[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3552-H3557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SCOURGE OF ABORTION IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today was a very important day. 
Today, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding 
the Federal law protecting unborn children from partial-birth abortion.
  Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is important for those of us in this Chamber 
to first remind ourselves again of why we were really all put here. 
Thomas Jefferson said, ``The care of human life and its happiness and 
not its destruction is the chief and only object of good government.''
  Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of our innocent citizens and their 
constitutional rights is indeed why we are all here. The phrase in the 
14th amendment capsulizes our entire Constitution. It says, ``No State 
shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due 
process of law.'' The bedrock foundation of this Republic is the belief 
that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator 
with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness.
  Every conflict and battle our Nation has ever faced can be traced to 
this core foundational belief on our part that every life, from the 
smallest child to the elderly widow, from the strongest and bravest 
soldiers on our front lines, to the weakest and most frail in our 
society, every human soul is of infinite worth and entitled by God to 
pursue liberty, prosperity and happiness.
  But, Mr. Speaker, for 34 years, Roe v. Wade has been a desecration of 
that bedrock foundation upon which America stands, and Roe v. Wade sets 
itself apart from all of the other egregious decisions made by our 
courts in that its result is 45 million dead American children.
  Mr. Speaker, that is 15,000 times the number of lives that were lost 
to terrorism on September 11; and the land of the free and the home of 
the brave now stands awash in the blood of 45 million of its own 
children. And it will never cease to totally astound me how we, as 
Americans, fail to grasp the enormous and terrifying threat to our 
Nation's survival economically, militarily, morally and spiritually 
that this tragedy represents.
  We have made it illegal to throw away polystyrene diapers, while it 
remains for the last 34 years legal to throw away babies. How can we be 
so blind to such a cataclysmic, soul-crushing tragedy?
  G.K. Chesterton said once that ``Men can always be blind to a thing 
as long as it is big enough.'' And, Mr. Speaker, at this very moment, 
this cataclysmic heartbreak continues.
  Arthur Cohen, who is perhaps the world's leading scholar on the 
European Holocaust, used a Latin term to describe abortion in America. 
He called it ``mysterium tremendum,'' which means an utter mystery to 
the rational human mind, a mystery that carries with it not only the 
aspect of vastness, but the resonance of complete terror, something so 
unutterably diabolical as to be literally unknowable to us.
  Mr. Speaker, following the invasion of Germany into Poland in 1939, a 
Jewish man named Yitzhak Katzenelson was trapped by the Nazis in the 
Warsaw ghetto. He was later transported to the Auschwitz concentration 
camp, where he and his son were brutally murdered.
  Before his death, he buried under a tree a song that encapsulated the 
entire Nazi regime in one verse. He stated that, ``The first to perish 
were the children. From these a new dawn might have arisen.'' What a 
profound lesson for the rest of the world to hearken unto. A new dawn 
might have arisen from those children that perished in the Holocaust.
  No matter the rhetoric, Mr. Speaker, we must not ever be so blind to 
the fact that each time an abortion takes place, a nameless little baby 
dies a lonely death; a mother is never quite the same, whether she 
realizes it or not; and all of the gifts that that child might have 
brought to humanity are lost forever.
  It is often said, Mr. Speaker, that a society is measured by how it 
treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and 
those in the twilight of life. Because unborn children are hidden both 
in the dawn and in the shadows of life, we kill thousands of them every 
day in America, using sometimes methods like partial-birth abortion 
that cause so much agonizing pain that the child that is being killed, 
if they were an animal, it would be illegal under Federal law to do it 
the way we do it.
  If we, as a human family in America, cannot find enough humanity 
within ourselves to change that, if this human rights atrocity of 
dismembering our own children alive is truly who we are, then the 
``invincible ignorance'' Henry Hyde spoke of in this Chamber so long 
ago will indeed finally prevail, the patriots' dream will be lost, and 
those lying out in Arlington National Cemetery will have died in vain 
and twilight will have fallen upon us all.
  Mr. Speaker, that day may come in America indeed. But, sir, that day 
has not come yet. It is not this day, because today, Mr. Speaker, the 
world changed. Today the United States Supreme Court upheld a law 
protecting unborn children from the barbaric, nightmarish procedure of 
partial-birth abortion. And with this ruling comes a brilliant, 
piercing ray of hope, because even though this ruling only upholds a 
law that protects a small number of

[[Page H3553]]

late-term babies from this horrifying procedure called partial-birth 
abortion, it represents the day that America changed direction and 
turned her heart toward home.
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this decision is part of a growing 
awareness on the part of all Americans of the simple truth that 
abortion takes the life of a child, and the United States of America is 
bigger than abortion on demand. We are beginning to look within 
ourselves and we are beginning to understand that the foundation of 
this Nation is within our own hearts.
  Our Nation is beginning to understand that whether it is flying 
airplanes into buildings or blowing up buildings in Oklahoma City, or 
whether it is raping and pillaging in Bosnia, or whether it is violence 
in our streets or kidnapping little girls in broad daylight or 
murdering innocent unborn children, all of these have one inescapable 
common denominator, and that is the lack of respect for innocent human 
life.
  Americans are beginning to understand and realize that the reason 
crime is so rampant in this country is because we have taught our young 
people that it is all right to kill helpless unborn children. Should we 
then wonder why they kill each other on the school playground?
  Americans are beginning to understand that the same mentality that 
allows a father to forsake his unborn child to an abortionist also 
allows him to forsake his born children to the welfare state.
  Americans are beginning to understand that the abortion mentality is 
destroying families all over this country, and that if this epidemic of 
family disintegration continues, that we in this family will bankrupt 
this Nation in trying to deal with the results.
  Americans are also trying to understand that there are better ways to 
help young mothers than killing their children for them.
  And Americans are beginning to understand that if we, as a society, 
do not find or possess the courage and the will to protect innocent 
unborn children, that, in the final analysis, we may never find the 
will or the courage or the commitment to protect any kind of liberty 
for anyone of any kind.
  Mr. Speaker, the pro-life movement often compares the Roe v. Wade 
decision with the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery in this 
Nation. I would remind each one of us that enslaving fellow human 
beings was once a practice that was perpetuated throughout the world 
for thousands of years. But when slavery came to America it finally 
stopped. We had a conscience on that day that changed the world.
  Mr. Speaker, that part of our history should give us great hope, 
because even though we face challenges today, when we look back on how 
America has somehow come through each one of them, I believe that by 
the grace of God, America will one day lead all nations to restore 
protection to unborn children throughout the world.
  Hope is a powerful thing, Mr. Speaker. One of the most powerful 
messages of hope I ever saw in my life was captured in a picture I saw 
a few years ago, and I cite the commentary that accompanied it. It 
should be the picture of the year, or perhaps the picture of the 
decade. But it won't be because unless you obtained a copy through the 
Internet or the paper it was published in, you probably never saw it. 
Somehow the media missed it.
  The picture is that of a 21-week unborn child by the name of Samuel 
Alexander Armas who is being operated on by a surgeon by the name of 
Dr. Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would 
not have survived if removed from his mother's womb. But little 
Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She 
knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical skills. Practicing at 
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these 
special operations while the baby is still in the womb.
  During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and 
he makes a small incision to operate on the child. As Dr. Bruner 
completed the surgery on Samuel Armas, this amazing little baby reached 
out with his tiny but fully developed hand through the incision and 
firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying 
that when this little baby grasped his finger, that it was the most 
emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the 
procedure, he was completely frozen, totally immobile.
  The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The 
editors titled the picture ``Hand of Hope.'' They said this tiny little 
hand seemed to emerge to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if 
thanking him for the gift of life that he was receiving. Little 
Samuel's mother said they wept for days when they saw the picture. She 
said, ``The photo reminds us that pregnancy isn't about a disability or 
an illness; it's about a little person.'' The operation was 100 percent 
successful and Samuel was born in perfect health.
  Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill said once that Americans always do the 
right thing after they have exhausted every other possibility. And 
today, for the first time since the evil disgrace of Roe v. Wade, we 
have restored the legal protection of a very small number of those 
little children who are already partially born and only moments away 
from taking their first breath. It beggars human imagination that such 
basic compassion and humanity was ever debatable in the first place.
  But now, today, the tiny hand of hope reaches out a little closer to 
us than it ever has in the past and only asks for mercy, and I hope and 
pray that all of us will hear that little voice in our own hearts.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Hensarling).

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Rarely do I rise with such trepidation as I do tonight in trying to 
follow the powerful eloquence of my dear friend and colleague from 
Arizona (Mr. Franks). I want to thank him for the passion and clarity 
that he brings to this body. And, again, my own voice is so meager 
compared to his, Mr. Speaker, but I do want to come tonight and really 
celebrate a great victory for life in America.
  I want to thank my other colleagues with the Republican Study 
Committee who have come here tonight to participate in this 1-hour 
Special Order, Mr. Speaker. And for those who may be viewing the 
proceedings, Mr. Speaker, as we all know here, the Republican Study 
Committee is the conservative caucus in the House of Representatives, 
over 100 strong, promoting the values of faith and family and free 
enterprise and freedom that we consider to be the cornerstones of this 
great experiment in democracy and liberty that we call America.
  And, Mr. Speaker, we always invite the American people to dialogue 
with us at the Republican Study Committee and our Web site at 
www.house.gov/Hensarling/rsc.
  I really didn't know I would be coming here tonight, and so I have no 
prepared text whatsoever. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a 
week. I had a tele-town-hall meeting and got to speak to literally 
thousands of people from the Fifth Congressional District last evening. 
It started off talking about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and I 
approached that discussion with my constituents not as a Member of 
Congress, but as a father.
  I am privileged to be the father of a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-
year-old son. And I can only imagine the pain that the families must be 
going through. And as I see all the reports on television of the 
promising lives that have been snuffed out in this evil, cruel act, I 
know that now is a time for comforting those who lost loved ones, it is 
a time to pray, it is a time to learn.
  But as the Nation reflects on those 30-some-odd lives that are lost, 
maybe today is the day to reflect upon the millions of lives that are 
lost in America through abortion. And I am not naive; I know this is 
one of the most contentious issues debated in our society. But what 
right is more fundamental than the right to life?
  I wish I knew how to talk to those who somehow didn't see life the 
way that we do or value life the way that we do. In my heart, in my 
head, I can come to no other conclusion but that life begins at 
conception, that life is a gift of our Creator, who endows us with this 
inalienable right to life. I don't understand how my countrymen come to 
other conclusions. I don't hate them, I don't disparage them, I don't 
yell at them, but I don't understand how they can come to different 
conclusions. It is something that I take as a

[[Page H3554]]

matter of faith. And if I didn't take it as a matter of faith, I don't 
know how any parent could ever look at that sonogram, that modern 
technology we have and see their tiny little baby just weeks old with 
their head and their arms and their fingers and their feet sometimes 
moving around in their mother's tummy. How can you conclude anything 
else but that this is human life? I don't understand that.
  And so I really come here to celebrate a great victory in the Supreme 
Court today that affirms what was already said by an overwhelming vote 
in the United States Congress, that this terribly abhorrent act known 
as partial-birth abortion, that Congress has the right to outlaw that. 
And, Mr. Speaker, we could go into all the gruesome details about how 
this child is just seconds away from getting their first breath of life 
and how, instead, the instrument of death is plunged into them. I don't 
think we need to go into that graphic detail.
  But regardless of how you feel on the pro-life debate or the pro-
abortion debate, how anybody could conclude that a child that is just 
moments away from taking their first breath should have that life 
snuffed out in the land of the free is beyond me.
  And so I am happy to come here with my other colleagues from the 
Republican Study Committee. And again, I come here with great 
trepidation. Anytime I go to the floor with my dear colleague from 
Arizona, I serve with many great individuals in this body, Mr. Speaker, 
but I cannot think of one who has a purer heart than the gentleman from 
Arizona. And so again, my own voice is quite meager to his.
  But as I think about my own 5-year-old daughter, Claire, and my own 
3-year-old son, Travis, and I remember getting the telephone call from 
my wife to let me know that they were there, that life existed in her 
that we created, and to think that somehow in this land of the free, 
where our Creator has given us this gift of life, that those precious 
lives could have ever, ever come to an end in this gruesome procedure 
known as partial-birth abortion is just so abhorrent, my mind can't 
even go there.
  And so I celebrate tonight with millions across America. And I 
certainly celebrate with all the members of the conservative caucus in 
Congress, the Republican Study Committee, that as many setbacks as we 
have in America, as we read about great tragedies, today something 
great happened in America, and the right to life was affirmed.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much.
  You know, Mr. Speaker, sometimes the reason that we elect to the 
chairmanship of the RSC someone like Jeb Hensarling is because we can 
easily see from the inside and out what people in America can see on 
the outside, that Jeb Hensarling is a man of great humility, with great 
competence and just a quiet sincerity that gives us all tremendous 
confidence in him.
  With that, I would like to yield to Congressman Sali, one of our 
freshman Members and a great statesman.
  Mr. SALI. Thank you, Congressman Franks.
  First of all, I would like to start off by saying how proud I am to 
be a new member of the Republican Study Committee and to be a part of 
that group that is about the business of changing the way that Congress 
does its business, the way that the law will affect the people of this 
country. I think that we are set to do good work in that group of 100-
plus people, and I am very proud to be a part of that group.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight is a night of celebration. The Supreme Court has 
this day extended legal protection, a modicum of legal protection, to 
thousands of preborn babies.
  Many of my colleagues have given moving speeches about this victory 
for the little ones, and I am so pleased to add my voice to theirs. 
From my esteemed former colleague, Henry Hyde, to the tireless 
gentleman from New Jersey, Chris Smith, and countless thousands of 
Americans whose names will never really be known, to President George 
W. Bush, people of conscience and conviction have worked for years to 
end one of the most gruesome practices imaginable; and today, the 
Nation's highest court has vindicated the law this House passed 
repeatedly and that the President finally signed into law in 2003.
  Mr. Speaker, if we, as a culture, cannot defend the right to life, 
all of our other rights really become meaningless. So today's Supreme 
Court ruling is a great victory not just for preborn children, but just 
as importantly, for our culture.

  For 16 years in the Idaho legislature, I worked on protecting the 
most vulnerable among us, the unborn. That the highest court in our 
country would today extend this minimal protection to thousands of 
little ones, infants almost ready to be delivered, is very satisfying. 
With a great majority of Idahoans and of American people in general, I 
am gratified by this affirmation of our most basic right, the right to 
life. And yet I would temper my joy with a note of sadness.
  We have outlawed a single barbaric practice, but other types of 
abortions, an estimated 1.3 million per year, continue with full 
protection of the law. The fact that these abortions are performed 
through less startling, cruel and brutal procedures than partial-birth 
methods makes them no more morally acceptable. The impact is 
undeniable. Forty-five million Americans are dead from abortion. That 
is a full one-third of a whole generation, and we are well into one-
third of now another generation, all lost to abortion.
  The challenge to end unrestricted access to abortion on demand will 
not end until every life, however small, is protected, until every 
person at whatever stage of life gains the protection of the law, until 
the Constitution of our beloved country is respected fully and, 
consequently, absurd notions like the idea that abortion is a protected 
right are jettisoned from our Federal law.
  Mr. Speaker, 9 years ago, in the Idaho legislature we passed a ban on 
partial-birth abortion. Because of activism in our courts, that bill 
was almost immediately enjoined. It didn't protect a single unborn 
child in the State of Idaho. I remember in my debate on that bill I 
questioned what could be going through the mind of a doctor who 
partially delivers that baby, feels that life moving in his hands and 
feels that little baby jerk as he takes his life.
  Mr. Speaker, I question what must be going through his mind. And I 
say, if we cannot end this barbaric practice, God help us, God help 
this country. And today, Mr. Speaker, that prayer was answered, that 
request for God's help was answered today.
  I close with this: Some of our friends across the aisle make a great 
effort of obfuscating the true issue of what we are dealing with by 
calling preborn children fetuses. That is fine with me, as long as we 
all understand that the term ``fetus'' is simply Latin for ``the young 
yet in the womb.''
  Mr. Speaker, today was a great day for every fetus, for every young 
boy and girl still in the womb. May God be praised and may He be 
pleased so that His blessing is poured out upon our land.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much. And now I am 
very pleased to be able to recognize the gentleman, Gresham Barrett 
from South Carolina.
  Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I tell you, I had a wonderful speech prepared tonight, Mr. Speaker. 
It had a lot of facts and figures and a lot of things that a lot of 
people may not know, but I just want to comment and share tonight.
  I will tell you, I was talking to Jeb Hensarling earlier, who spoke a 
little bit earlier, Mr. Speaker, a dear friend of mine, and we were 
talking about what a smile we had on our faces today.

                              {time}  2045

  A celebration of life. Something that we have been waiting for, for a 
long time, and I am just ecstatic. I look to my left over here and see 
the colleagues that are going to be speaking, and every one of them has 
got a smile on their face, and it is just exciting. It is a tremendous 
day; it is a tremendous moment for our country.
  And I come here tonight for three reasons, three simple reasons: The 
first one is Madison Finley Barrett, my oldest daughter. The second one 
is James Edward Barrett; we call him Jeb, Cowboy, my middle son. And 
the third is Charles Ross Barrett, my baby. I think about them every 
day. I think about watching my wife give birth. I think

[[Page H3555]]

about how precious they are. I know it was a tremendous moment for me 
both physically and spiritually, and I don't think any person can 
witness something like that and not know that there is a God in heaven.
  But I think about, Mr. Speaker, my children and my family, and I 
celebrate for them today. I celebrate for all the families across this 
Nation and the lives that we will save. I think about their first 
steps. I think about their first falls. I think about the first time 
they drove a car. I think about the excitement and the joy I feel and 
the satisfaction that I have because they are so precious. And out 
there tonight, Mr. Speaker, there are Madisons and Cowboys and Pally 
Pals that are being born. Each one of them special, each one of them a 
gift from God, each one of them with the ability to change the world.
  It is a first step. It is a great step. I am just proud to be here to 
celebrate, to celebrate life, to celebrate freedom, to celebrate this 
wonderful thing. What a great country. What a great life. What a 
tremendous success.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I certainly thank the gentleman. Sometimes, 
Mr. Speaker, a person doesn't know whether it wouldn't be better just 
to all go home at this point, because this man has certainly touched my 
heart. And he reminds us all that every little baby comes with a 
message that God has not yet despaired of mankind. And I thank the 
gentleman with all my heart.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to Congressman Todd Akin for such time as he may 
consume.
  Mr. AKIN. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the protection 
of life, and this ruling affirms Congress's role in guarding and 
protecting that special gift of life. As Justice Kennedy stated, 
Congress determined that the abortion methods it prescribed had a 
disturbing similarity to the killing of a newborn infant.
  In the past 30 years or so, our Nation has seen an appalling rise in 
the disrespect for the dignity of human life. And when a culture of 
life is not respected, a culture of death rises to fill the void. This 
culture of death has been eating away at our Nation's character, at 
America's soul. It seems that day after day we are inundated with new 
stories of senseless acts of violence and death carried out on innocent 
victims. It would be easy to try to turn and look away; it would be 
easy to pretend that that crisis does not exist, but it would not be 
right. Who is it who will defend the innocent that is led off to 
slaughter? Who will stand for the right to life in America?
  I am reminded of William Wilberforce, the recent movie about his 
life's efforts to end the practice of slavery. The moving movie 
``Amazing Grace'' demonstrates the value of this cause and the tireless 
efforts that Wilberforce went through year after year, constant 
criticism and rejection, until he collected the votes to finally send 
slavery in the British empire to the dust bin of history. We as Members 
of Congress could learn from his great example. Will we show our own 
Nation the same love and respect for the dignity of human beings?
  If there is one thing we should take away from this 5-4 decision, it 
is this, that when human life is threatened by such a gruesome 
procedure as partial birth abortion, all true sons and daughters of 
liberty, all true patriots, all true people who respect those rights 
that have been passed on to us by our Forefathers will take a stand for 
that precious, precious idea that God gives us life. And it is my 
sincere hope at this time that we can continue to build on this 
important victory and to create a new culture of life in our land.
  There was a time years ago, many years ago, when America was just a 
dark forest almost on the horizon, when a young man in 1630 was aboard 
the Lion. He became, as we know Winthrop, Winthrop, the Governor of 
Boston, known as the George Washington of the Puritans. And as he was 
coming along the coast of Maine in the Lion and the wind was blowing 
across the pine forests out to sea and he smelled the smell of the pine 
and the balsam on the breeze and he put pen to paper and he started 
writing, ``A Model of Christian Charity.'' And in there, he held a 
vision for America that America could be as a shining city on a hill, a 
light to people all over the world. And today, Mr. Speaker, that vision 
of a shining city seems just a little bit closer and a little bit less 
dim and a little closer to a reality that one day, one day that shining 
city on a hill, a vision of hope for all people of the world, a vision 
of a city where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are truly 
enshrined in every law and precept of this great Nation; may that 
vision come to reality even within our own days. Thank you. God bless 
you all.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Akin has been committed for his entire life to these 
kinds of causes, which brought him to this place. And so many of us are 
thankful for his example for the way he has mentored so many of us in 
this place.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) for such 
time as he may consume.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, today the Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth 
Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which was passed in the House, in the Senate, 
signed by the President and became Public Law No. 108-105 in November 
of 2003.
  As others have stated this evening, this is a victory for the health 
of women across this country. It is a victory for unborn children. It 
is a victory for life, and, as I have said, people have indicated it is 
a victory for America.
  I just want to take a minute to thank all the pro-life volunteers 
across this country who are really the reason we have this celebration 
that we have today. Those of us in public life, those of us charged 
with forming public policy, we get approached just about every day by 
lobbyists and interest groups. And they want to talk to us. They want 
to influence legislation. They want to be a part of this process where 
the laws and the taxpayer dollars are spent. And they want to do all 
those things because they have a financial interest at stake. But the 
people who articulate that life is sacred, the people who advocate for 
protecting the sanctity of human life, they have nothing to gain 
financially by talking to us. They have nothing to gain financially by 
being involved in this movement. They simply do it because it is the 
right thing to do. They understand life is precious; life is sacred. 
They understand. That is why they work in our crisis pregnancy centers. 
That is why they help unwed mothers, because they understand how 
precious life is. And they understand, and others have talked about 
this. They understand what the Founders understood, that life is 
precious. And, as they said in the Declaration of Independence, that we 
hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, 
endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these 
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I think it is 
interesting to note the order that the Founders placed the rights they 
chose to mention, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Can you 
pursue happiness, can you go after your goals and dreams if you first 
don't have freedom and liberty? And do you ever have true freedom and 
true liberty if government doesn't protect your most fundamental right, 
your right to live?
  And that is what we celebrate today. Again, it is a testimony to the 
hard work of millions of pro-life people across this country. So I want 
to commend you and again say what a great day for America.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman from Ohio. And I hope 
the gentleman stays in public life and leadership for as long as he can 
stand up.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) for 
such time as he may consume.
  Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
thank him for putting together this special order hour this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of this body now for 4\1/2\ years, 
this being my third term. And as I stand here tonight in front of my 
colleagues, I want to say emphatically that this is my finest hour as a 
Member of this great body, this United States House of Representatives 
that I have been a part of with 434 of my colleagues.
  We have disappointments. We have good days, we have bad days. But 
this is a good day, and this is a good day. And this is a day that the 
Lord has made. And that is why it is a good day.

[[Page H3556]]

I sincerely believe, Mr. Speaker, that God's hand is in everything we 
do, every deliberation, every bill, everything that seems so important 
to us, every victory, every defeat. Indeed, I even think maybe God's 
hand was in the Republican majority, my party, losing that opportunity 
possibly as a wake-up call. But I want to thank God this evening for 
Justice Kennedy and Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, Justice Alito and 
Chief Justice Roberts.
  It has taken a long time, Mr. Speaker. Back in 1992, when this 
abhorrent procedure was first described, and then finally I think it 
was in early 1995 maybe when the Member of this body from Florida, 
Representative Kennedy, first introduced this bill to ban this 
procedure. And that bill to ban this abortion procedure, not to ban 
abortion, but to ban this type of abortion, which really is not an 
abortion; it is literally infanticide. It is killing of an infant. And 
it passed this body, and it passed this other body, only to be vetoed 
twice by the then President of the United States.
  Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, today I thank God for Representative 
Steve Chabot from Ohio, who brought this bill once again to this body 
in 2003, my first year, my freshman year. And I was so proud to vote 
for Representative Chabot's bill. And I thank God for former Senator 
Rick Santorum from the great State of Pennsylvania. Wherever he is 
tonight, I want to say, Rick, you lost your race, but you didn't lose 
the battle. And we thank God for your efforts then, because it has come 
to fruition now.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to maybe make sure that my colleagues remember as 
they listen to my remarks tonight that I spent 26 years practicing 
obstetrics and gynecology. And in that great specialty, which I am so 
proud to be a part of that group, the American College of Obstetricians 
and Gynecologists, I had an opportunity to deliver 5,200 babies by my 
estimate over a 26-year period of time. They weren't all perfect. Some 
were born with birth defects. Some had spina bifida. And I have great 
friends in my hometown of Marietta, Georgia, in Cobb County, great, 
great parents like Brad and Kim Barfield, who have a beautiful little 
girl today who is suffering from spina bifida. They knew at 20 weeks 
that their little girl had that condition, but they didn't elect to 
terminate that pregnancy by a partial-birth abortion. And many others 
know ahead of time that they are going to have a child with Down's 
Syndrome, but they know that that is a gift from God that makes their 
lives better and the lives of their other children, the siblings. And I 
thank God for them.
  Mr. Speaker, I want my colleagues to understand how this procedure of 
partial-birth abortion came about, because I remember. I remember when 
I was a resident in this specialty at the Medical College of Georgia 
back in 1974, 1975, shortly after Roe v. Wade was passed within a year.

                              {time}  2100

  There was a physician at a major medical center in the northeast, I 
do not remember the hospital, I do not remember the doctor's name, but 
it was at a teaching center. Back then, if a woman did not have an 
abortion at 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy, the first trimester, and in 
fact, 90 percent of the million annual abortions that are performed in 
this country are done in the first trimester by a fairly simple 
procedure called a D&C, but if the pregnancy went beyond and it got to 
the second trimester and approaching the third trimester, and we are 
talking now about a 22, 24-week pregnancy when a baby weighs two-and-a-
half pounds, the way the abortion procedure was done then back in 1975, 
and this was perfectly legal under Roe v. Wade, all it required is a 
licensed physician performed the procedure in a licensed medical 
facility with the consent of two other physicians.
  This is the way the procedure was done. A strong salt, we say saline 
in the medical parlance, but a salt solution was injected into the 
mother's womb through the abdomen, and that salt solution, most of the 
time, killed the baby, killed this baby at 24, 26 weeks, maybe even 3 
pounds, certainly capable of not only a live birth but a great life 
without disability. But as long as the baby was killed, and then the 
mother was put into labor and delivered a dead baby, that was perfectly 
legal.
  Unfortunately for this doctor back in 1975, he injected the saline 
and it did not kill the baby. So the next day he injected saline again, 
and it still did not kill the baby. So he took the mother to the 
operating room and performed an operation that he called a hysterotomy, 
that is, an opening of the uterus which really is an early, very early 
cesarean section. But instead of delivering that live baby, he reached 
his hand inside the incision and grabbed the umbilical cord and held it 
until that baby's heart stopped beating.
  There just happened to be a nurse in attendance in that operating 
room that said this esteemed doctor killed that baby, and there was a 
court decision, a lot of brouhaha, and in the final analysis, the 
doctor was acquitted.
  But from that day forward, that is when partial birth abortions, Mr. 
Speaker, started because nobody wanted to be in a situation, no doctor, 
of trying to abort a baby and inadvertently, deliberately and knowing 
then that they could not kill the baby because it was outside the 
mother's womb.
  So they devised this procedure of partially delivering the baby. If 
the baby is head first, put the patient into labor, dilate the cervix, 
and when that head comes out, crush the skull, or if it is a breach 
presentation, dilate the cervix, put the patient in labor, and when the 
baby is delivered to the naval, then go up inside and crush the skull 
and then deliver and then the baby is dead, and it is perfectly legal.
  That is what this is all about, and we are talking about maybe 2,000, 
2,500 procedures a year out of the million legal abortions that are 
performed, mostly in the first trimester.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable when I read quotes, and this happens 
to be a quote from a member of the other body and certainly I would not 
name names here tonight but this is a quote: As a result of today's 
ruling, the health of women who have dangerous pregnancies is now in 
deep jeopardy. Women who are in need of this banned procedure will be 
denied it, even if they risk losing their fertility, becoming paralyzed 
or sustaining organ damage.
  Mr. Speaker, the risk of any of the those things is greater, much 
greater if they have this procedure done. Our judiciary committee in 
this House and in the other body have had multiple hearings from 
physicians across this country that say this procedure does not need to 
be done to protect the health of the mother, unless you call the health 
of the mother anxiety over not wanting that baby. There is still an 
exception that this abhorrent procedure could be done to protect the 
life of the mother.
  Mr. Speaker, I did not mean to take quite this much time, and I know 
my colleague needs time to conclude, and I thank God for him, too. I 
thank God for each and every Member that has spoken here tonight, and I 
will remember them for the rest of my life. I will remember each one of 
these Members who have spoken and applauded and, yes, smiled on this 
great day because to me and to them this transcends any other 
disappointments and frustrations and aggravations that we may have had 
on both sides of the aisle in maybe not getting our way on a particular 
piece of legislation here and there. Nothing is more important than 
this.
  I want to say as I conclude, I want to say to my 9-year old 
identical, twin granddaughters, Allie and Hannah, who were born at 26 
weeks, each weighing 1 pound 12 ounces, thank God for your mom and dad, 
my daughter and son-in-law, Gannon and Hank Manning, that they did not 
make a decision that they did not want you, even though you were so 
fragile. God reached down and lifted you up and now you are the 
beautiful love of our lives, your grandparents, Mommy and Grand Doc, 
and so proud as you make progress now in the second grade.
  I say to my grandson Hank and my brand new grandson Sabine, just 2 
weeks old, your brothers, and to my two other grandchildren, of Phyllis 
and Jerry Collins, little Grey, two-and-a-half years old; and little 
Marion, 8 months old, Grand Doc is proud of you, and I know that you 
are proud of Grand Doc. You are proud that he stood here tonight in 
defense of the sanctity of life, and I know that God's hand is in all 
of that.
  I just say, as I conclude, I am blessed. We are all blessed. We are 
all blessed to

[[Page H3557]]

have this opportunity in a historic moment. No, it does not ban 
abortion, and most of us hope eventually that there will be no need for 
that and that the sanctity of life, at the earliest and at the last 
moments, will be honored and respected.
  Again, I just want to thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks). 
I am proud to be his classmate. I am proud to be a colleague, and I 
thank him for giving me the opportunity to talk to my colleagues 
tonight.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank my precious friend Phil 
Gingrey from Georgia. It is a wonderful thing to have a man here that 
has the expertise of a doctor and an obstetrician, to be able to speak 
to an issue like this, and yet one who has maintained his commitment 
always to being a help to someone, that would always protect human life 
rather than to ever try to take it from someone. I just think he is a 
credit to his profession and certainly a credit to this body.
  Mr. Speaker, I suppose that tonight I would just kind of recap here 
for a moment. A lot of people have mentioned their family members, and 
I certainly love every one of mine, but I will bring to mind and to 
voice one special little boy by the name of Landon Trent Franks. Now, 
the fact that his name is the same as mine is strictly a coincidence, 
but I am thankful that his daddy and his mother loved him enough to 
give him a chance at life, and I think at some point, probably the time 
he is 21, he will be President of the United States which is a great 
encouragement to me as well.
  I understand that we are all proud of our families, but whether a 
child reaches the great heights in this life or whether they just have 
a chance to breathe in the breath of freedom and to be able to walk on 
the free soil of the United States of America or just to have a 
chance to pursue this thing called happiness in life, it is incumbent 
upon all of us to recognize that we are all mortal and that this gift 
of life is the profoundest kind of miracle and that America itself was 
founded on the basic premise that every life was important, that it was 
a gift of God, and that each one of us should work to try to protect 
life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of our fellow 
human beings.

  The tragedy of Roe v. Wade when it came along, it just kind of took 
us all by surprise, because you see, this was not something that the 
country voted on. This was not something that the United States people 
as a whole decided to bring about themselves.
  This was something that erudite, and might I say, Mr. Speaker, very 
arrogant and unjust members of the United States Supreme Court took 
upon themselves to arrogate this thing, to take away the constitutional 
rights of the unborn child. It is the not the first time that things 
like that have happened.
  Back in 1857, in the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court said that 
the black man was not a person under the Constitution, and it took a 
civil war to reverse that tragedy. Today, we all look back on that and 
we say how could they have ever done that, and yet we have killed 50 
million of our own children.
  In the rise of the Nazi Holocaust, we saw the German high tribunal 
say that the Jews were subhuman and not persons under the German 
Constitution, and it precipitated a great tragedy.
  Then in 1973 we saw the Supreme Court take away the right to live of 
the unborn child.
  In all three cases, Mr. Speaker, not only was there a great human 
tragedy that followed, but there was a greater one that followed as a 
result. The civil war took more lives than any war in our history. The 
world war that changed the Nazi Holocaust took 50 million lives 
worldwide and it saw atomic bombs fall on cities across the world.
  I have to say to you that I do not know where America will finally 
end up here. I do not know what the future holds, but I am so 
encouraged today that we have made a turn and that we have come to 
ourselves to some degree and said, you know, there is a time when we 
can protect these little babies in the womb, and I think if we come to 
that conclusion, that something even greater will happen. We will begin 
to understand that these little miracles of life in the womb are the 
beginning of us all and that there is a way that America can come up 
with a better solution than abortion on demand, that we are bigger than 
that as a people.
  I am convinced that the day will come some day, Mr. Speaker, when the 
warm sunlight of life will break through the clouds and once again 
shine on the face of unborn children in America. When that day comes it 
will be people like Phil Gingrey, it will be people like Chris Smith, 
it will be people like Bill Sali, it will be people like Gresham 
Barrett, it will be people like Jim Jordan, people like Todd Akin, 
people like Jeb Hensarling, people like Steve Chabot, people like 
George W. Bush the history will be most aware of. They will remember 
that these were individuals that, through all the storm, held tightly 
to the hand of a little baby until the storm was gone.
  Mr. Speaker, if I am wrong about that, if somehow America never finds 
its way back home on this issue, I am still convinced of one thing more 
than any other, and that is, that the Lord of the universe hears the 
cries of absolutely every one of his children, no matter who or where 
they are. And if time turns every star in heaven to ashes, I know in my 
soul that eternal moment of His deliverance will come to each of them. 
And I hope that we do the part He has given us to that end.

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