seal of
approval. And remember, the people we are trying to reach, poor women
and men who have a need for family planning, are not very likely to see
the organization's books, so they do not know which activities are
funded from which spigot. So when the very same organization offers
U.S. family planning assistance with one hand and abortion with the
other, the message is the United States and its partners are perfectly
comfortable with abortion as a method of family planning.
The most outrageous claim made by proponents of the amendment, and
this is a brand new one, as far as I can remember they have never
claimed this in more than 20 years of debate about this Mexico City
policy, is that it will interfere with efforts to address the HIV-AIDS
epidemic. This claim is outrageously false. For one thing, the United
States currently spends over \1/2\ of a billion dollars per year on
fighting AIDS, $482.5 million in direct U.S. expenditures in fiscal
year 2001, plus millions more in contributions to organizations such as
the World Health Organization and UNDP, part of which funds anti-AIDS
programs.
{time} 1045
The President's Mexico City Policy has absolutely no application to
this half-billion dollars. It only applies to population assistance
which is a different set of accounts from HIV/AIDS programs.
The proponents of the Lee amendment argue that population assistance
has an incidental effect of reducing exposure to the HIV virus because
part of it pays for contraceptive devices which may prevent infection.
This argument misses the whole point of the Mexico City policy. The
same identical amount of money will be available for contraceptive
devices with or without the Mexico City policy. The same number of
contraceptives will be available for distribution. The only difference
is whether we hire abortionists or nonabortionists to distribute them.
There have always been plenty of organizations willing to administer
U.S. programs, including hundreds around the world that are very good
that are in the business of family planning, not abortion.
The claim that Members have to oppose the President's pro-life policy
in order to support efforts to eradicate AIDS is total nonsense.
Mr. Chairman, I remind my colleagues, this amendment would make the
bill abortion neutral. The amendment would not enact the Mexico City
policy or any other policy on abortion. The only thing our amendment
does is strike the pro-abortion language that was inserted in
committee.
When this bill was originally introduced, it said nothing at all
about abortion. It was a foreign relations authorization bill, pure and
simple. Unfortunately, supporters of an international right to abortion
decided to use this bill as a vehicle for their attack on the
President's authority in this area.
So a vote for our amendment is a vote to restore the bill to its
original abortion-neutral position. A ``yes'' vote will simply uphold
the authority of the President to set reasonable terms and conditions
on the distribution of U.S. foreign aid as the courts have held he has
the power to do.
Get us out of the abortion business. I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment because I
believe it strongly undermines our support for democracy, free speech,
and human rights globally.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Lee), our lead speaker.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Hyde-Smith
amendment which will overturn the pro-family planning language that the
Committee on International Relations added by a bipartisan vote of 26-
22, and I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the
ranking member, for his tremendous leadership.
Mr. Chairman, I wanted to begin first by asking Members to put
themselves in the shoes of someone who will be affected if we reinstate
the dangerous gag rule with the Hyde-Smith amendment. Imagine being a
20-year-old woman living on $300 per year in Africa, and going to the
only health clinic within hundreds of miles of your home to get family
planning counseling, and being denied access to the truly lifesaving
information needed to decide when to have children or how to prevent
HIV and AIDS.
Mr. Chairman, the use of condoms and information about sexually
transmitted diseases is essential in preventing AIDS. Also, this is
central to family planning counseling. We will be compromising the
health and the lives of millions of women and children worldwide, and
especially those in developing nations, who want and need to plan their
families, if this Hyde-Smith amendment passes.
[[Page H2191]]
Mr. Chairman, I ask my colleagues what they oppose about the current
language in the bill. Do they not support access to family planning
which is proven to reduce the number of abortions? Do they not support
access to HIV and AIDS prevention and education which could be
eliminated at clinics under this amendment? Do they not support free
speech and medical ethics and allowing health care providers in other
nations to give complete information to their patients, as is the case
in this country?
Mr. Chairman, I want to remind my colleagues that not one penny of
United States funds can go to providing abortions overseas as per the
1973 Helms amendment. The law states, and I have the law right here,
the law states, ``None of the funds made available to carry out
subchapter I of this chapter may be used to pay for the performance of
abortions as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any
person to practice abortions.'' This has been law since 1973.
Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote on the dangerous Hyde-Smith
amendment which will put the lives of millions of women and children at
risk.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).
Mr. PITTS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express strong support for the
Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment. When President Bush took office,
he reinstated the Mexico City policy. This policy does not reduce by
one penny the $425 million allocated for population control funding.
Under President Clinton in fiscal year 2000, we enacted a compromise
Mexico City policy, where groups received their funding and they were
required to certify that they would not perform abortions, violate the
laws of the host country, or lobby to change the country's laws. Groups
who refused to abide by these pro-life protections could still receive
funds. Well, the sky did not fall. Women were not hurt. Family planning
continued. In fact, 448 out of 457 groups agreed to abide by this
simple policy. Only 9 international abortion groups refused, a mere 2
percent.
Mr. Chairman, we all want to ensure that our funding benefits the
poorest women, helping them with actual family planning decisions. This
will happen under the Mexico City policy. We all agree that AIDS is a
tragedy. However, some supporters of the Lee amendment have been
claiming that Mexico City will harm international AIDS programs. It
should be said in no way will the Mexico City policy negatively affect
efforts to eradicate this terrible disease. We are spending over a
half-billion dollars per year in anti-AIDS efforts around the world.
Nor is there any indirect effect on HIV-AIDS through reduction in
population assistance which might help prevent AIDS because we will
spend the same amount on population assistance. Do not be misled. While
we differ on abortion, I urge that we support the Hyde amendment and
stand with President Bush in protecting women overseas and taxpayers'
consciences.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood).
Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, let me strip this debate down to its
essentials and talk about what it is really about.
Mr. Chairman, the great religions of the world differ on when and if
and under what circumstances a woman should have or it is moral for a
woman to terminate her pregnancy. The Catholic Church thinks one thing.
My church, Presbyterians, think something else. Jews think something,
Muslims think something, and within those religions there are
differences of opinions.
Mr. Chairman, our country was based on religious tolerance and
religious freedom. That is why most people came to this country
initially. Let us talk about what this debate is about. This debate is
about religious intolerance. This debate is about saying, because my
religion tells me something about abortion, I as a Member of Congress
have a right to impose my religious views on the women of America,
regardless of their religion, and now the women of the world; and that
I have the power of the purse to say to women overseas, regardless of
what their religion tells them, we are going to deny their country and
where they might go for their health care family planning funds because
of our narrow religious views. That is unAmerican. I urge my colleagues
to vote ``no'' on this motion.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Cantor).
Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Hyde-Smith
amendment to reinstate Ronald Reagan's Mexico City policy prohibiting
American taxpayer dollars to go to groups which violate foreign
abortion laws.
Mr. Chairman, clearly, by claiming that organizations performing
abortions and receiving funds for lobbying activities are not using
Federal funds in support of abortion is to engage in a shell game.
Currently 100 countries restrict abortion, and it should not be the
policy of the United States to undermine the laws of those countries.
Critics of the Mexico City policy argue that the pursuit of such policy
results in the denial of first amendment rights to free speech.
However, the first amendment does not give anyone a constitutional
right to receive Federal money. This bill is not about religious
tolerance. It is about the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars. If one thinks
taxpayer dollars should go to fund organizations that are going to try
to overturn pro-life laws in foreign countries, then they should oppose
the amendment.
If my colleagues think this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds
provided by our hard-working American families, then vote for the
amendment and stand with President Bush.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. Lowey).
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. As
a beacon of democracy and freedom for the entire world, the United
States has a responsibility to do what is right and what is fair. The
provision which the Hyde amendment seeks to strip from this bill
embodies the principles on which our country was founded. The language
this amendment seeks to strike says simply that we should not treat
others the way we ourselves would not want to be treated; that we
should not apply different, more onerous standards to overseas groups,
damage which would be unconstitutional if we tried to apply them in our
own country simply because we have the authority to do so.
Mr. Chairman, to be honest, I cannot understand why some of my
colleagues take issue with this. Proponents of this amendment are armed
with the statistics that most overseas groups have accepted the gag
rule when it has been imposed in the past. They have continued to
receive U.S. funds and have not had to shut off all of their programs.
But this misses the point. The statistics do not show the agonizing
decisions organizations have to make in order to comply with the
policy. They do not show the effects of denying medical advice to poor
women. They cannot prove that the gag rule makes abortion more rare.
And this returns us to the question of imposing the global gag rules
because it is right, because it accomplishes the goal of making
abortion more rare, or simply because we can.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis).
Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, once again we see the
pro-abortion advocates attempting to override the reinstatement of the
Mexico City policy by attempting to paint this policy as anti-family.
Yet their objections to this policy have nothing to do with families.
This current attempt to repeal President Bush's executive order banning
U.S. Government aid for U.S. and foreign contraception groups that
perform abortions overseas is another disturbing sign of the pro-
abortion movement's contempt for the vast majority of Americans who
oppose the spending of their tax dollars on abortions.
The President's executive order protects the desires of millions of
Americans who ethically and morally oppose Federal funding of abortion.
The current misconception being spread that the Mexico City policy
hurts family planning efforts overseas is simply not true. By
withholding funds from groups that violate the Mexico City policy, the
U.S. does not reduce the amount of foreign family assistance. In fact,
the
[[Page H2192]]
Mexico City policy increases family planning.
From 1984 to 1993, when the Mexico City policy was in effect, U.S.
family planning spending increased dramatically. This year, funding for
U.S. international family planning is budgeted at $425 million, and
reimplementation of the Mexico City policy will not reduce this.
The only change that will take place under the Mexico City policy is
that funding will be provided through representatives who are not in
the abortion business.
Mr. Chairman, abortion is not needed for family planning, and we must
respect the views of millions of Americans who do not want their tax
dollars spent overseas to promote abortion. The Mexico City policy
continues family planning funding while respecting the views of
millions who cherish life and oppose abortion.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Kirk), my distinguished Republican colleague.
Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I reluctantly rise today to urge my
colleagues to oppose this amendment. Recent research shows that
voluntary family planning reduces abortion. Two separate studies, one
by the RAND Corporation in Bangladesh and one by Princeton demographers
in Kazakhstan, show the same conclusion: Abortion rates fall when
contraception is prevalent.
Mr. Chairman, across the former Soviet Union, abortion was the
principal method of birth control under Communism. Princeton University
studied Kazakhstan through the 1990s, looking at the effect of
increased access to voluntary family planning. The results are clear.
Contraceptive prevalence increased by 50 percent since the beginning of
the 1990s, while abortion decreased by the same amount.
``The proposition that the occurrence of abortions can be reduced by
increases in the use of contraception has been demonstrated again in
the analysis of data from the 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health
Survey,'' said Charlie Westoff, Princeton University's demographer.
{time} 1100
This amendment will not reduce abortion but the real way to reduce
abortion is to increase voluntary family planning.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun).
Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Chairman, today as we consider a bill to
authorize funding for foreign relations, I find it puzzling that some
of my colleagues would wish to include language to repeal President
Bush's Mexico City policy. The issue of abortion as a method of family
planning is one of the most divisive and controversial that we face as
a Nation. Why should we be thrust into that debate in other countries?
President Bush was right to remove the United States from promoting
abortions in developing nations. After all, abortion is legal only in a
fraction of these countries. Those who want American taxpayers to fund
abortions overseas should consider the destructive impression that it
gives others about the United States. As a Nation, the image we promote
to the rest of the world should be one of life, health, and hope.
The Mexico City policy allows the U.S. to support overseas family
planning programs without tying those dollars to abortion. I urge my
colleagues to support President Bush's Mexico City policy.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my good friend, the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition.
First and foremost this is not about abortion. It is about women dying
to the tune of 600,000 a year. That is equal to one or two jumbo jets
crashing each day. And it is about saving women's lives. Since 1973, no
U.S. Federal funds have been or are used for abortions around the
world. During the time that we are debating this amendment, 65 women
will die from pregnancy-related complications.
The global gag rule restricts foreign NGOs from using their own
funds. In America, this language would be unconstitutional. It is
unconscionable that we would impose it on the world's poorest women.
The global gag rule is enough to make you gag. The rule puts the U.S.
in the position of deciding what speech is acceptable and what speech
is unacceptable.
Current Mexico City policy is not abortion neutral. Organizations
receiving U.S. funds can use their own money to lobby against abortion
but cannot use their own money to lobby to make abortion legal. Vote no
on this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, as a supporter of family planning, I rise in strong
opposition to the Hyde-Smith amendment which reinstates the anti-woman
antidemocratic Global Gag Rule.
First and foremost, this is not about abortion. It's about women
dying, to the tune of 600,000 a year. That is equal to one or two jumbo
jets crashing every single day. And, it's about saving women's lives.
Since 1973, no U.S. Federal funds have been or are used around the
world for abortions. During the time we are debating the gag rule, 65
women will die from pregnancy related complications because they don't
have access to the most basic health care.
The Global Gag Rule restricts foreign NGO's from using their own
funds. In America, this language is unconstitutional. It's
unconscionable that we would impose it on the world's poorest women.
The gag rule is enough to make you gag. It cripples foreign NGO's
ability to practice democracy in their own countries.
We can't afford to stifle the international debate on family planning
by tying the hands of NGO's with an antiwoman gag rule.
The gag rule forces NGO's to choose between their democratic rights
to organize and determine what is best in their own countries and
desperately needed resources of U.S. family planning dollars.
We know that family planning reduces the need for abortions. We know
that it saves lives. The gag rule reduces the effectiveness of family
planning organizations and should be eliminated.
I urge my colleagues to support the Lee language and oppose the Hyde-
Smith amendment.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from New Jersey
(Mr. Smith) and I commend their efforts in this important matter.
Mr. Chairman, much has been said this day about the effects of the
Mexico City policy. Our opponents claim that this is a gag on the first
amendment and that it is an attack on family planning.
Mr. Chairman, these claims are false and are simply an effort to
change focus away from the real issue here which is federally funded
abortions and abortion lobbying around the world.
Regardless of one's personal stance on the sanctity of life, this
body should be able to agree that the millions of pro-life taxpayers
that have a moral objection to the practice of abortion should not be
forced to pay for abortions or abortion advocacy internationally.
America has always and should ever stand for life and liberty across
the globe.
Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to choose life today and to
vote for the Hyde-Barcia-Smith amendment and end forced taxpayer
funding of abortion and abortion advocacy internationally.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my good
friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Hyde-
Smith amendment. What we are talking about today is not abortion. No
U.S. tax dollars are used for abortions. Zero. Zilch. That has been the
fact since 1973 and it is the same today. The Lee amendment does not
change that one single bit.
Mr. Chairman, we have all read stories in the newspaper and seen on
television reports on the ravages of HIV/AIDS throughout the world. It
is easy to forget those stories and the plight of millions of people
around the world who are so far removed from today's debate. Last year
I visited one of those far-off places, Malawi, in sub-Saharan Africa. I
saw how in one location in a small village family planning is provided
in the same place as immunizations for kids and HIV and TB testing for
adults.
With up to 35 percent of the population in some countries in sub-
Saharan Africa infected with HIV/AIDS and
[[Page H2193]]
with India and the South Asia region on the horizon as the next HIV
time bomb, the U.S. must be more actively involved in funding programs.
A one-size-fits-all solution is not what we need. What we need to do
is work with the local NGOs and health care organizations to provide
the highest quality of service, education, and care that we can
possibly provide.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt).
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Chairman, I think the fundamental issue with the
Mexico City policy is whether or not we will use our American tax
dollars to promote the abortion industry overseas.
We are known for our exports, beautiful cars, commercial jets, music,
and movies. The Lee amendment will add abortion to our list of exports
and does so at taxpayer expense. I believe this is the wrong message to
send the world. Instead, let us promote life, the arts, new technology,
not the industry of death. And above all, not with taxpayer dollars.
I encourage my fellow Members of Congress to support the Hyde
amendment and raise the standard of exports from America.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am honored to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the Democratic leader.
(Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Chairman, I rise to urge my colleagues to vote
against the Hyde amendment and for international family planning
assistance that we know makes a difference in the lives of women and
children across the globe.
Our international family planning assistance should not be
encumbered. It should be enhanced. Overpopulation leads to the
suffering of women and children, poverty and environmental degradation.
Family planning is critical for the survival of the planet and the
people on it, and it plays a critical part in preventing the spread of
diseases like HIV/AIDS, which I believe is the moral issue of our time.
In one of his first official actions, President Bush decided to
restore the so-called Mexico City policy and reinstate controversial
restrictions on U.S. family planning assistance. The President said he
wanted to make sure U.S. taxpayer dollars were not being spent on
abortions abroad. Respectfully, I believe this is a misunderstanding of
our law. Since 1973, U.S. policy has prohibited taxpayer funds from
being used in any way, shape, or form to provide abortions. But under
the Mexico City policy, nongovernmental organizations, with their own
funds, cannot inform women about their options, nor can they advocate
their own government's laws regarding reproduction. I believe these
Presidential restrictions are harmful and will reduce the availability
of family planning services to some of the world's poorest and most
needy women.
There is talk about compassion. In my view, this is not
compassionate. In fact, these restrictions placed on overseas family
planning organizations would be illegal in our own country. We are
imposing restrictions on free speech, putting on a gag order that would
not be allowed in the United States of America. We are asking
nongovernmental organizations in other places, in other countries, to
live under a restriction that we would not impose here in the United
States.
So the issue is simple. Do we empower women and families across the
globe with the ability to plan for the number of children they will
have, as is the case here in America? Or do we pull the rug out from
under these important efforts? For me, the choice is clear. We must
continue to work to empower women with the ability to make their choice
necessary to plan the size of their own family.
I was in Cambodia recently and we visited a family planning clinic.
There were no abortions going on. There was no effort at abortion. They
were simply giving women needed advice and education and help with what
they desperately wanted, which was family planning. I could not see
that without coming to the floor here today to try to change this
policy. I think it is the right thing to do morally. I think it is the
right thing to do for our leadership role in the world. I ask Members
to examine their conscience and to examine the facts. If they will do
that, I believe a majority here today will vote to overrule the
President's ill-advised order on international family planning.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to the
distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the distinguished chairman of the
full committee for yielding me this time and for his courage in
offering this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, the sole purpose of the seemingly benign title of this
language that we are seeking to strike, the Global Democracy Promotion
Act of 2001, is to provide Federal funds to organizations that perform
and/or promote abortions overseas as part of this legislation, as part
of our population account.
The Lee language has nothing whatsoever to do with building democracy
and the rule of law. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the
protection of human rights, all causes to which I have devoted and many
others have devoted their entire lives to. The Lee language is not
about protecting people. Indeed, the absolute contrary is true.
I am sure many others like myself find it highly offensive when a
legislative proposal that seeks to abolish the most fundamental, the
most elemental of all human rights on the face of the Earth, the right
to life, is euphemistically cloaked as a democracy builder, which it is
not. The Lee language is designed to repeal the pro-life, pro-child
Mexico City policy which as Members know was recently reinstated by
President Bush to ensure that we do not fund the killing of unborn
babies, either directly or indirectly.
Mr. Chairman, it is high time we came to the recognition that
abortion is violence against children. Abortion methods are cruel.
Abortion procedures, referred to in the language as medical services,
rip and dismember the innocent child or they chemically poison the baby
with some toxic substance. Today, Mr. Chairman, the pro-life laws and
policies of about 100 countries around the world are under continuous
siege. Regrettably, the forces, the engine behind the pro-abortion push
are nongovernmental organizations, pro-abortion groups that we fund and
we are the primary provider of subsidies to those groups.
The Bush executive order, like the original Reagan-Bush executive
order, permits funding only to those organizations that provide family
planning. Abortion is not family planning, and by funding only family
planning, innocent children are not put at risk. As one of my previous
colleagues pointed out so well, an overwhelming number of
organizations, including some Planned Parenthood affiliates, accepted
the Mexico City policy. For several years, there was a wall of
separation between abortion and family planning. And the Bush policy
ensures that as well. Who we subsidize, not just what, but who we give
millions upon millions of dollars to has profound consequences.
The simple fact of the matter is, Mr. Chairman, that as far back as
1984, we recognized that the longstanding law that said no funds could
be used directly to pay for abortion was very infirm, it was incomplete
and it was not working.
{time} 1115
Money is fungible. The millions of dollars we gave to a family
planning group to perform abortions immediately freed up millions more
that were used for the performance and promotion of abortion.
It should matter to us, not just what an organization does with our
specific subsidy, but what else they do. It is a package deal. Many
groups, regrettably, use family planning as a Trojan horse to conceal
their real agenda, which is abortion on demand.
Mr. Chairman, I know that Members of Congress are getting blitzed by
Planned Parenthood and other abortionists who oppose the Hyde-Barcia-
Oberstar-Smith amendment. I appeal to you to resist. I ask you to stand
with the victims, both mother and child, and against the victimizers.
When we subsidize and lavish Federal funds on abortion organizations,
we empower the child abusers; and Planned Parenthood, make no mistake
[[Page H2194]]
about it, both here and overseas, is ``Child Abuse, Incorporated.''
Here in the United States, for example, and I would say
parenthetically, this is not a domestic amendment, but the example
gives you an insight as to what is happening overseas, Planned
Parenthood has been given $2 billion and performed 2.6 million
abortions since 1977. That is 2.6 million girls and boys who will never
know the joys and challenges of living or the thrill of learning or
marrying or playing soccer or raising their own families some day. That
is 2.6 million individual dreams and talents and creativity the world
will never see.
The loss of children's lives directly attributable to Planned
Parenthood is staggering; 2.6 million dead babies and counting. And if
that is not enough, Planned Parenthood both lobbies and litigates
against virtually every child protection initiative, including parental
notification, women's right to know laws, abortion funding bans,
partial-birth abortion, and, again, most recently, the Unborn Victims
of Violence Act.
Sadly, they do exactly the same thing overseas; and these non-
governmental organizations will be affected by this legislation we pass
today. Members should be aware that the International Planned
Parenthood Federation, which is based in London, is leaving no stone
unturned in its misguided, obsessive campaign to legalize abortion on
demand. If they succeed, millions of babies will die from the violence
of abortion. I urge Members, please, let us not add to the body count.
Mr. Chairman, Planned Parenthood's Vision 2000 strategic plan makes
it very clear that they want family planning organizations to bring
pressures on governments to campaign for abortion on demand. They do
not cloak it; they do not disguise it. They wanted to undermine Central
and South American countries that protect their babies, as well as
Ireland and many other countries.
Mr. Chairman, I urge a strong vote in favor of the Hyde amendment, in
favor of family planning and against abortion promotion.
Mr. Chairman, Title I Subtitle C of the pending Foreign relations
Act, inserted by amendment over the Prime Sponsor's objection during
committee markup, is breathtakingly misleading.
Subtitle C hides its sole purpose--providing federal funds to
organizations that perform and/or promote abortion overseas, under the
seemingly benign title of ``Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2001.''
Don't be fooled, I say to my colleagues.
Subtitle C has nothing whatsoever to do with building democracy and
the rule of law. It has nothing whatsoever to do with protection of
human rights--all causes to which I have devoted my entire life.
The Lee language is not about protecting people. The absolute
contrary is true.
As Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
former Chairman of the International Operations and Human Rights
Subcommittee, and today as Vice Chairman of the International Relations
Committee--I not only have traveled on numerous human rights trips and
chaired over 160 hearings on human rights and democracy building in the
People's Republic of China, Russia, Vietnam, France, Sudan, Rwanda,
Indonesia, Cuba, Peru, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and
the Ukraine (to name a few)--I am also the prime sponsor of:
Public Law 106-386--the ``Victims of Trafficking and Violence
Protection Act of 2000,''
Public Law 105-320--the ``Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998,''
Public Law 106-87--the ``Torture Victims Relief Authorization Act of
1999,'
Public Law 104-319--the ``Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign
Relations Provisions Act of 1996,'' as well as
Public Law 106-113, Division B--the ``Admiral James W. Nance and Meg
Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and
2001,'' which is filled, like the other bills I have listed, with human
rights and democracy provisions.
In addition to authoring human rights legislation, I have offered
scores of amendments to boost the Child Survival Fund, Refugee
Protection, and Freedom Broadcasting, like Radio Free Asia.
I and, I'm sure, many others find it highly offensive when a
legislative proposal that seeks to abolish the most fundamental human
right on the face of the earth--the right to life--is euphemistically
cloaked as a democracy builder.
It is not.
Amazingly, no specific mention is made of abortion in either the
findings or operative clause of the amendment. Why the unwillingness to
be candid and transparent?
Abortion is referred to as ``a particular issue'' or ``medical
service.''
But I guess one would have to be blind to not understand the precise
nature of this section. It is designed to repeal the pro-life, pro-
child Mexico City Policy--recently reinstated by President Bush to
ensure that we do not fund the killing of unborn babies, either
directly or indirectly.
Mr. Chairman, abortion is violence against children.
Abortion methods are cruel. Abortion procedures--referred to this
section as ``medical services''--rip and dismember the innocent child,
or chemically poison the baby with some toxic substance.
This--and only this--is the ``particular issue'' referred to in the
section we seek to strike.
Today, Mr. Chairman, the pro-life laws and policies of approximately
one hundred countries that restrict abortion are under continuous siege
and the forces behind the pro-abortion push are non governmental
organizations funded by the US Government.
The Bush executive order--like the original Reagan-Bush executive
order--permits the funding of only those organizations that provide
family planning--and abortion isn't family planning. Innocent children,
therefore, are not put at risk.
Who we subsidize--not just what--but who, we give millions of dollars
to has profound consequences.
The simple fact of the matter is that as far back as 1984, the
longstanding law stipulating that no U.S. funds can directly be used
for abortion was found to be infirm and incomplete. Money is fungible.
The millions of dollars we give to a group immeditely frees up other
non-U.S. funds that can be used--and have been used--for performing and
aggressively promoting abortion. It should matter greatly to each of us
not just what an organization does with our specific subsidy, but the
rest of its agenda as well. It is a package deal. Many groups use
family planning as the Trojan horse to conceal their real agenda--
abortion on demand.
I know Members of Congress have been getting blitzed by Planned
Parenthood and other abortionists to oppose the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-
Oberstar Amendment.
I appeal to you to resist.
I ask you to stand with the victims--both mother and child--and
against the victimizers.
Whe we subsidize and lavish federal funds on abortion organizations,
we empower the child abusers.
And Planned Parenthood, make no mistake about, it, both here and
overseas is Child Abuse Incorporated!
Here in the United States for example, and of course it's not
affected by this amendment, Planned Parenthood has been paid $1.997
billion in taxpayer dollars and has performed 2,608,362 abortions since
1977.
That's 2.6 million girls and boys who will never know the joys and
challenges of living, or the thrill of learning, or marrying, or
playing soccer, or raising their own family someday.
That's 2.6 million individual dreams, talents and creativity the
world will never see.
The loss of children's lives directly attributed to Planned
Parenthood is staggering--2.6 million dead babies and counting.
And if that wasn't enough, Planned Parenthood both lobbies and
litigates against virtually every child protection initiative including
parental notification, women's right to know laws, abortion funding
bans, partial birth abortion bans and the Unborn Victim of
Violence Act. Sadly--they do the same overseas, and those non
governmental organizations would be affected by what we do today.
Members should be aware that the International Planned Parenthood
Federation is leaving no stone unturned in its misguided, obsessive
campaign to legalize abortion on demand around the world. If they
succeed, millions of babies will die from the violence of abortion on
demand. Please, let's not add to the body count.
Planned Parenthood's Vision 2000 strategic plan says that family
planning organizations should ``bring pressure on governments and
campaign for policy and legislative change to remove restrictions
against abortion.'' Can anything be more clear? ``Pressure''
governments to nullify their pro-life policies. ``Campaign'' for
abortion on demand. And Subtitle C of this bill would compel us to
provide millions of dollars to these abortionists.
A headline in the Philippine Daily Inquirer a few years ago
succinctly underscores our concern, ``Flavier Hits U.S. Pressure on
Abortion.'' The article quotes Senator Juan Flavier:
We had just celebrated our 50th anniversary of independence
from America, but we can still see insidious methods of
imperialism trying to subvert our self-determination by using
[population control] funds as subtle leverage . . . I
strongly opposed abortion. It is prohibited by our laws and
the Philippine Constitution. Hence, we should be prepared to
lose foreign funding rather than
[[Page H2195]]
be pressured into causing the death of unborn children.
The abortion promotion by Planned Parenthood is so extreme in the
Philippines, for example, that the President of IPPF's affiliate--the
Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP)--resigned over
what he called International Planned Parenthood Federation's ``hidden
agenda'' and misuse of his family planning affiliate to legalize
abortion.
The use of family planning to cloak its real agenda--the use of
family planning as a cover for permissive abortion laws--is now
commonplace, and must be stopped. The Bush executive order will help.
Let me remind Members that the pro-life safeguards included in the
Bush executive order are nothing new; they were in effect for almost a
decade. And they worked!
The pro-life safeguards--the Mexico City Policy--were in effect
during the Reagan and Bush years as a principled way to fund family
planning without promoting abortion.
We should have no part in empowering the abortion industry to succeed
in performing or promoting violence against children.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my
friend and neighbor, the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Pelosi).
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time
and congratulate him and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for
their leadership on the committee in putting forth this global
democracy act. I also want to commend the gentlewoman from New York
(Mrs. Lowey) for writing those words in an independent bill.
Mr. Chairman, I want to address some of the concerns raised by our
colleagues. This language that is in this bill is good because it goes
a long way to address the concerns, in fact, the entire way to address
the concerns Members have about international family planning.
This is the first time Members will have to vote on this particular
language. This is not tied to anything they have ever voted for before.
It is simply saying we treat non-governmental organizations in other
countries the way we treat our own people over there.
The gentleman used the argument of fungibility. The President of the
United States, when issuing this executive order, used the argument of
fungibility. Yet no one says anything when the faith-based initiatives
say that organizations can use their own money for religion, while
using our money for social services.
Let us be consistent. Let us let these organizations use their own
money, just as we do in the U.S., for reproductive freedom, for
pregnancy counseling, issues like that, using our money for
international family planning.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am advised that there are more Members that
want to speak on this, and, at the same time, I am reluctant to open
the floodgates, so I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes
on each side.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
Illinois?
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, and I will
not object, I would like to ask my friend, would he be willing to agree
to an additional 10 minutes on each side?
Mr. HYDE. Yes.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to an additional 10 minutes of
debate on this amendment on each side?
There was no objection.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon).
Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for
yielding me time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Hyde amendment. I would
encourage all of my colleagues who support the right-to-life and who
also are opposed to Federal funding for abortion to support the Hyde
amendment, to support the Hyde language.
As most people know, I practiced medicine for many years before I
came to the U.S. Congress. Though I never performed abortions, I did
have the opportunity to witness abortions being performed in my medical
training. While I know some people who defend the right to abortion do
so more or less seeing it as the better of two evils, protecting the
right of the woman for reproductive autonomy versus the right to life,
there is no question if you ever actually go into the operating suite
and actually see an abortion being performed, really in any of the
techniques that are used, that it is extreme violence against an unborn
baby. It is brutal, it is most certainly very painful.
The anatomical data, the embryology, what we know about the fetus in
the womb based upon our understanding of what we see using ultrasound,
ultrasonic techniques, I just spoke to a radiologist recently in my
district who described to me how you can clearly see when you do
amniocentesis and some of these other procedures in the womb, you can
see these babies reacting.
This is clearly, I think for me personally, a no-brainer. Keeping in
mind that there are millions of Americans who are pro-life, should we
be using taxpayer dollars to go to these international family planning
organizations who perform abortions? Now, they will tell us, and we are
going to hear it on the floor today, oh, they use the American money,
the Federal money, for fax machines and IUDs and other contraceptive
purposes, and use this other money. As we all know, money is fungible,
you can move it around.
I think this is a very, very good amendment. It is a very, very well
thought out amendment; and I would highly encourage all of my
colleagues, this is very, very consistent with our long-established
policy in not funding abortions. We should not be funding abortions
overseas.
Furthermore, these organizations use their money to lobby foreign
countries to repeal their pro-life laws. Should American taxpayer
dollars be used for something like that? I say no.
Support the Hyde language. Support the President of the United
States.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, by lifting the global gag rule, this bill
does not send U.S. funds overseas to pay for abortions. The 1973 Helms
amendment prohibits Federal funding of abortions as a method of family
planning.
This amendment remedies a hypocritical double standard imposed by the
global gag rule which would be unconstitutional if it were applied to
family planning organizations in the United States.
Although it is constitutionally permissible for the U.S. government
to restrict how a U.S.-based organization spends Federal funds, the
Constitution does not permit the government to impinge upon an
organization's rights to free speech and association by restricting how
it spends funds received from other non-Federal sources.
Under the global gag rule, foreign organizations that receive U.S.
family planning funds cannot use their own non-U.S. funds to provide
medical counseling, which includes information about abortion or
abortions or to lobby their own governments on the subject. These
restrictions, if applied to U.S. organizations, would quickly be struck
down as violating the right to free speech and association.
The United States should respect the rights of citizens of other
countries to freedom of speech. It is arrogance for us to attempt to
limit the rights of free speech abroad in a way we would never do at
home. I urge the defeat of this amendment.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to my friend
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Brown).
Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Hyde-
Smith amendment. As a member of the Russia Duma Study Group, I have
seen firsthand how important these funds are to women around the world.
I have met with family planning providers from around the world; and
they consider this aid to be the most important assistance that they
receive from the United States, especially the providers in the former
Soviet Union and African nations.
This is not about promoting abortion. It is about helping women and
their families. When I was coming up in the 1960s, there used to be a
program with Sergeant Joe Friday, and he would say, ``Just the facts.''
The facts are we do not spend a dime of U.S. taxpayer money for
abortions and have not since 1973.
This is not about protecting the taxpayers' dollars. This is about
the fact that each year more than 600,000
[[Page H2196]]
women die of pregnancy-related deaths that are preventible. This is
about the fact that more than 150 million married women in developing
countries want assistance.
Vote against this ill-fated amendment.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the
distinguished gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin).
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Chairman, for more than 30 years, the United States
has led an international effort to reduce the toll of maternal deaths,
unwanted pregnancies, and abortion in developing countries by providing
money and technical assistance for family planning programs. The Hyde-
Smith amendment would severely limit our efforts to reduce abortions
worldwide because it would reinstate the global gag rule, a policy that
prohibits foreign, non-governmental organizations that receive U.S.
Federal funds from promoting and providing comprehensive family
planning services.
By reducing funding to reproductive health care providers in
underserved areas, this amendment will decrease women's ability to
access pregnancy-related care, family planning and services for HIV/
AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Our efforts to reduce the
number of abortions worldwide through greater access to family planning
services will be hindered.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote against the Hyde-Smith
amendment.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter).
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
time.
Mr. Chairman, the findings of the amendment of the gentlewoman from
California read as following: ``It is the fundamental principle of
American medical ethics and practice that health care providers should
at all times deal honestly and openly with patients. Any attempt to
subvert the private and sensitive physician-patient relationship should
be intolerable in the United States and is an unjustified intrusion
into the practices of health care providers when attempted in other
countries.''
No one will argue with that, and yet the Hyde amendment strikes this
from this bill.
What happens here then is that women in poor countries die. Six
hundred thousand women a year die. Abortion is not stopped. Women are
simply not able to plan their families, and women die.
Do we want the people to understand that the United States only cares
about the doctor-patient relationship and about giving decent health
care only in our own borders?
Stop letting women in other countries die because we refuse to give
them the information that they need. It is not about abortion.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes
to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the former distinguished
chairman of the Committee on International Relations.
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
{time} 1130
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to rise in opposition to the amendment
offered by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the distinguished
chairman of our Committee on International Relations, my dear friend.
The Mexico City global gag rule is unnecessary and it is
unproductive. We should not impose any conditions on funding for family
planning programs that restrict credible organizations from helping us
achieve our family planning goals, because those organizations, with
their own funds, engage in activities that we may disagree with, such
as lobbying for the lifting of restrictions on abortions overseas.
Please bear in mind, I say to my colleagues, that under the current
U.S. law, no U.S. funds are allowed to support abortion or abortion-
related activities abroad.
Mr. Chairman, the Congress, not the President, should be deciding
issues of this nature. It is inappropriate for the President, for whom
I have the highest regard, to be issuing executive orders to provide
for policies such as the so-called global gag rule, the Mexico City
policy. And any Member, or any administration, wishing to provide for
that policy should bear the burden of moving that legislation through
the Congress.
If our colleagues support the bill as reported from our committee, we
will be promoting a sound policy and will be defending the prerogatives
of the legislative branch.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to join in opposing this amendment.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Hyde
amendment. I do not think it is the strongest amendment that we could
have, because ultimately, this debate will not end until we stop the
Federal funding or taxpayer funding of population control overseas. But
nevertheless, a vote for this amendment is a strong statement in
opposition to tax-supported abortion.
I would like to address the subject of the gag rule. As many of my
colleagues know, if there is any violation whatsoever of any civil
liberties or the Constitution, no matter how well intended a piece of
legislation is, I will vote against it. On occasion even though I'm
strong pro-life, I have occassionally voted against pro-life
legislation for that reason.
But let me tell my colleagues, this gag rule argument is a red
herring if I have ever seen one. This has nothing to do with the first
amendment. This would be like arguing that if we had a prohibition in
this bill against passing out guns to civilians in some foreign nation,
we would say, we cannot have a prohibition on that because of the
second amendment, defending the right to own guns. It would be
nonsense. So this has nothing to do with the first amendment; but it
does have something to do with the rights of U.S. citizens, Mr.
Chairman, in forcibly taking funds through taxes from people who
believe strongly against abortion their rights are violated.
Someone mentioned earlier that this was a violation of the religious
beliefs of people overseas. What about the religious beliefs of the
people in this country who are at the point of a gun forced to pay for
these abortions? That is where the real violation is. It is not an
infraction on the first amendment.
As a matter of fact, I think this is a bad choice and bad tactics for
those who support abortion, because this is like rubbing our nose into
it when the people who feel so strongly against abortion are forced to
pay for abortion, to pay for the propaganda and to pay for the lobbying
to promote abortion. Ultimately, the solution will only come when we
defund overseas population control.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro.)
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, the family planning programs our country
supports provide critical reproductive health care for millions of
women around the globe. Family planning assistance prevents unwanted
pregnancies and yes, helps to prevent abortions. These family planning
programs are the only health care these women and their families have.
The President's executive order dictates to these groups that they
must forfeit their right to determine what they do with their own
private funds: you must not talk about certain things, you must not
perform certain health care services, you must report to us what you do
with your own money.
If we were to impose these mandates on domestic groups, they would be
struck down as unconstitutional. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Smith), my colleague, acknowledged that in 1997 on this floor. He also
said at that time that he would like to impose this gag rule on these
domestic organizations.
The United States Government does not fund abortions here or abroad.
We have not done that for decades. We
[[Page H2197]]
have now begun to restrict what groups can do with their own money.
Who suffers when we penalize the funding for these groups? Women and
children, some of the most impoverished women and children in the
world.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to reject the Hyde amendment, save
women's lives, and promote democratic values.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
It has been said, but I will say it again: the issue we are debating
today is not abortion, it is family planning. Equally important,
everyone who will be voting on this amendment today needs to know that
the ban on international family planning assistance is more restrictive
than any this House has voted on before. If this amendment passes, the
global gag rule will go back into effect. This policy disqualifies
overseas groups from U.S. planning assistance if they use their own
funds simply to counsel pregnant women on all their pregnancy options,
including birth control.
The distinguished gentleman from Illinois said, well, birth control
will still be there. These workers just will not be able to tell the
women about it. Well, that is really helpful, if the birth control is
sitting there in the drawer and no one can tell them about it.
The truth is, we all do share one goal today. The goal we share is
reducing abortion overseas. There is one way to reduce abortion
overseas, and that is family planning. Vote ``no'' on the Hyde
amendment, and let us keep family planning available to women around
the globe.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Mrs. Morella), my dear Republican friend.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Chairman, I join so many of my colleagues in
opposing this Hyde amendment, which would impose a gag rule on critical
international family planning funds.
Mr. Chairman, I do not know what we are hearing, because the
taxpayers' dollars have never been used or have not been used for
paying for abortions, and people are talking about abortions. This is
not about promoting abortions at all. The taxpayer money has never been
used to perform or promote it. It has been mentioned that the law that
explicitly forbids such activities began as an amendment by Senator
Helms to the Foreign Operations bill in 1973, which is renewed
annually. Therefore, there should be no anti-abortion concerns within
international family planning.
International family planning helps women, it helps families, it
helps our national security. Access to international family planning
services is one of the most effective means of reducing abortions,
because it provides safe and effective contraceptive options allowing
women to plan and space their children; and it promotes the health of
both mother and child.
Mr. Chairman, we need this access, so I hope people will vote against
this Hyde amendment.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, just to respond very briefly.
First of all, this is all about foreign aid grant money and whether or
not we will have modest conditions that protect children.
Mr. Chairman, it was mentioned a moment ago that we have never voted
on this issue before. That is patently untrue. I offered the amendment
supporting the Reagan-Bush Mexico City policy year in and year out
going back to 1985. This body has voted repeatedly, close to 15 years
of voting on this very policy, identical to what we have under
consideration today. So hopefully, that argument, that false statement
will not be made again.
Let me remind my colleagues, the Hyde, Barcia, Smith, Obestar
Amendment does not reduce family planning by one penny; we condition
it; we put in safeguards. Who we give our tax dollars to does matter.
Pro-abortion organizations perform and promote abortions. Let us give
our tax dollars to those that will divest themselves of abortion, and
simply stick to family planning.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel).
Mr. HOEFFEL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Hyde-Smith
amendment. The distinguished chairman started this debate by saying
there is a difference between the issues of abortion and family
planning, and he is correct. The underlying issue in the Hyde-Smith
amendment is not the question of stopping abortion, although they would
like us to believe that. The underlying issue is how do we best deliver
family planning services to women around the world. We do that by
abolishing the gag rule, by voting against this amendment.
This amendment would prevent women around the world from getting
fundamental family planning information, the most basic information
that would go directly to the issue of them controlling their
reproductive freedom and not needing to turn to abortions. It is
contrary to what my Republican colleagues say they stand for to cut off
funding for international family planning, and we would cut it off to
the poorest women in the world, not women in our districts, but women
around the world that need this information.
Vote ``no'' on the amendment.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), my good Republican friend.
Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
In 1960 there were 3 billion people that lived on this Earth. Today,
there are 6 billion people who live on this Earth; and in 40 years,
without worldwide family planning services, it will rise to nearly 9
billion. Without worldwide family planning, abortions will be more
prevalent.
We need to defeat the Hyde-Smith amendment. There is no funding in
this bill for abortions. U.S. law already prohibits family planning
funds from being used for abortions, and nothing in this bill permits
organizations to break the laws of their host countries or those of the
United States.
We need to defeat the Hyde amendment.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman
from California (Mrs. Davis). Although she has been with us only a few
months, she has already made a significant contribution to the work of
this House.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to oppose the
global gag rule. It has been stated before, but it bears repeating: the
global gag rule imposes restrictions on foreign organizations that
would be illegal and unacceptable in our own country.
In this country, we value our freedom of speech, and we value the
sanctity of our doctor-patient relationships. The global gag rule
prevents foreign, nongovernmental organizations from participating in
public policy debates regarding the right to choose. Can any of us
imagine if Congress passed a law that silenced the Christian Coalition
or Planned Parenthood? The American public would not stand for such a
blatant violation of the freedom of speech. Like American groups,
foreign organizations should have the right to advocate for their
cause.
Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, however, the most egregious impact of the
global gag rule is that it violates the sanctity of the doctor-patient
relationship. We should not be making decisions about personal, private
health care decisions. It is absolutely critical that women are able to
discuss their health care concerns with their doctors. So in turn,
doctors need to be able to answer all of their questions and discuss
every available health care option. If Congress votes to limit what
doctors can say to their patients, we will jeopardize the health of
women around the world.
The time has come to stand up for democracy and patients' rights. I
urge all of my colleagues to vote to repeal the global gag rule today.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer).
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Chairman, this debate is a matter of subsidy versus
choice. The amendment makes our foreign policy consistent with our
domestic practices. While many Americans regard themselves as advocates
of abortion choice, they clearly oppose subsidies for abortions,
whether directly
[[Page H2198]]
or indirectly, through a fungible subsidy, which is the focus of this
amendment.
Our proposal funds family planning, but distinguishes family planning
from lethal abortion. America's standard is clearly stated in our
Declaration and in our Constitution, a standard which promotes life and
regards the right to it as unalienable.
The most pernicious aspect of the efforts by our opponents to promote
overseas abortions is that these promotions are targeted to the world's
poor, those whose children are already the most vulnerable on the
planet. The amendment promotes free will, while avoiding ill will. It
draws a clear line at human life and places our country on the side of
sanity, decency, and human dignity.
{time} 1145
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to my friend
and colleague, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, the global gag rule is anti-family and
it is pro-abortion.
President Bush said the policy was necessary ``to make abortion more
rare.'' There is absolutely no evidence that it did that the last time
it was in effect. Rather, there is statistical evidence that family
planning reduces the number of abortions all over the world.
This gag rule would deny money to places like Turkey, where the
Ministry of Health initiated a pilot program linking family planning
services and abortion. The results have been dramatic. After a program
to promote the use of birth control, the number of abortions performed
at that hospital dropped 42 percent from 1992 to 1998.
This policy would be unconstitutional if applied in our own country.
How could we even imagine voting in favor of a policy that hinders and
gags democracy around the globe?
The global gag rule undermines women's health by denying aid money to
organizations that provide crucial family planning services. I urge a
no vote.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).
(Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues, I plead with my
colleagues, to oppose this amendment that would put the Mexico City
policy back into this bill, that would put the language that gags
foreign private organizations from using their own funds, and I want to
repeat this, using their own funds to educate women and families about
reproductive choices and options, including birth control options.
International family planning operations provide women in foreign
countries with access to maternal care, clinic health services,
education and counseling, programs that reduce the need for abortion in
the first place. At the very least, we should allow organizations that
participate in family planning programs to use their own private funds
to provide information and services for women and their families.
Mr. Chairman, if we truly care about women and children, we will
support international family planning. Without it, women in developing
nations will be forced to make unconscionable choices.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my good
friend, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, quickly, let me observe that the President
and his faith-based organizations' proposal said that funds can be
segregated. Yes, they may be fungible, but they can make a difference.
That is what this issue is about.
Family planning programs supported by the United States save lives
around the world. The World Health Organization estimates that close to
600,000 women die each year of pregnancy-related causes that are often
preventable. Nearly one in four of these deaths could be prevented if
high-quality family planning services were available.
Proponents of the global gag rule would lead us to believe that
taxpayer dollars are being spent to actively promote or fund abortions.
This is false and has been prohibited by United States law since 1973.
Imposing restrictions on the freedom of speech of foreign NGOs not only
undermines the key goal of our foreign policy, promoting democracy
worldwide, but it would be unconstitutional in the United States.
I urge my colleagues to preserve the existing language in the bill
and vote against the global gag rule.
Mr. Chairman, family planning programs supported by the United States
save lives around the world.
The World Health Organization estimates that close to 600,000 women
die each year of pregnancy-related causes that are often preventable--
99 percent of which are women that live in developing countries.
Nearly one in four of these deaths could be prevented if high-quality
family planning services were available.
Proponents of the global ``GAG'' rule would lead you to believe that
taxpayer dollars are being spent to actively promote or fund abortions.
This is false. The truth is that not one penny of U.S. assistance pays
for abortion services. Federal law has explicitly prohibited funding
for abortion services since 1973. Furthermore, the global ``GAG'' rule
would be unconstitutional in the United States.
Impossing restrictions on the freedom of speech of foreign NGOs not
only undermines the key goal of our foreign policy--promoting democracy
worldwide--but it would be unconstitutional in the U.S.
I urge my colleagues to preserve the existing language in the bill
and vote against the global ``GAG'' rule.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hostettler).
(Mr. HOSTETTLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. HOSTETTLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Hyde-
Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment, which preserves President Bush's legal
authority to implement the pro-life Mexico City policy which prohibits
U.S. population assistance funds from being made available to foreign
organizations that perform or actively promote abortions in foreign
countries.
I would have thought that I would not have needed to remind anyone in
this body today about the revelation last year that the International
Planned Parenthood Federation quietly repaid $700,000 in U.S. grants
just days before a congressional audit to determine if the funds were
used for abortions or the promotion of abortion in India and Uganda.
If International Planned Parenthood Federation believes they were
used illegally according to Federal law, my colleagues should probably
contact them to find out the truth. While International Planned
Parenthood might have repaid the U.S. Treasury, they could not pay us
back in the human lives they stole.
Today, let us reaffirm our fundamental belief that all of the world's
unborn have precious lives that should be protected. Our own
Declaration of Independence recognizes that governments are instituted
to protect the inalienable right to life. Why should we want to export
a contrary doctrine?
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my
friend and neighbor, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-
McDonald).
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for
yielding time to me.
Just 2 days after the Bush administration came into office, he issued
an executive memorandum reinstating the notorious global gag rule on
international family planning programs, so we knew that this was going
to come to the floor, but we must know the facts on this.
The fact is, access to family planning services is one of the most
effective ways of reducing abortion. Limiting access to family planning
results in higher rates of high-risk pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and
maternal deaths. Let us know the facts: 600,000 women die each year of
causes related to pregnancies or childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of
those women live in developing countries.
We must vote no on this Hyde-Smith-Oberstar amendment so we can
strengthen HIV-AIDS prevention, so we can encourage the Golden Rule,
respect medical ethics, and respect and reinforce current U.S. laws. I
urge Members to vote against this thinly-veiled legislation that is
anti-family planning. Vote no.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).
(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
[[Page H2199]]
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, in the late seventies when I was assistant
administrator of AID in charge of population programs, I was in charge
of the effort to enforce the Helms amendment, whether the agency liked
it or not. We did that. We set up a rigorous procedure to make sure
that no U.S. monies were used for abortion-related activities.
Now, the argument is that money is fungible, and even if an
organization uses a small amount of its own monies, or an affiliate
uses its monies, we should make sure that that organization receives no
American funding. That carries the fungibility argument to an extreme,
period. It is not a rule of reason.
I just suggest to those who are carrying this fungibility argument to
an extreme, they should not be surprised if it is used against them or
others when they try to apply a different principle in terms of
domestic programs.
This is a bad amendment. It is an extreme amendment. I urge its
rejection.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my
friend, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member
for giving me the time for a very important discussion.
I respectfully rise to oppose the Hyde-Smith amendment. I guess it is
because I have spent a lot of time in developing nations visiting with
women across the world. Many of them want peace, and they fight for
human rights. They want dignity for their families, their children.
They want to be able to raise their children. They want to be able to
give them a good quality of life. They want to live, I say to the
gentleman from California. The reason they want to live is because they
want to be able to foster the opportunities for their children.
But if this amendment passed, 600,000 of those women can die because
of pregnancy-related problems, because there has been no family
planning. I think it is very important to realize that this Bush Mexico
City global gag rule policy that was implemented is more extreme than
any other policy we have ever had, because the policy disqualifies
overseas groups from U.S. family planning assistance if they use their
own funds simply to counsel women on their pregnancy options.
Family planning is vital. We should vote this amendment down so women
and children around the world might live.
Announcement by the Chairman
The CHAIRMAN. Members are reminded to address their comments to the
Chair, and not to other parties.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to my
colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I hope this body can come together on this
very sensible plan that we have discussed today to protect birth
control, yes, birth control, in the international aid program.
We know that the Republican party is opposed to choice, but what is
at stake here is not the fight about abortion, it is whether poor women
in the Third World are going to be able to have access to birth control
so that they can plan their families.
Surely this House is not so radical that it will oppose birth control
and the family planning program.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I just want to make a couple
of points in rebuttal to those comments made by my friends on the other
side of this issue.
A couple of their speakers have said that somehow the fungibility
argument is analogous, to what we were doing with the faith-based
initiative proposed by President Bush.
I would suggest that in the faith-based initiative, there is a benign
outcome, a benign consequence. If, as a matter of fact, because we give
money to a religious organization, which in-turn frees up money, for
example, for them to proselytize their religion, I think most of us
would agree that is not a bad thing. That is why we give tax breaks to
religious organizations, regardless of denomination or belief, because
we do believe that religious beliefs are a positive good for society.
That is not the case when we are talking about money and fungibility
with regard to family planning and abortion. If the organization, a
pro-abortion organization, is performing and killing and decimating,
destroying, chemically poisoning and dismembering unborn children,
because U.S. funding allows them to use their own money for abortion,
that is not a benign consequence, that is a horrific consequence.
If our U.S. funding for family planning is used to free up other
money for abortion, we have a responsibility to step in and protect the
child and only fund those groups that just do family planning.
I believe as reasonable men and women we can make choices and say, we
do not want that consequence. So here in the Mexico City policy, the
fungibility argument has real teeth, it has real grip. It ensures that
we do not subsidize groups that engage in abortion, the killing of
unborn children.
Let me also point out to my colleagues again that when the Mexico
City policy was in effect, 350 nongovernmental organizations accepted
the pro-life Mexico City provisions, including 57 affiliates of the
International Planned Parenthood Federation based in London. That is 57
mostly in-country affiliates who said, we will divest ourselves of
killing. Abortion is killing. Family planning is not.
I would hope and I would respectfully submit, this is a modest
policy. We do not reduce family planning by a dime. Last year we
appropriated $425 million for family planning, and $425 million will go
forward for family planning, with the pro-life safeguards.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to our
distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice
Johnson).
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I thank the
gentleman for yielding time to me.
Mr. Chairman, I rise to request a vote no on this amendment. Let me
share with Members that my religious values I hold dear. I am not in
church right now, but I respect the right of every woman to choose
medical procedures that she and her doctor have decided.
But that is not what this is about. This is about family planning.
Family planning will eliminate the need for abortions. As a
professional nurse, abortions are not done lightly. It is a tough
decision and a medical one, for the most part. I can assure the Members
that not a single dollar in this bill is going to fund an abortion.
{time} 1200
But, Mr. Chairman, we recognize the need for family planning, not
only will it save lives, it will also prevent a lot of disease. When
people have access to information on how to control their emotions and
their lives, we will see a better result.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).
Mr. THUNE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Hyde) for yielding the time to me.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar
amendment to preserve the President's legal authority to implement the
pro-life Mexico City policy.
Mr. Chairman, the pro-abortion lobby likes to call the Mexico City
policy a gag rule. This is a cunning and deceptive argument and could
not be further from the truth. Abortion, even when it is cloaked in the
terms of those who favor it as choice or reproductive freedom, is still
giving one human being the power to terminate the life of another.
Fortunately, many of the countries that are considered the Second and
Third World still respect and cherish life. These countries though
vulnerable and in need of aid should not be forced, coerced, or unduly
influenced to accept a practice that is abhorrent to them and a
complete contradiction of their most basic beliefs.
That is exactly what the Mexico City policy is all about, Mr.
Chairman. It is a reasonable attempt to ensure that the pro-abortion
lobby in the West does not undermine the traditions and the laws of
other countries.
[[Page H2200]]
The Mexico City policy prohibits organizations that perform abortions
or lobby foreign governments to legalize abortions from receiving U.S.
tax dollars. It is a just but modest measure for those Americans and,
Mr. Chairman, there are a clear majority of Americans who do not want
their foreign aid dollars used to fund abortions.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to
implement the Mexico City policy, a policy which protects and values
and respects life not only in this country but around the world.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), my Republican friend.
Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to be an
American. I am proud to be a citizen in the freest Nation in the world.
We have the confidence in America that if everyone is allowed to speak
up, to share their experience, to share their knowledge, we as a Nation
will find the best and truest path into the future.
I am proud that I am part of a country that trusts what is an
extraordinarily difficult process, because it is difficult sometimes to
trust the chaos that comes with public debate about difficult issues.
And so I am humiliated as I stand here as an American to watch Members
of this House impose on other countries a limit on their citizens'
rights to speak up, to advocate what they think their government ought
to do in governing themselves.
Mr. Chairman, the underlying bill denies the use of American dollars
for abortion; that is that. The underlying bill denies the right to
counsel women to go get an abortion; that is that. I do not agree with
it; but that is that.
That is not the issue that so profoundly concerns me about the
amendment, which I strongly oppose. If America's policy is to be no
American funds for abortion, no American funds to counsel for abortion,
so be it. But we do know that empowering women with the knowledge to
space their children, to have healthy pregnancies, not only saves lives
but produces healthy mothers and healthy babies. I am glad that there
is money in the bill for family planning.
This amendment is about whether we take the next step and we say to
that country that the people who have experience in providing
information and education to women may not raise their voice as
citizens of their own country, to inform the debate in their own
country about what public policy and public law ought to be. And worse
than that, this bill says if you have an opinion that we approve of,
you may speak publicly. If you have an opinion we disapprove of, you
may not speak publicly.
Are we going to send in the FBI? American troops? Are we going to be
the censors of speech of people in other countries? It is one thing for
America to say you cannot use our money for abortions; it is another
thing to say and for us to export as a matter of American policy, we
deny you the right to speak your opinion in your own country. We should
be ashamed.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) for yielding.
Mr. Chairman, let me just say to my colleagues, if we subsidized an
organization that used their money and our money for hunger relief, but
hunger relief was only part of their mix of programs a mix that also
include the promotion of racial prejudice, we would withhold U.S.
funds. Take for instance, apartheid, just go back 15, 20 years in South
Africa. We would fund only NGOs who did not agree with Apartheid
because we found it egregious and something we could not agree with. So
we would suggest to those NGO's that had Apartheid as part of their
package, just part of their program, that we will find another NGO to
fund. One that divested itself from Apartheid.
Mr. Chairman, that is exactly what has happened with the Mexico City
policy. We have said we will provide enormous amounts of money for
family planning, but we want some pro-life safeguards to ensure that we
are not promoting abortion. Many of us and many in America and many in
the world believe abortion to be the taking of human life and
exploitation of women as well, we don't want to fund that. Instead, we
want to make sure that that money goes for family planning, their own
money as well as our own.
Again, if we apply this policy to other issues where we have grave
disagreements, like racial prejudice, we would pick and choose among
NGOs, and only fund those who divested themselves, completely, from the
egregious activity.
Finally, this policy has been found to be constitutional. It has
already been litigated, and has been reaffirmed through the scrutiny of
the U.S. courts. The Mexico City policy is fully constitutional.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. Lowey).
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I say I have great respect for my
colleagues who feel so strongly about the Hyde amendment, but I would
like to repeat once again exactly why I am asking my colleagues to vote
no on the Hyde amendment. Number one, the Hyde amendment reduces
abortion funding from zero to zero. There is no abortion funding in any
family planning legislation which we are proposing.
The Hyde amendment will not reduce the number of abortions, it can
only make them less safe. The Hyde amendment, in fact, may well
increase the number of abortions, because we are denying poor women
around the world the opportunity to get counseling and spacing their
children to get family planning.
The Hyde amendment violates medical ethics. It interferes in the
doctor-patient relationship. The Hyde amendment punishes free speech
and democracy. The Hyde amendment will strip language that respects
United States law and laws in foreign countries.
Mr. Chairman, I say to my colleagues, please read this carefully.
Vote no on the Hyde amendment. Vote for free speech and democracy and
the rights of the United States citizen. Let us not, let us not impose
on others what we would not impose on our own.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remainder of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) is recognized
for 6 minutes.
(Mr. HYDE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I speak in defense of millions of people who
are offended by having their tax dollars coercively spent to facilitate
abortions, and that is the state of the bill now with the Lee
amendment.
My amendment strikes the Lee amendment and makes this bill abortion
neutral. I have heard people argue, debate abortion, and say that
government ought to keep its hands out of this decision. They ought not
to be involved in abortion. That is what we are trying to do.
The Lee amendment provides that money, millions of dollars can go to
organizations that facilitate abortions, that propagandize for
abortions, that lobby to change the laws of countries that are
antiabortion and that perform abortions. And it is wrong.
Our country, this Congress, the President, are all entitled to
specify the terms and conditions under which our tax dollars are being
granted to nongovernment organizations to spend. We can tell them what
to spend it for because it is our money, and that has been held
constitutional by the courts. If my colleagues want the citations, I
have them here.
Now, abortion is not family planning. Family planning is helping you
get pregnant or keeping you from getting pregnant. It is not killing an
unborn child after you become pregnant. That is abortion. You can call
it reproductive rights if you want, but it is abortion. It is killing a
life once it has begun.
Mr. Chairman, a lot of people do not want their money facilitating
that practice overseas. No family planning dollars are going to be
lost. Four hundred and twenty-five million dollars of your tax money
and mine will go for family planning, and every penny of it will be
spent. It will be spent providing family planning, not abortion. And
that is as it should be.
We invite a veto from the President. The President has reestablished
the
[[Page H2201]]
Mexico City policy, which is we do not subsidize organizations that
propagandize, that lobby, that perform abortions.
If this Lee amendment stays in the bill and if the Hyde amendment is
defeated, we are inviting a veto of a very good bill. That is a shame.
Secondly, this amendment, the Lee amendment, does not belong in this
bill. This bill is an authorization for the State Department, not a
foreign aid bill. It properly belongs as an amendment on a foreign aid
appropriation, not in this bill.
Mr. Chairman, money is fungible. If we provide millions of dollars to
international planned parenthood, sure, they are spending their own
money on abortions, but we free up their money. We make it available to
them by providing our money for other purposes. So the notion that we
are telling an organization how to spend its own money is nonsense.
The gag rule, nobody is being gagged. If you want to talk about
abortions, talk away, but not on our dime, not on tax dollars provided
by this Congress. That is the difference.
I heard my friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), talk
about how important family planning is. I do not doubt that. He talked
about all kinds of millions of people who cannot sustain a decent
standard of living, that is fine.
We provide family planning, and whether Planned Parenthood spends the
money or other organizations, the money will be spent for family
planning. Whatever good can come of that will come of that whether the
Hyde amendment is there or not.
Mr. Chairman, I plead with my colleagues, support the Hyde amendment.
Help this bill get passed to where the President will sign it and do
not, do not saddle people's consciences and souls with the fact that my
colleagues are coercing tax dollars to facilitate organizations that
preach and promote abortion. It is just wrong.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1215
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, let me first thank all of my colleagues on both sides
of this issue for conducting an enlightening and civilized debate. Let
me also specifically commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee)
who led our side in the debate in the committee where we won the issue
26 to 22. It was a significant bipartisan vote.
I would also like to pay tribute to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Pelosi), the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), the gentlewoman from Connecticut
(Mrs. Johnson), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) for raising
the awareness on this so-called Mexico City policy.
Mr. Chairman, this is not a partisan issue. This is not a pro-choice
versus pro-life issue. This is about advocating globally what we so
cherish for our own citizens here at home, the right to speak freely
and the right to choose wisely.
I believe, Mr. Chairman, that reasonable people can and do have
different views on the matter of a woman's right to choose; and I
respect the views of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and on
both sides of this issue.
But our debate today is not about abortion. Not one dime of U.S.
Government tax dollars are used for abortions overseas. Since 1973, it
has been illegal to use U.S. taxpayer funds for abortions. This debate
is not about funding abortions. It is about the right to free speech
and the principle of an open and privileged doctor-patient
relationship.
We have heard from the other side repeatedly the notion of
fungibility. Fungibility is a real concept. It means that, if funds are
made available to purpose A, then funds become freed for purpose B.
This is as true of President Bush's faith-based initiative as it is
true of this issue.
I think it is important that we not be hypocrites in dealing with
this legislation. It is not enough to talk about human rights and
democracy and free speech, it is important that we practice what we
preach.
I urge my colleagues strongly to vote against this amendment to save
the lives of countless poor women across the globe in the most
destitute countries on the face of this globe. I urge my colleagues to
defeat the amendment.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I have dedicated my efforts in Congress
to the promotion of more livable communities, communities that are
safe, healthy and economically secure, here and abroad. Our
contribution to international family planning efforts is an example of
our partnership on an international level to promote more livable
communities.
Poverty-stricken nations face significant obstacles to providing for
the health, safety, and economic security of their families. The
``Global Gage rule'' put into effect by the Bush Administration earlier
this year placed an additional burden on these struggling countries. I
commend Congresswoman Lee for her successful effort in Committee to
overturn the Mexico City restrictions and restore funding to family
planning clinics across the world.
U.S. aid for international family planning is used to provide health
education, family planning, contraception, and women's health services
to women across the globe. Since 1983, by law these funds cannot be
used to perform abortions; instead they provide resources critical to
combating mother and infant mortality and diseases like HIV/AIDS which
cripple development efforts in third world nations. Without these
funds, non-governmental agencies in 52 developing nations will be
forced to lose or severely reduce their efforts to reduce unwanted
pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
The people who don't believe women should control their own
reproduction have successfully placed many restrictions on American
women in the last 25 years. We should not further this agenda overseas
with additional restrictions that would be illegal if enacted here. The
height of hypocrisy is that the President proposes providing federal
dollars for his Faith Based Initiative, allowing churches to
compartmentalize their federally funded activities, but refuses to
extend the same latitude to hard pressed organizations in desperately
poor countries.
I urge my colleagues to support the action of the committee to
restore U.S. international family planning dollars by opposing the
Hyde/Barcia/Smith/Oberstar Amendment.
Mr. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to
this amendment.
This amendment flies in the face of the very principles upon which
our Nation was founded. Free speech is a right that we all hold dear.
Yet by imposing the Global Gag Rule, we are refusing that right to
healthcare providers throughout the world.
We all came to Congress because we believe in full and open
Democratic participation. But this Amendment uses U.S. AID funding as
blackmail to silence millions--simply because their ideas differ from
those of our current administration.
If this policy were imposed on us, we would be outraged. If it was
proposed for community groups in our districts, we would not stand for
it. But because it is being inflicted upon poor, third world countries,
it's OK. What gives this body the right to dictate to people how they
should think and what they should be allowed to say?
This policy is hypocritical, it's discriminatory, and it has no place
in a free and open society. I urge my colleagues to oppose this
amendment.
Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as the Democratic Chair of the
Pro-Life Caucus and as one of the original sponsors of the Hyde/Barcia/
Smith/Oberstar amendment to urge my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to support this important pro-family planning, pro-life, and pro-
woman legislation.
Mr. Chairman, four months ago, President Bush re-instituted a long-
standing policy of the United States: that no American tax-payer
dollars should go to support those international organizations which
promote or provide abortions for women in foreign countries. This is
the cornerstone of the so-called Mexico City family planning policy.
But, Mr. Chairman, even as we celebrate our return to an
international family planning policy that promotes the sanctity of
life, we are called to the floor of this House to defend this important
idea. We are currently debating a bill which funds much of our foreign
policy. Unfortunately, buried amongst countless worthy American efforts
to make the world a better place, there is a provision in this bill
which repeals the Mexico City policy. Our amendment is intended to
delete this pro-abortion provision.
I urge my colleagues who oppose this amendment, and who oppose
eliminating the American subsidy of abortions overseas, to consider
that this amendment in no way damages the American commitment to vital
international family planning efforts throughout the world.
But don't just take my word for it, Mr. Chairman, we've done this
before--in 1984--and the record of history speaks more loudly and more
eloquently than I. Despite predictions by
[[Page H2202]]
the supporters of the international abortion industry that no
international family planning organization would accept American funds
under the terms of the Mexico City policy, more than 350 foreign family
planning agencies agreed to use American funds with these restrictions.
Also during this period, we funded family planning efforts throughout
the world at higher levels than ever before.
Mr. Chairman, at the beginning of my time, I stated that this
amendment is pro-family planning, pro-life, and pro-woman. It is pro-
family planning because it will strengthen genuine family planning
programs by enacting a wall of separation between real family planning
and the performance and promotion of abortion--all while maintaining
the high level of economic assistance the United States contributes to
international family planning efforts.
It is pro-life because it prohibits the funding of abortions overseas
and therefore protects the sanctity of life throughout the world. And
it is pro-woman because it offers pregnant mothers in the poorest
places on earth more options for her family than a paid-for trip to an
abortion clinic, subsidized by the American taxpayer.
Indeed, Mr. Chairman, this is a critical issue with which this body
must grapple: with all of the problems in the Third World--the grinding
poverty, the enduring famines, the absence of life-saving medicine or
adequate health care--is access to subsidized abortion all we have to
offer the suffering, and poverty-ridden women of the developing world?
Is abortion the only type of family planning assistance worthy of
American support and promotion?
Mr. Chairman, my colleagues, I simply do not believe this is true. We
can support family planning without promoting abortion, and still give
the vital family planning assistance many countries need to sustain
their populations.
Support this amendment and tell the world that after almost ten years
of encouraging abortion overseas, the United States is back in the
business of defending the rights of the unborn and promoting the
sanctity of life throughout the world.
Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the provision
added to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 1646) that would
reverse the Bush administration's policy known as the global gag rule,
and in opposition to the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment that
would enforce the global gag rule. The rule prohibits international
family planning organizations that receive U.S. funds from counseling
on or conducting abortions with their own funds--not U.S. government
dollars.
Many international family planning organizations in developing
nations offer comprehensive reproductive health services including
contraceptive counseling, sexually transmitted disease prevention, rape
counseling, and abortions. Women often enter the patchwork healthcare
systems of developing nations through such international family
planning organizations. By qualifying the use of U.S. funds according
to the gag rule, we are rendering these comprehensive programs
ineligible for valuable resources and limiting their effectiveness in
providing health services overall. Furthermore, the gag rule could have
the perverse effect of increasing the number of abortions, because
those organizations that are ineligible for funds may no longer be able
to provide a broad range of family services such as contraceptive
counseling.
In African countries where HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions,
every chance to counsel on disease prevention must be taken. Life
expectancies are plummeting and drug prices are soaring, leaving a grim
picture for the future of African children. Thus far, 17 million
Africans, including 3.7 million children, have died of AIDS and over 12
million African children have been orphaned. Once a person is at a
clinic, the door is open to provide information such as STD prevention.
Integrating reproductive health services maximizes the effectiveness of
these programs. We cannot stand by and watch this tragedy unfold
without exploring every avenue possible to slow the growth of this
disease that is devastating the spirits and economies of the developing
world.
On another note, how can we justify imposing restrictions on the
rights of people in other countries that are constitutionally protected
in the United States? In this country, the Constitution does not permit
the government to restrict how organizations spend their own, non-
federal funds. In this country, our right to free speech allows us to
assemble peacefully and petition our government. In this country, we
expect full disclosure of all our medical options when we week
treatment from a physician. Yet, the global gag rule prohibits all of
these legal activities in other countries in exchange for U.S. funds.
We would not stand for such restrictions in the United States, and we
cannot allow international family planning organizations to be
prevented from discussing and performing services that are legal in
their countries.
Let's be clear, even if the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar amendment
fails here today, the United States Agency for International
Development (U.S.A.I.D.) cannot promote abortion, nor can it fund
abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or if the life of a
woman is in danger.
I urge my fellow colleagues to oppose the Hyde-Barcia-Smith-Oberstar
amendment. Reproductive health services are not solely the
responsibility of developing nations. We are all affected by the
growing population and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, we should
not impose restrictions on the citizens of other countries that
citizens in the United States would not tolerate.
Mr. EVERETT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Hyde/
Barcia/Smith/Oberstar Amendment which would effectively reinstate
president Bush's order implementing the Mexico City Policy. The Mexico
City Policy reflects the views of million of U.S. citizens and is a
common sense approach for a civilized nation to take to ensure support
for genuine family planning programs, not the promotion of abortion.
Passage of the Hyde/Barcia/Smith/Oberstar Amendment would result in a
return to a policy that prohibits U.S. population assistance funding--
which comes straight from the pockets of U.S. taxpayers--from going to
foreign organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a
method of family planning.
As a world leader, we have an obligation to protect the sanctity of
life and liberty, especially for those who are helpless to protect
themselves. I, like many in our great country, cannot condone abortion
as a means of birth control, population control, material comfort or
mere convenience; and I certainly cannot understand the U.S. taking the
lead on encouraging this practice or funding lobbying efforts to
influence other countries to change their anti-abortion laws.
Accordingly, today, I ask my colleagues to join me in voting for this
important amendment. We must return to a policy that respects the
ethical and moral views of our citizens and provides support for groups
who are wiling and able to reflect these values in their family
planning programs.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the Hyde-Smith Amendment would
reinstate the Mexico City anti-international family planning policy
known as the global ``gag'' rule.
This policy requires that foreign non-government organizations (NGOs)
1. Withhold information from pregnant women about the option of legal
abortion and where to obtain safe abortion services.
2. Refuse to provide legal abortion services,
3. Sacrifice the right to engage in any public debate or public
information effort on the availability of legal abortions.
4. And, most importantly, it prevents the NGOs from educating women
and families on family planning options that would help prevent
abortions in the first place.
The subject of abortion has always been controversial.
Very often highly charged emotions and special interest organizations
enter the debate and muddle the true issue at hand.
The key issue of debate today should be on whether educating women
and families about family planning services will reduce the number of
abortions each year.
The passage of the Hyde-Smith amendment would prevent educating women
and families on the issue of abortion.
That is why I urge my colleagues to vote against Hyde-Smith amendment
so that we can educate women and families about family planning
services and ways to reduce the number of abortions each year in
foreign countries.
I would also like to clarify that U.S. taxpayer funds are not being
used for foreign (NGO's) abortions or for the advocacy of abortion.
The Hyde-Smith amendment confuses people by stating that no federal
U.S. funds will be used to fund abortions or family planning services.
These activities have already been prohibited by longstanding U.S.
statues, and recipients of U.S. international family planning
assistance are in compliance with those laws.
NGO's use their own funds to provide family planning and legal
abortion services.
Finally, I would like to address their HIV/AIDS epidemic in South
Africa.
The Hyde-Smith amendment interferes with the effectiveness of HIV/
AIDS prevention efforts.
36 million people worldwide are living with and dying from AIDS. A
majority of these people are in developing countries.
This is especially true in South Africa, where 55% of new infections
occur among women and where the disease is spreading most rapidly among
the young.
Family planning providers are a key effort in preventing the
transmission of HIV/AIDS, other sexually-transmitted diseases, and
unintended pregnancy.
However, it is these same programs that are being targeted by the gag
rule in the Hyde-Smith amendment since abortion is legal in South
Africa and clinics there do provide women with information about
abortion in the context of pregnancy options counseling.
[[Page H2203]]
To reduce the number of abortions and to prevent the transmission of
HIV/AIDS we must educate women and families on family planning.
I urge my colleagues to vote against the Hyde-Smith amendment that
would strike Rep. Lee's language containing the text of H.R. 755, the
Global Democracy Protection Act.
Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong opposition to the
Hyde amendment, and in support of the important family planning
language in the bill.
I want to commend my colleague from California, Barbara Lee, for her
courageous work in the Committee that overturned the ``global gag
rule.''
The gag rule is a medical and moral disaster.
It simply defines common sense to prevent women in the developing
world from having access to full and accurate information about their
health care options.
It is inexcusable for the United States to force community-based
organizations to choose between desperately needed aid and their basic
democratic rights.
It is outrageous to reinstate a policy that will reverse global
progress in the fights against unwanted pregnancies and the spread of
AIDS.
Let's stand up for women, children and families around the world.
Let's stand up for fundamental democratic freedoms.
Defeat the Hyde amendment.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment
offered by Chairman Hyde and Representatives Barcia, Smith of New
Jersey and Oberstar. This amendment would reimpose the Mexico City
Policy, also known as the global gag rule, which prohibits U.S.
population funds from being made available to foreign non-profit
organizations engaged in family planning programs abroad that perform
or actively promote abortions.
I will be brief, Mr. Chairman.
Since 1973, no U.S. funds can be used for abortions. Period. End of
discussion.
This amendment imposes restrictions on non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) abroad that would be unconstitutional here in the United States.
It stifles freedom of speech and the rights of individuals to present
their views to their own government. It prohibits locally raised funds
from being used for locally-defined purposes. In a word, it is anti-
democratic.
Finally, this amendment is counter-productive, even in achieving its
own stated goals. Cutting off funding for family planning programs
results in more abortions taking place around the world, not fewer.
Cutting off family planning funds results in greater poverty, not less.
Cutting off family planning funds results in increased rates of
disease, not decreased rates.
This amendment is very bad policy. I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218,
noes 210, not voting 4, as follows:
[Roll No. 115]
AYES--218
Aderholt
Akin
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Bartlett
Barton
Bereuter
Berry
Bilirakis
Blunt
Boehner
Bonilla
Bono
Borski
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Chabot
Chambliss
Coble
Collins
Combest
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Crane
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis, Jo Ann
Deal
DeLay
DeMint
Diaz-Balart
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English
Everett
Ferguson
Flake
Fletcher
Fossella
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gibbons
Gillmor
Goode
Goodlatte
Goss
Graham
Graves
Green (WI)
Grucci
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hart
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
John
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Kanjorski
Keller
Kennedy (MN)
Kerns
Kildee
King (NY)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Langevin
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Manzullo
Mascara
McCrery
McHugh
McInnis
McIntyre
McKeon
Mica
Miller, Gary
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Murtha
Myrick
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Ortiz
Osborne
Otter
Oxley
Paul
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Phelps
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Pombo
Portman
Putnam
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Regula
Rehberg
Reynolds
Riley
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Scarborough
Schaffer
Schrock
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Simpson
Skeen
Skelton
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Spence
Stearns
Stenholm
Stump
Stupak
Sununu
Tancredo
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thornberry
Thune
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Toomey
Traficant
Vitter
Walsh
Wamp
Watkins
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOES--210
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldacci
Baldwin
Barrett
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Berkley
Berman
Biggert
Bishop
Blagojevich
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Bonior
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Condit
Conyers
Coyne
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Tom
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley
Dunn
Edwards
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Foley
Ford
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gephardt
Gilchrest
Gilman
Gonzalez
Gordon
Granger
Green (TX)
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hill
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hoeffel
Holt
Honda
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (CT)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kaptur
Kelly
Kennedy (RI)
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kirk
Kleczka
Kolbe
Lampson
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lofgren
Lowey
Luther
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Millender-McDonald
Miller (FL)
Miller, George
Mink
Moore
Moran (VA)
Morella
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Obey
Olver
Ose
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Ramstad
Rangel
Reyes
Rivers
Rodriguez
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott
Serrano
Shays
Sherman
Simmons
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Sweeney
Tanner
Tauscher
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thurman
Tierney
Towns
Turner
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walden
Waters
Watt (NC)
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NOT VOTING--4
Ehrlich
Hooley
Moakley
Ros-Lehtinen
{time} 1240
Mr. CRAMER, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. HILLIARD, and Mr. ACKERMAN
changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
So the amendment was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mr. EHRLICH. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 115, I was inadvertently
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''
Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Chairman, Earlier today I did not register
my vote for roll No. 115, Mr. Hyde's amendment to H.R. 1646. If
present, I would have voted ``no'' on this amendment.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Shimkus) having assumed the chair, Mr. LaHood, Chairman of the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1646) to
authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal years
2002 and 2003, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution
thereon.
____________________