[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN SUPPORT OF THE UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, faced with the many grave threats to 
the sanctity of life in the modern world, the value of life from its 
very beginning must be affirmed, as must the right of every human being 
to have this primary good respected to the highest degree. As a mother, 
I feel duty-bound to speak out on behalf of those who have no voice, 
the innocent unborn child.
  Under Federal law, an individual who commits a Federal crime of 
violence against a pregnant woman receives no additional punishment for 
killing or injuring the woman's unborn child during the commission of 
that crime. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act would narrow this gap in 
the law and would provide greater protection for women from crimes of 
violence.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this important legislation 
this week and send it to the President for his signature.

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