[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 26 (Thursday, February 17, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H1162-H1174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011
The Committee resumed its sitting.
Mr. BUCSHON. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Indiana is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. BUCSHON. Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of the Pence
amendment that prohibits any funds from the underlying bill going to
Planned Parenthood of America. I want to start with a personal story as
a physician.
I performed lifesaving surgery on infants as young as 22 weeks'
gestation at birth. Madam Chairman, I have held these lives in my own
hands. They are viable human lives at birth and, unfortunately, Planned
Parenthood uses taxpayer funds to cut these lives short; tragically,
sometimes within weeks of medically proven viability outside the womb.
Again, I have held these lives in my hands.
Abortion, of course, for any reason is wrong, but this situation I
have personal experience with is particularly distressing for me
because I am a physician and also I am a father of four.
I want to reiterate that Planned Parenthood has received $363.2
million in taxpayer funding as of its 2009 annual report, one-third of
their $1 billion income. During that same time period,
[[Page H1163]]
Planned Parenthood-supported clinics performed over 324,000 abortions,
and this is by their own accounting. Federal taxpayers should not be
asked to subsidize these actions.
In addition, Madam Chairman, currently in Planned Parenthood there
are 11 clinics under investigation in Arizona, Ohio, Connecticut,
California and Tennessee, among other States, including my own State of
Indiana, where in 2008 a video showed a Planned Parenthood clinic
covering up a rape of a 13-year-old girl. Can everyone see a pattern
here? In total, Planned Parenthood is facing 107 criminal charges,
including 23 felony charges. What they are doing is not only morally
wrong, but appears to be criminally negligent.
Press reports have recently said that Planned Parenthood is now
mandating by 2013 that all of its regional affiliates must provide
abortions. It is important to note that the amendment does not affect
title X services such as breast cancer screening, HIV prevention, STD
testing and other valuable health care services to women.
This amendment is about abortion, in contrast to what has been said
here on the House floor earlier tonight. Title X supports 4,500
community clinics throughout America that provide critical services,
which I support, and I am proud of these facilities for the quality of
care that they provide.
Again, this amendment is about abortion. I strongly support it. I
urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I would like to thank the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) for his strong leadership on this
amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 2200
Mr. WELCH. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Vermont is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. WELCH. Madam Speaker, I am pro-choice. But that is a question of
deep conscience, religious conviction, and of personal importance to
every individual and every family.
One of the great conservatives who has served in this institution was
Henry Hyde. The Hyde amendment, which has been the law of the land
since it was passed by Mr. Hyde, says that there shall not be public
funds that are used to pay for abortions. That is true now. It has been
true for decades since that law was passed. It reflects a certain
mutual respect that we can have differences of opinion, even on matters
of profound religious conviction, moral conviction, and moral belief.
This is not about abortion. The Hyde amendment is the law of the
land. Federal funds cannot be used under this provision to provide
abortions. What this is about is whether primary and preventive care is
going to be extended, oftentimes to poor people, but also to vulnerable
middle class people by Planned Parenthood clinics throughout this
country, including 10 in Vermont that are doing a tremendous job for
people who really need this care.
Is this Congress big enough, generous enough that it can allow those
with different points of view on this question of choice to coexist as
long as we have the separation with the Hyde amendment? It has not been
abolished. It is intact. So the question I ask is if we pass this bill,
what happens to the 19,000 Vermonters who get services for HIV testing,
who get services for breast cancer screening, who get services for
cervical cancer, who find out when it's timely to find out so they can
be healthy and have a full life? What do we say to them when we pull
the plug on them having the access to the care that they need and they
deserve? This is not necessary.
This is not about abortion. The real-world implication of this
legislation will be to say to 19,000 women in the State of Vermont,
from one end of the State to the other, No, you cannot have access to
cervical cancer screening, you can't have breast cancer screening, you
can't get evidence-based sex education. We are a better Nation than
that. We are a better Congress than that.
The Hyde amendment acknowledges that we have profound differences of
opinion on this question of abortion, but we can share a common goal
that young, vulnerable Americans in every one of our districts can have
access to the care that they need.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX. Madam Chairwoman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Madam Chair. I came tonight to support the Pence
amendment.
I just came from my office where I was reading and answering my mail.
My tax-paying constituents emphatically do not want their hard-earned
money being used to kill innocent life.
Planned Parenthood currently has 87 regional affiliates with 817
health clinics in the U.S., with 173 performing surgical abortions, and
many others--at least 131 and as many as 300--offering chemical
abortions. Planned Parenthood itself has recently made plain the
centrality of abortion to its mission, mandating that every Planned
Parenthood affiliate have at least one clinic performing abortions
within the next 2 years.
Planned Parenthood reports that it's a not-for-profit organization
and receives over $336 million in combined Federal, State, and local
grants and contracts and had an excess of revenue over expenses of
almost $112 million in 2006, $85 million in 2007, and $106 million in
2008. Planned Parenthood in California has privately admitted to
overcharging the State and Federal Governments by at least $180 million
for birth control pills, despite internal and external warnings that
its billing practices were improper.
My colleague from Indiana gave also a lot of statistics about what
the problems are with Planned Parenthood. Despite it being a billion-
dollar-a-year corporation, Planned Parenthood received $363.2 million
reported in its 2008-2009 annual report, 33 percent of that income from
government grants and contracts, that is, from taxpayer dollars. Of
that, $53 million is from title X. So from these other government
sources they're getting $310 million.
We are not going to be stopping Planned Parenthood from giving true
health care to women and children. We know that the vast majority of
Americans oppose abortion. Over 60 percent oppose any money coming from
taxpayer receipts for abortions.
My colleague from New York talked about this being a bill of
attainder and said that this is a punishment. Well, ladies and
gentlemen, I'm less concerned about the potential that this is a
punishment for Planned Parenthood, but I am very concerned about the
punishment inflicted on millions of innocent lives when they are
violently deprived of their lives through abortion in Planned
Parenthood clinics.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of
words.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this
amendment that attacks Planned Parenthood. By targeting Planned
Parenthood, the Pence amendment will risk the lives and safety of
millions of American women. These proposed cuts to family planning
represent the opening salvo in an all-out war on women's health. I have
been a soldier on the other side of that war for several decades. I
have served now in three legislatures. In two of them this was one of
the issues that came up continuously, is what we would do. In most
cases, men in either blue or gray suits felt compelled and competent to
tell women what they could do with their lives.
It has been a serious problem to try to get women's health in the
first place. It was up to the 1990s before women were even considered
subject for research at the NIH. It has been an absolute awful time for
most of us who are such strong believers in the rights of women and
women's health and that women should have the ability to make decisions
themselves and not have men have to make them for them. It has been a
dreadful time for us to see ending tonight in trying to do away with
one of the most important agencies in the United States, Planned
Parenthood.
I stand here tonight in lieu of hundreds of women in the State of New
York, most of them Republican women, who financed, who spoke for, who
founded the agency of Planned Parenthood. New York was being filled
with
[[Page H1164]]
an influx of new citizens to America and Planned Parenthood allowed
them to space their children so that there would be healthier children
and healthier mothers. And we have all benefited from that.
But why are we attacking proven medical care? Why aren't we trying to
create jobs, which is the only thing we've heard about for the last 6
months? This amendment will do absolutely nothing to move our country
forward, but indeed backward.
In my own State of New York, the cuts to Planned Parenthood would
affect 209,410 patients. Don't tell me that what you're doing here
tonight is to allow Planned Parenthood to keep on with the cancer
screenings, to keep on making sure that cervical cancer is not
something about to take the life of a woman. Don't tell me that you are
only trying to cut abortion. You know, we know, everybody knows that
Planned Parenthood abortion money is not public tax money. As my other
colleagues have said, that has been true for a very long time.
The cuts were proposed under the guise of being fiscally responsible,
but nothing could be further from the truth. For every dollar--and I
want to say this maybe twice, it's so important, because nobody seems
to have gotten this except my new friend from Illinois--for every
dollar invested in family planning services, taxpayers save $4. So if
you think you're going to save yourself some money, go back to your
planning board for that. But cutting family planning is not fiscally
responsible and will not reduce the United States' bottom line.
Furthermore, as we've said over and over again, it has nothing in the
world to do with cutting Federal money for abortions. That is simply a
smokescreen. We want to empower women to be able to prevent unintended
pregnancies, and that's what we would like to do here tonight with the
help of Planned Parenthood and other agencies and doctors and medical
professionals in the country--make sure that women have education and
access to contraception. That is precisely what family planning is and
what it does.
I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 2210
Mr. ROKITA. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Indiana is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. ROKITA. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I rise in support of the Pence amendment. The time has come to end
Federal funding of abortion. This is one of the worst misappropriations
of funds in our Federal budget and it is unacceptable to most of the
people--Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative--in this country.
Many taxpayers, including me, are sickened that their hard-earned tax
dollars are put toward funding the nearly 1.3 million abortions in
America every year. The minority party's demagoguery and demagoging
language about some kind of war on women is nothing but laughable.
Plenty of family planning services outside of Planned Parenthood
exist to help families seeking direction, care and counsel. Those
actively sound places and services deserve a portion of funds to
continue their much needed and well-respected services.
But our nation's largest provider of abortions isn't one of them.
Under title X, Federal funds go directly to Planned Parenthood where
the money ultimately funds abortion and this is one of the worst
stipulations in current law. Again and again, Planned Parenthood has
proven itself corrupt and misleading. No American who is against
abortion should be required to help pay for it. And no American can
seriously argue that the Federal Government isn't paying for abortion
right now, when Planned Parenthood receives at least $360 million from
the taxpayers each year while simultaneously performing more than
324,000 abortions.
Regarding the gentleman from New York's charge that we should be
using a bill of attainder and challenging us to say otherwise, I take
that challenge, as a person licensed to practice law in Indiana and
licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court. I would
say that the bill of attainder, this amendment is not that.
The people of the Fourth District of the State of Indiana and their
Representative have the right to produce an amendment to stop taxpayer
funding of abortions, and we are doing that here tonight.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. WAXMAN. A number of our colleagues on the other side of the
aisle, the Republican side of the aisle, have said they don't want
abortion to be funded and, therefore, they're going to vote for the
Pence amendment. But they believe that people ought to be able to get
the clinical and preventive services that a group like Planned
Parenthood would otherwise make available to them.
Well, look. Plant Planned Parenthood does not pay for anybody's
abortion using taxpayers' dollars. That is clearly in the law. It's
covered by the Hart amendment. If Planned Parenthood has abortion
services, it is completely separate. It is not only separate from
family planning services and others for which they get government
funding, they have to keep separate records. It's a completely
different operation.
So the Pence amendment is trying to strike the funds under the health
and human services programs for the services that Planned Parenthood as
an organization would provide for them. Now it's not just family
planning funds. It's all Federal programs, including Medicaid and the
community health centers program. This organization serves 15 percent
of all women in need of contraceptive services in the U.S., and for
millions of women, it is their primary health care provider, the place
they go to not only for planning services but basic preventive health
services such as cancer screenings.
Take that money away from them, they're not going to be able to serve
the women who need those services. So where will those people go? Are
they going to go to the community health centers? Well, this particular
funding bill takes out a billion dollars from the community health
centers. Where else can they go? Are they going to look to the Medicaid
program? One of the entitlements that the Republicans most want to
savage is Medicaid. Then where can they go? Are they going to go to the
exchange in a couple of years that will be available under the
Affordable Care Act? Of course not. The Republicans are trying to
repeal that law.
What will be the consequences? The consequences will not diminish the
number of abortions. The consequences will be to deny women, and men,
who may go to a clinic or to Planned Parenthood in order to get basic
medical services. I think this is a serious mistake. If you're against
abortion, be against abortion. But don't take it out on Planned
Parenthood because they serve abortion clients in a separate operation.
That's like saying I never want to pay for any services provided by a
doctor, even though it's not abortion services. I don't want that
doctor getting any money for contraceptive services. I don't want that
doctor to be paid if he's providing screening for venereal disease. I
don't want that doctor to be paid for any other service because he
might also, without your funds being used, provide abortion services.
When you look at this carefully, this is trying to punish Planned
Parenthood. But the ones who get punished are the people who won't be
able to get the family planning services and the preventive screening
services that Planned Parenthood regularly provides, and they won't be
the only provider for many of these women because they have nowhere
else to go if they can't afford to go see a private doctor and pay for
it.
I thought it was amazing to hear an argument that was made on the
House floor that one Member didn't like money to go to Planned
Parenthood because they're competing with for-profit abortion services.
I just was stunned by that argument. I didn't know what it meant,
except perhaps they'd like to have the private, for-profit abortion
services be able to provide the services instead of Planned Parenthood.
Whatever happens there is another issue, because Federal dollars,
taxpayers' money, will not be used for it. But taxpayers' dollars
should be used for title X family planning, for Medicaid, for community
health centers,
[[Page H1165]]
for health screening, for preventive health services, and that's why
the Pence amendment should be defeated.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OLSON. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. OLSON. Madam Chair, I rise today to support the Pence amendment,
which would prohibit any Federal funding from going to Planned
Parenthood. I want to thank my friend from Indiana who continues to
fight tirelessly to ensure that organizations that promote and perform
abortions do not receive Federal funding from hardworking taxpayers in
this country, the majority of whom do not want their money going to
such causes.
In June, I received a report I requested from the Government
Accountability Office which revealed that just six organizations
connected to the abortion agenda received over $1 billion in Federal
funds over the past 8 years. One billion dollars. The most significant
portion of that money was for Planned Parenthood and their affiliates,
the largest abortion provider in the United States.
A recent Planned Parenthood reporting shows that in 2007 alone,
305,000 abortions were performed at their facilities. Planned
Parenthood recently opened a new facility in Houston, right in the
middle of Houston's largest minority neighborhoods. At seven stories
high and 78,000 square feet, this center is their largest center in the
United States. An entire floor is going to be completely devoted to
abortions.
If we keep sending Federal funds to abortion providers, we are
supporting abortion advocates everywhere with our taxpayer dollars,
allowing them to build more mega-centers such as the one in my
hometown.
{time} 2220
It is time to renew this call and to bring light to this issue. The
transfer of taxpayer funds that supports such organizations must stop.
I am proud to have once again introduced the Taxpayer Conscience
Protection Act, a bill that requires each State to report annually to
the HHS Secretary the amount of funding which is sent to organizations
like Planned Parenthood.
Before I conclude my remarks, I have to point out to my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle that the Pence amendment does not--does
not--cut any funding for health services. It simply blocks those funds
from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country.
There are many health clinics, hospitals, faith-based organizations,
and many more that also provide health services for women. We must
shine a bright light on the exorbitant amounts of money that taxpayers
provide each year for abortions.
I ask my colleagues to stand beside our colleague from Indiana in
this fight by voting a resounding ``yes'' on his amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Chair, I do not believe that the government should
interfere with the reproductive rights of a woman, but that is not what
is being debated here.
No matter how many times our friends on the other side of the aisle
say that this is an amendment meant to prevent Federal dollars from
going to fund abortions, it will not make it true; it will not make it
so. That's not what this is about. We have heard all of the statistics.
We know what this is about.
I would like to spend a moment talking about how this whole debate is
viewed around the country. I would like to spend a minute talking about
what the country ought to look like for my daughters and for my son.
In this amendment, we can envision a Nation where there might be a
place for sex education to be taught in a scientific and comprehensive
way, which might actually reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies,
which might actually reduce teen pregnancies, and which will keep our
American children and young women healthy.
We might actually envision a country where we have testing for
sexually transmitted diseases and where, if caught, we can help make
the Nation healthier.
Madam Chair, we also have an opportunity here tonight to think about
a Nation where women have the opportunity to seek the health care they
need and deserve--poor women oftentimes who might have no place else to
go but who can have an opportunity to get the health care they need and
to get the cancer screenings they need, screenings that can save their
lives.
We can envision all of these things in this amendment.
Ladies and gentlemen, we know what Planned Parenthood provides in
these clinics: 95 percent of what they provide is health care that does
exactly what we want done in this country; 95 percent of what Planned
Parenthood does helps keep Americans healthy. It helps take care of
women, and it helps make sure that they are better mothers. It helps
make sure that their families can be taken care of, and it helps
identify cancer before it's too late so that kids can grow up with
their mothers.
We understand what this amendment is about. This is not an amendment
about abortion. This is an amendment about clamping down on a clinic
that provides medical services whose politics those on the other side
simply do not agree with. This is about the opportunity to move forward
with something that can provide those health care services: with
clinics that can help save lives.
We can do all of that right here in this House.
Members, I ask, as we go forward today, that we think about the
opportunity we have here to cast a vote that supports women, to cast a
vote that supports families, and to take what will be the most pro-
family vote we will have an opportunity to cast in this CR debate: that
is a vote against this amendment.
I urge my colleagues to do so.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HUELSKAMP. I move to strike the last word, Madam Chair.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Kansas is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. HUELSKAMP. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the Pence amendment
for a number of reasons.
As was indicated, I do come from the State of Kansas; and in
listening to the debate this evening, it is rather interesting to find
very little support for actually the institution of Planned Parenthood
and for a full discussion of what they have been involved in.
Two days ago in the State of Kansas, another hearing was conducted.
Charges are moving forward--107 criminal charges against Planned
Parenthood. It is very interesting. It is an entity under criminal
indictment for covering up more than 100 crimes: failures to report;
helping to cover up incest, rape. The list goes on and on. It has
happened in multiple States, a young lady by the name of Lila Rose has
indicated.
If you don't believe me, take a look at the tapes, Madam Chair. Take
a look at the tapes of how Planned Parenthood is helping sexual
predators continue their activities.
I would also like to point out one thing that we cannot forget. I
must admit I am certainly disappointed that our Supreme Court claims
that there is somehow a right to abortion. We do know there is no right
to the Public Treasury; there is no right to the taxpayer dollar; there
is no right to demand that Americans front this organization with their
taxpayer money.
That is the question of this amendment, Madam Chair.
There is another question to face here, and we need to be very clear.
My wife and I have four adopted children, and they're watching tonight.
They're adopted children, and they come from a group of children the
history of Planned Parenthood has targeted: minorities. My children are
adopted. They're the very type of children this organization targets,
and there is evidence it still continues today. Undercover work has
shown again and again how this organization locates in minority
neighborhoods.
Madam Chair, it is not only fiscally irresponsible to send our
taxpayer dollars to this type of entity and organization; I think it is
morally reprehensible that we would send $300 million of our hard-
earned money to an entity that targets minorities, that helps sexual
predators, that continues to cover up rape and incest and sex slavery.
There is no excuse for that.
[[Page H1166]]
Everyone in this body should be standing on their feet and
recognizing that, no matter your position on the issue of abortion, we
should all agree: Our taxpayer dollars are undeserving of the efforts
of Planned Parenthood. The history is clear. The present is clear. It
is time to defund this entity. They are unworthy of our dollars.
With that, Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 2230
Mr. LYNCH. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized for
5 minutes.
Mr. LYNCH. I would be remiss if I did not thank the Speaker, Speaker
Boehner, for the open rule that we have been working under for the past
several days. Even though we have not agreed on much, probably not
anything, I do appreciate the fact that we have been able to have a
fair and open debate on some of the most profound issues of our time.
I am hoping earnestly this is not the last open rule we have. I know
that it has turned 3 days of debate into 6 or 7 days of debate. There
has been a lot of hot air in this Chamber. I think if this Chamber were
a hot air balloon, we could probably make Europe. But I do think there
is credit due to the Speaker for allowing this debate to occur.
I do want to remind the Members, in spite of some of the
pronouncements of the previous speaker, that there is fixed law that
prevents Federal funding from being used for abortion. That is really
not what this is about. This is about the ability of Planned Parenthood
to conduct women's health care, to offer services that are deeply
needed in many communities where no other source of health care is
available.
Planned Parenthood last year carried out 1 million screenings for
cervical cancer and 830,000 breast exams and offered nearly 4 million
tests and treatments for STDs, including HIV. Those are the services
they provide. They are prohibited by law by the Hyde amendment from
using Federal funds for abortions. That is a fact. You can be entitled
to your own opinion, but that is a fact.
I am a pro-life Democrat. I am a pro-life Democrat, and my faith
informs my position on this issue. There used to be, I think, a general
agreement, as divisive as this debate is and has been in this country
for years, there has been a level of agreement that we have reached
where I think we agreed at one point in this country that the best way
to reduce abortion in this country is to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
We used to agree on that. This bill, this amendment, will increase the
number of abortions in this country.
The heart of what Planned Parenthood does is in the area of
contraceptives and medical screenings for cervical cancer and breast
cancer. But contraception is a big part of what they do in trying to
reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
If we take the funding away from them, and it says all funding--all
funding. It doesn't distinguish. All funding out of title X is
prohibited from Planned Parenthood. So let's not play a game about what
you are against and what you are for. This is for all funding. That is
what the bill says.
And if you prevent Planned Parenthood from providing advice and
services on contraception, we know for a certainty, especially in the
communities that they provide services to, we are going to have an
increase in the number of abortions in this country. That is the
natural consequence of what is on the table here in this amendment. You
are going to reduce funding for contraception; you are going to have
more unwanted pregnancies, and you are going to have more abortions.
Is that is what this debate is about? Is that what we are trying to
do here?
I used to think it was different. I thought we had some level of
agreement on this, that the goal was to reduce the number of unwanted
pregnancies and that is how we were going to reduce abortions in this
country.
I am disheartened by this amendment. I wish that the gentleman would
withdraw this amendment because I think it is counterproductive to the
goal of reducing the number of abortions in this country.
And as a family who has been affected by cervical cancer and breast
cancer, I think that is very important work that they do. And I support
that.
I don't have many friends in the Planned Parenthood community. They
don't support me. I am pro-life. But I respect the good work that they
do.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. GOHMERT. I rise in support of the Pence amendment, and I am aware
of some very helpful work that Planned Parenthood has done to help some
women with some difficult medical issues. But we have heard discussion
here about a bill of attainder. And Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3
says: No bill of attainder or ex post facto law will be passed. That is
the Constitution.
A bill of attainder, according to William Rehnquist, is: a
legislative act that singled out one or more persons and imposed
punishment on them, without benefit of trial.
No one is being found guilty of a crime here. I know about those
things. I have found people guilty of crimes after a trial. That is not
what is happening here any more than it was what was happening when
people decided to defund Guantanamo Bay or defund ACORN because they
were complicit in encouraging prostitution.
To come in here and say that when this body finds that one entity
does not deserve to be receiving more money that was pried out of
taxpayers' hands is somehow a bill of attainder, then it means we can
never withdraw money from someone to whom it was given previously. That
is not a bill of attainder. In fact, to take it away, one would first
have to assume that this money was the property of this entity before
they ever received it.
Now, that would be like saying that the taxpayers that earned the
money and the taxpayers that had to give it up because we stole it, but
we legalized the theft because we can do that, we can say, You earned
it. It is yours, but we have the power to legalize taking it away from
you against your will. We have done that. We have taken it away. But we
have a responsibility to be frugal and to be wise.
No, I will not yield. I didn't ask to be yielded to when I was being
upset by the explanation inappropriately of a bill of attainder. But I
know the gentleman is one of the smartest people I know, but this is
not a bill of attainder.
The F-35, we voted on a second engine. Well, there had been money
appropriated, supposedly, before. They could come in and say it is a
bill of attainder to take it away. It is not. It is not their money.
This body has an obligation to investigate and to look carefully as
to where we should most appropriately spend the taxpayers' money that
we have taken, or the 42 cents out of the dollar now we are borrowing
from China, or whoever will give us the money.
But it was never the intention of the founders that we could not be
responsible as a body and say this shouldn't go to this place; it would
be better served going somewhere else. That is our job, and we have an
obligation.
One other thing, and to those who say, and I know well meaning,
because I know the people who are saying it and I know their hearts and
I know they really believed what they were saying. But I have got Part
1 of the act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the
first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces
and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes, which is
ObamaCare, because the Senate stripped out every word of the bill,
including the title, and substituted, therefore, ObamaCare. This is the
first half of the bill. And if you turn over, if you turn over to page
119, (B) subsection; says it: Abortions for which public funding is
prohibited. But if you go to subsection (ii), it has this title:
Abortions for which public funding is allowed.
That's not all. Legal clinics are financed and are required to be
financed under this bill, and there is no prohibition either by the
Hyde amendment or any provision in this bill or the Executive order
that legally prevents Federal funding for allowing abortions in some of
those medical clinics that are established and will happen.
[[Page H1167]]
Also, if you flip over here--and you wouldn't find this in a word
search for ``abortion'' because it was too cleverly put back. But if
you look at 122, it is required to have insurance plans, and there will
be Federal funding involved to make this happen, that there be ``at
least one such plan that provides coverage of services described in
clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (B).''
That is abortion, folks. There is money for it here.
{time} 2240
Mrs. MALONEY. I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mrs. MALONEY. I rise in strong opposition to the Pence amendment,
which will eliminate all funding for the many services provided by
Planned Parenthood. That's the amendment that is before us, not the
other items that other people are talking about.
This amendment is not merely anti-choice. It is also anti-health,
anti-woman, and anti-poor, and is a thinly veiled attack on birth
control. This amendment will not do anything to grow our economy or
create any new jobs to help us out of this great recession. It will
only turn this Nation backwards.
Planned Parenthood is the Nation's largest provider of family
planning services; and for roughly 60 percent of their patients, they
serve as the primary care physicians, as 90 percent of the health care
they provide every day is primary and preventive.
This is not about abortion. The Hyde amendment is alive and well, and
it prevents and restricts any use of Federal funds for abortion. This
is about primary and preventive health care. This anti-woman amendment
will restrict millions of women from access to family planning, HIV
testing and counseling, and breast and cervical cancer screening,
leaving them with nowhere else to turn.
The other side's vision of smaller government would expand the
government's power over women's choices. It is wrong, it is
shortsighted, and it is unjust. Instead of getting between a woman and
her doctor, instead of allowing women to have control over their own
health care, instead of forcing personal beliefs on half the
population, let's turn to the business of creating jobs and economic
opportunity and away from the business of ruling other people's lives.
I urge a ``no'' vote on the Pence amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. ROBY. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Alabama is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mrs. ROBY. I rise in support of the amendment.
I oppose funding to Planned Parenthood. We should not be giving
Federal funds to groups like Planned Parenthood that used the money for
abortions. Planned Parenthood has recently made plain the centrality of
abortion to its mission, mandating that every affiliate have at least
one clinic performing abortions within the next 2 years.
Additionally, it is beyond shocking that Planned Parenthood employees
were recently found on video aiding and abetting in the alleged sex
trafficking of minors. This is not the first time that Planned
Parenthood has shown such shocking behavior. It happened in my home
State of Alabama back in 2009. A Planned Parenthood counselor was
caught on hidden camera telling an alleged 14-year-old statutory rape
victim that the clinic does sometimes bend the rules a bit rather than
report sexual abuse to State authorities. Two years later, we are still
seeing this outrageous behavior by Planned Parenthood employees.
It is time to stop funding such an organization with taxpayer
dollars. Planned Parenthood ignores statutory rape law reporting,
pushes abortion procedures, and opposes any effort to elevate the legal
status of a fetus at any stage of development. It is not a proud day
that citizens learned that these activities have been continually
funded by the Federal Government. It is even a worse day when we are
told that our government has funded Planned Parenthood with more than
$363 million in government grants and contracts. The continual action
by Planned Parenthood and its employees is demeaning for women and a
black eye for our society.
Planned Parenthood in Kansas claims to be a trusted source of health
care and education for thousands of women, men and children; yet it was
charged with 107 criminal counts, including failure to report sexual
abuse and falsifying documents in order to perform illegal late-term
abortions. Planned Parenthood in California has privately admitted to
overcharging the State and Federal Government by at least $180 million
for birth control pills despite internal and external warnings that its
billing practices were improper.
Planned Parenthood in Indiana has been accused of endangering the
safety and well-being of minor girls by intentionally circumventing
State parental involvement laws and breaking State laws by refusing to
report statutory rape. Funding must be stopped. Planned Parenthood must
not be granted any more taxpayer dollars to push their agenda to take
away the rights of the unborn. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on
the Pence amendment and stop the funding of Planned Parenthood.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Chairman, I don't doubt that the
gentleman from Indiana is sincere. We all know him, and we know the
longstanding commitment that he has had to this issue. But having
served on the Judiciary Committee with the late Chairman Henry Hyde, I
know how sincere he was in the work that he did to ensure that no
Federal funds could be used for abortion. That is the law of the land.
I also know how committed our colleague from Massachusetts is to his
values of pro-life; but he eloquently stood on the floor of the House
and gave us a moral compass. This is not about abortion. This is about
saving lives. And the Planned Parenthood effort, albeit with ills that
any large organization may have--corrected ills, has a valuable and
worthy purpose in saving lives. My fear is with the Pence amendment
having the potential of passing, that we set the stage for going back
10, 20, 30, 40 years when women had no place to seek counseling. They
know well that the adherence to the law that the Planned Parenthood
organization must have is that they cannot use Federal funds for
abortion.
But this is not about abortion. This is about family planning and
counseling services that have long been part of the Planned Parenthood
family. And all we'll do by cutting these resources will be, in fact,
going back to the dark ages when young women had no place to go. So
Planned Parenthood does not equate to abortion. Family planning does
not equate to abortion. Title X funds do not equate to abortion because
the law of the land is clear. But what we will have are young women who
will have no place to go to be able to ask questions.
Yes, the Planned Parenthood facility is in the 18th Congressional
District in Houston, Texas, a heavily diverse but heavily minority
district; and I would argue that its efforts are positive in health
education, the work it does, in Pap tests for cervical cancer, in STD
testing, in menopause and hormone treatment, in urinary tract
treatment, in breast exams, and in outreach to the Latino community,
all services that would not be there if it was not for these committed
workers and the committed Office of Planned Parenthood.
Community health clinics, to be gutted. And as was indicated, all the
work that we're doing on the floor of the House, the question has to
be, one, are we going forward in helping the American people create
jobs? Or even in this amendment, causing thousands of Americans to lose
their jobs in a worthy cause of helping those who many times cannot
help themselves? What about those who have suffered a violent act of
sexual assault? Where do they go? What do we say about a Planned
Parenthood who, throughout its existence over the last couple of
decades, has received violent threats, bomb threats? I am reminded of
the police support that this local chapter had to have because of the
constant threats upon their staff.
[[Page H1168]]
So this is not all peaches and roses. We are simply standing here and
saying, allow them to do their work, which is assisting a young woman
by the name of Karen, 28 years old, who was between jobs, newly
married, and did not have any health care. She saw the results of a
pregnancy test that she got from the drugstore and couldn't believe
what it said.
{time} 2250
She didn't know where else to go. She was frightened, 28 years old.
But she went to Planned Parenthood. And what she said, without any
pressure, she had the test and discovered that she was pregnant. And
the nurse didn't ask her any indicting question; simply said, what do
you want to do? And she thought about it, and she decided to say she
wanted to have the baby.
Don't let those stories go untold where women are counseled and they
go forth with their plans with the idea that they have someone to help
them along, even provide them with services to be able to carry that
baby to term.
So I simply want to say, they have suffered enough violence for
Planned Parenthood. Let's not have more violence on the floor of the
House, and let's vote down this particular amendment to continue them
serving the women that need to be served.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CULBERSON. I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Pence
amendment. It's important to note that the Hyde amendment has been in
place for decades. There's overwhelming support among the American
people that we don't want our tax dollars used to subsidize or support
abortion in any way. And people listening to the debate tonight, those
on the floor, pro-life Democrats, no matter who you are, shouldn't be
distracted by the discussion of the family, the health care services
provided by the organization Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood
could solve this public policy problem they've got by simply refusing
to perform abortions. If they stop performing abortions this is not an
issue. If Planned Parenthood would stop turning a blind eye or, at
best, stop being indifferent to the criminal conduct that's been
exposed at their facilities and lead the charge to see that criminal
complaints are sworn out against people associated with Planned
Parenthood or their employees engaged in criminal conduct, a lot of
this problem would go away. All Planned Parenthood has to do is say
they're going to stop performing abortions. And yet they won't do it.
This is not about the health care services that they provide in other
areas. This is about the fact that the overwhelming majority of
Americans do not want our tax dollars used to subsidize or pay for
abortions. This is a very straightforward vote tonight for all of the
Members of the House, whether or not you will vote to permit your
constituents' tax dollars to be used to fund or subsidize abortion.
That's the question before the House tonight. It's not complicated. And
Planned Parenthood is not entitled to these dollars, these tax dollars.
There's no punishment being given here. Planned Parenthood, we, as a
Congress will make the public policy decision here tonight in this
debate, in this vote, whether or not Planned Parenthood should continue
to receive tax dollars. That's been decided for decades. No tax dollars
should be used to subsidize or fund abortion. That's been the position
of the Congress through the Hyde amendment for many, many decades, and
we're continuing that tradition tonight by ensuring that no tax dollars
flow through Obamacare, which, by the way, does allow our tax dollars
to be used for abortion because what is not excluded is included, and
the Obamacare bill allows for our tax dollars to be used for abortion
by subsidizing exchange plans that provide coverage for abortion.
Therefore, this vote is truly very simple. Will we, the Congress of the
United States, permit our tax dollars to be used to subsidize or fund
abortion? It's an up-or-down vote.
I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Make no mistake about it. This is about
abortion.
Just prior to coming to the floor tonight, before this debate ever
began, I was answering an email I got from a friend of mine in Atlanta.
And he said, stop public funding of abortion. I was talking to him on
the phone when I saw Mr. Pence come down here and start this debate.
And he was telling me about his sister-in-law that had an abortion
about 30 years ago. She has nightmares. She has visions of these two
babies that she aborted.
I'm a medical doctor. I've performed all these health services that
my Democratic colleagues keep talking about, and I have for years. I
like women. I'm married to one. I have two daughters. I have thousands
of patients that I've seen over the years, and I've done pap smears and
breast examinations and sexually transmitted disease tests and all
those health care services that my Democrat colleagues keep talking
about. This is not about that.
We keep hearing about the Hyde amendment. And certainly the Hyde
amendment is in place. But make no mistake about this. What Planned
Parenthood does is the proverbial shell game, shifting funds so
taxpayer dollars still go to an organization that provides abortion,
and the more we pour money to this organization, the more abortions
they're going to try to promote and provide. And, in fact, Planned
Parenthood was established on the philosophy of eugenics. And they're
still carrying out that philosophy. There are more black babies killed
through abortion today proportionally than there are white babies or
any other colored babies.
And we've also seen tapes where Planned Parenthood operatives have
even promoted that type thing.
The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. So this is all about preventing abortion. I
know my Democrat colleagues are well-meaning. They all say the same
talking points, and I believe in the depths of my heart that you all
really believe what the Democratic colleagues say. And I know they're
well-meaning.
But the American people demand better. My patients demand better. The
taxpayers, your taxpayers, Democratic colleagues, demand better.
This is about abortion. Planned Parenthood is not going to shut down
if the Pence amendment is passed and this continuing resolution is
signed into law. Planned Parenthood won't go away. They can continue to
supply the services that they get from other financial sources. They
can continue to provide abortions. So it's not going to even stop that.
I believe very firmly in my heart that we must stop abortions because
these are babies. I introduced H.R. 212, which is the Sanctity of Human
Life Act that defines life beginning at fertilization, and I know, as a
medical doctor, that's when my life began, that's when all of our lives
began.
Those babies deserve the right of personhood. They deserve the right
to live. So this debate is about life. It's about giving children the
right to grow up and become functioning citizens in our society. And
it's about taxpayers' funds continuing to support an organization, the
largest provider of abortions in the world, to continue that process of
killing babies. So we must take the taxpayer funds away.
It's not going to stop Planned Parenthood from doing Pap smears,
breast examinations, STD exams, all those things that my Democrat
colleagues keep talking about. It's not going to stop that.
What it will do is just take taxpayers dollars out of the equation.
Planned Parenthood can no longer do the cost shifting, use taxpayer
dollars for other purposes besides the stated purpose of abortion. And
hopefully, they won't continue to provide abortions with taxpayer
dollars. It's not fair to taxpayers. It's not fair to women. It's not
fair to my patients. It's not fair to even the Planned Parenthood
patients that are not seeking abortions.
{time} 2300
I encourage my colleagues, let's have some sanity here. Let's have
some civility here. Let's think about what really this is all about.
It's about abortion, not providing health services to
[[Page H1169]]
underprivileged women. I have provided those services. I have given
away hundreds of thousands of dollars of my services over an almost
four-decade career practicing family medicine.
I care for my patients. I want them to have the services that they
need. I have provided those services. But this is about abortion. Let's
stop the funding of Planned Parenthood by taxpayer dollars. Let them do
their business until we outlaw abortion. Hopefully, we can, because
it's killing babies.
You see, I don't believe that God can continue to bless America while
we're killing 4,000 babies every day. They are babies. They are human
beings. We treat green turtle eggs better than we treat human being
babies in the womb. We've got to stop it.
That's the reason I support the Pence amendment. That's the reason I
hope all my colleagues and the American public will demand a stopping
of the public funding of abortions through Planned Parenthood by
supporting the Pence amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. MOORE. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Wisconsin is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. MOORE. I would plead with my colleagues to reject the Pence
amendment and not to defund Planned Parenthood. And I mean that as a
double entendre; to not defund the ability of women to plan parenthood.
I know of what the previous speaker, the gentleman, referred.
To all those well-meaning people who want to speak about the value of
life and not funding contraception and not wanting to make an abortion,
which is the law of the land, available if people would choose that. I
am really touched by the passion of the opposite to want to save black
babies.
I can tell you, I know a lot about having black babies. I've had
three of them. And I had my first one when I was 18 years old, at the
ripe old age of 18. An unplanned pregnancy. And let me tell you, I went
into labor, unfortunately, on New Year's Eve, had not even one dime.
Phone calls cost a dime at that time. I didn't have a phone in my home
and didn't have a dime to go to the phone booth to call an ambulance,
an ambulance which is a waste of money using Medicaid dollars, but I
didn't have a car and didn't have cab fare.
I just want to tell you a little bit about what it's like to not have
Planned Parenthood. You have to add water to the formula to make it
stretch. You have to give your kids Ramen noodles at the end of the
month to fill up their little bellies so they won't cry. You have to
give them mayonnaise sandwiches. They get very few fresh fruits and
vegetables because they are expensive.
It subjects children to low educational attainment because of the
ravages of poverty. You know, one of the biggest problems that school
districts have in educating some of these poor black children who are
unplanned is that they are mobile; they are constantly moving because
they can't pay the rent.
And, yes, I heard many of you talk about sexual predators. It
subjects them to sexual predators, as when you try to go out and do a
little work you have to leave your kids with just anybody because you
don't have $800 to $1,200 a month for child care.
And let me tell you, you know, the public policy has treated poor
children and women who have not had the benefit of Planned Parenthood
with utter contempt. These same children, it has been very difficult to
get them health insurance through CHIP.
When you go to the grocery store to buy them a little birthday cake
with your food stamps, everyone stares at you in contempt.
And, yes, on a bipartisan basis, Democrats and Republicans ended the
entitlement to Aid for Families With Dependent Children; so that when
we have a recession like we have now, women, who are alone typically,
poor, of color, with these poor black children, have no money, go
months and months and months with little or nothing to sustain
themselves.
And you know, I recall that the first item on the YouCut Web site was
to cut temporary assistance to needy families. And let me tell you what
it does to women who cannot plan their parenthood. It derails their
ability to complete education and training so they can get a job.
The TANF law is very harsh. It won't even let women complete high
school diplomas. It sends them into work fair programs and very low
wage service industries, often jobs with no unemployment benefits. And
of course, they are treated with contempt and disdain when they apply
for any aid. They are humiliated.
And so I would beg my colleagues, I would beg them to not defund
Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is healthy for women, it's
healthy for children, and it's healthy for our society.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Gingrey of Georgia). The gentlewoman from
Tennessee is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. BLACK. Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the
United States, receives millions of dollars in government aid, yet they
are still classified as a nonprofit organization.
From 2008 to 2009, Planned Parenthood received $363 million, which is
one-third of their $1 billion income, from grants and contracts from
Federal and State governments. And during that time, the number of
abortions that they performed increased to a record number of 324,000.
That's almost 25,000 from 2006 to 2007. And each fiscal year since
2000, the government has increased its funding an average of $22
million per year while the number of abortions they perform steadily
increased. This occurred while the overall abortion rate in the United
States declined.
And despite all of this, we continue to give this organization
money--millions--despite reports that Planned Parenthood clinics have
failed to comply with State statutory rape reporting laws, often
ignoring parental consent laws. And, most recently, a few have refused
to report instances of sex trafficking of minors.
Simple fact: Funding Planned Parenthood and its affiliates does not
decrease abortions. It increases it.
When I think of Planned Parenthood, I am immediately reminded of a
night 20 years ago when I was working in the emergency room at
Hendersonville Hospital.
A 22-year-old girl presented after receiving an incomplete abortion
from the Planned Parenthood clinic. She had no followup number, and she
didn't know where to go to receive the care that she needed.
Unfortunately, she waited at home, bleeding for hours before coming to
the emergency room. But it was too late. And due to the excessive
bleeding loss, her body responded by an uncontrollable clotting
condition known as DIC, and at this point there was nothing we could
do. We watched this young girl die. This young girl, with her whole
life ahead of her, died that night.
Stories like these are the everyday tragedies that go untold. That is
why I stand here this hour to show my support for this amendment and
for all of the continuing efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. I thank
the gentleman from Indiana for introducing this vital amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, this has been an interesting debate as we
look at the 150 years back in history and we look at the Civil War. And
as we look back at the Civil War, some people reenacting it as if it
was a good event, we look at kind of a retreat in history here tonight.
{time} 2310
It was 1965 when Griswold v. Connecticut, the 7-2 Supreme Court
decision, said Planned Parenthood could not be prohibited by the
government from giving contraceptive advice to married people, and we
have come a long ways since then in terms of liberty. And I am kind of
surprised as we get here in 2011 and we look at this House, and part of
this House which claims to be so concerned about liberty and individual
freedoms and individual rights is more hung up on the Tenth
[[Page H1170]]
Amendment and something to do with States and Federals, rather than the
Ninth Amendment and the penumbra right that gives women and individuals
the right to make certain decisions.
We have got a group over there really concerned about earmarks, yet
what this is I would submit is not a bill of attainder; it is a reverse
earmark, because you are saying who we can't give money to. And the
logic I have heard from my friend from Georgia was that because even
though we have the Hyde amendment which says Planned Parenthood can't
use Federal funds for abortion because they do other Planned Parenthood
activities, helping with HIV-AIDS screening, helping with cervical and
breast cancer exams and treatments and other birth control-type
activities other than abortion, because they do abortion too, this
helps contribute in the milieu of their overall funding. With that
logic, we wouldn't fund any hospital, any health clinic or any doctor
that any part of their practice or any part of their operation has
anything to do with abortion because the funds get commingled and it
helps contribute to their ability to provide abortion.
So the bottom line is this isn't is about Planned Parenthood. It is
not the reverse earmarks that it is, that it picks out only Planned
Parenthood, including Planned Parenthood in Memphis, Tennessee, that
provides health care to over 5,000 women a year, low-income women a
year who need information about how to plan their families other than
just abstinence, that we know from Alaska to Florida has failed. This
is an effort to take away from people an individual choice and to
require and make the government, this government, this Congress, Big
Government, the decider of individuals' lives rather than giving them
some choice.
I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. PALLONE. I thank the gentleman.
I am just amazed by the extortion that I heard on the other side of
the aisle tonight. Basically what the Republicans said is that if
Planned Parenthood agreed not to perform abortions, then they could
continue to perform their other functions. But if they insist on
performing abortions, then we are going to starve them for money and
they won't be able to provide contraceptives and family planning and
all the other health care services for women that are so important
here.
To me, that is just an incredible statement, because essentially what
you are saying is we will extort this. We don't really care about all
these other services that they are providing. What we really care about
is abortion. And if you sign on the dotted line, then you can continue
to perform the other health care services, as long as you don't perform
the service that is allowed under the law of the land.
Now, I cannot believe that that was actually stated here this
evening, because I know and we all know that all these other services,
reproductive services and health care services, are so important for
women, so important for families. For me to hear a Member on the other
side suggest that somehow they are going to extort that and threaten
that and hold that over everyone in order to accomplish this goal of
saying you can't perform abortions I think is outrageous.
I now understand what the purpose of this amendment is. It is to
close down Planned Parenthood and all the good things that many of you
admit they are actually doing just in order to accomplish this
ideological goal related to abortion. I just think that is incredible.
To me, frankly, for the first time I understand what it is all about.
But let's not be hypocrites about this. If that is what you are
about, then admit it. And one person did. The rest of you are going on
and on about all of the terrible things that Planned Parenthood has
done. Frankly, most of the men and women who perform the services at
Planned Parenthood are very well-meaning people, and they shouldn't be
attacked because of a few that haven't done the right thing.
The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Louisiana is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Chairman, I have been a practicing physician for
over 35 years. I have delivered hundreds of babies. You know, our
President once said when asked when does life begin, he said, that is
above my pay grade. Well, I can tell you, Mr. Chairman, it is not above
my pay grade, and I can tell you as a scientist and as a physician that
life begins at conception, and that is often forgotten in this Chamber
right here.
Abortion violates the very tenets, the simple tenets of our culture,
and that is the killing of innocent life. But here is something else
you don't hear much in this Chamber here today. How is it that human
beings, how is it that Americans can decide to kill an innocent human
life? The way we do it is through dehumanization; that is, we think of
that unborn baby to be something inanimate or just a part of the body.
I have seen people get more upset about a dying pet than they have in
giving up their pregnancy through abortion.
So I say to you, Mr. Chairman, here today that I rise in support of
the Pence amendment. Yes, of course, money is fungible. Money goes in
one end and then into another account and then on elsewhere. So
anything that taxpayers do in terms of giving money to Planned
Parenthood is subsidizing abortions. And we know that the American
people by a small margin and a growing margin oppose abortion in
general, but a wide margin of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of
abortion.
With that, I yield to the gentleman from Iowa.
Mr. KING of Iowa. I would like to thank the gentleman from Louisiana
for addressing the House and for yielding to me, and all of those who
have spoken on this issue.
I recall back here on this floor in the early part of the session in
2007 when the Mexico City vote came up, and I remember that debate here
on this floor. I remember watching the vote go up on the board, the
language that would compel American taxpayers to fund abortion in
foreign lands. For the first time in years, the Democrats lost the
debate but won the vote. And I saw Members over on this side of the
floor jumping up and down, hugging themselves, cheering, cheering
because of what? Because you had taken a step to compel Americans who
are conscientiously objecting taxpayers to fund abortions in foreign
lands.
How could anyone cheer something like that? What was the moral
standard that brought about such elation? It is a complete confusion to
me to think that we can't even describe what this is.
I brought some posters to the floor of the House Judiciary Committee
last week that showed what dilation and evacuation is. It is
dismemberment. Abortion. I don't know if there anybody in this Chamber
that could actually witness a real abortion and stand there, let alone
lend their hand to such a thing.
But I remember buying the movie ``Silent Scream'' for my children
when they were about 9, 10 and 11 years old and sitting on the floor in
the living room and watching 8 minutes of parts of babies being put in
a stainless steel pan and having an inventory done of a little foot, a
little arm, a little leg, a little torso, a little crushed skull, until
all the things added up, and then they sucked out the pieces that were
missed.
That is what is going on. And we are asking Americans to fund this
through Planned Parenthood, or any other organization?
Here is where I would agree with Mr. Cohen. I would go further than
this. And he made the point--I know he wouldn't agree. I would say no
funds should go to any entity that should perform such a ghastly,
ghoulish and gruesome procedure, and this House cannot compel American
taxpayers to do so. And we will stand tonight and we will put an end to
the Federal funding of Planned Parenthood, and we will move on and we
will shut off all of the funding to those entities that do that to our
unborn children in this country.
Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Chairman, I would like to say in conclusion to my
remarks, and I thank the gentleman from Iowa, that tonight we are all
getting tired. We have debated for 3 days and 3 nights. But in that
same period of time, think about the number of babies who have been
killed through abortion, through a sterile area where a doctor goes in
and we have the usual
[[Page H1171]]
instruments and so forth and the fetus sucked out of the womb and then
the mom on with her life.
{time} 2320
But we also know that statistics tell us that these mothers just
don't go on with their lives, as has been suggested by the other side.
The rate of depression, the rate of suicide, the rate of problems with
future pregnancies increase dramatically after abortion.
So tonight should be the beginning of the ending of this horrible
practice.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We were hired by our neighbors in our hometowns to come up to
Washington and fight for jobs and help get the country back on the road
to recovery. But instead, this Republican Congress is taking an extreme
right turn right back into the dark ages because they are targeting a
very important initiative that has provided fundamental health services
to women since 1970 to say no more will women that depend on family
planning in the United States of America have that lifeline any
longer--that lifeline for breast cancer screenings, cervical cancer
screenings, the annual Pap smear, for contraceptives. We can't go back
to the dark ages--and we're not going to let you.
As often as it has been misstated on this floor tonight, none of the
money for family planning goes to pay for abortions. This is their
false battle cry. In effect, what they're doing is they want to cut off
the lifeline for mothers and daughters, aunts, your friends, your
neighbors who sometimes don't have a place to go to afford that
important doctor's visit. There seems to be little if any empathy for
these women from the Republican side of the aisle, as they propose no
alternative for providing this care, and they don't seem to realize or,
frankly, care that unintended pregnancies will rise if this program is
abolished.
Cutting off these funds and eliminating this care for women will not
stop abortion, which is their claim. Only family planning will stop
abortion. The major consequence of wiping out title X, which really
means that all-important trip to the doctor's office for a woman who
doesn't have any place else to go for their breast cancer screening,
their annual exam, the only consequence, major consequence, will be
eliminating health care for millions of women while also increasing the
bill to taxpayers. For every public dollar invested in family planning,
taxpayers save $4.
So attacking reproductive health care for women may make for very
interesting politics, but it doesn't prevent unintended pregnancy. It
doesn't create jobs. It doesn't improve the economic situations of our
hometowns. And that's what we should be debating for hours and hours
tonight.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment to
remove taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood. In my State of
Colorado, the voters passed a State constitutional amendment by
initiative about 30 years ago. It said no taxpayer dollars will go to
abortion, whether directly or indirectly. We decided in Colorado that
because money is fungible, giving taxpayer dollars to an organization
that provides abortion, even if they say it doesn't go directly to
abortion, does indeed ultimately fund it. This is because that taxpayer
money frees up that organization's resources to be moved around on its
books. Money is fungible.
Taxpayer dollars enable Planned Parenthood to perform abortions, and
the sentiment in Colorado is the same as in the rest of America:
Americans don't want to use taxpayer dollars for abortions. Until the
day comes that Planned Parenthood stops performing abortions, it should
not get another penny of taxpayer money.
I urge my colleagues to support the Pence amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I now yield to the distinguished gentleman from New
Jersey.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my friend for yielding.
Mr. Chairman, it's time Americans, especially policymakers, health
officials, the media, and law enforcement, took a second and critical
look at Planned Parenthood. Not only does Planned Parenthood vigorously
lobby and litigate against parental notification and parental consent
laws, thus enabling secret abortions for very, very young girls to be
procured in their clinics, but now we've learned from recent undercover
taped investigations at several of its clinics that Planned Parenthood
employees were found to be more than eager to assist people posing as
sex traffickers to procure abortions for underaged girls.
As a prime sponsor of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,
I found it appalling to watch Planned Parenthood personnel again and
again and again offer to provide and facilitate abortions for
hypothetical sex trafficking victims as young as 13. In light of a
recent comprehensive study suggesting that 100,000 American girls,
mostly runaways, are forced into prostitution each year, average age
13, the videotapes of Live Action, the NGO headed by a courageous young
woman, Lila Rose, that did the undercover work, is an engraved
invitation for serious investigation by the Attorney General of the
United States and law enforcement everywhere. It further begs the
question: Why are taxpayers giving hundreds of millions of dollars each
and every year to Planned Parenthood?
Despite the best and slickest market branding money can buy, the
stubborn fact remains that Planned Parenthood clinics are among the
most dangerous places on Earth for a child. Planned Parenthood's own
personnel are now taking a second look--many of them--and, thanks to
ultrasound, are clearly seeing what is being done to millions of
children in the womb, like the 332,278 babies exterminated in Planned
Parenthood's abortion clinics in 2009.
One of those abortion providers who took a second look and walked
away is Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic
director. In her book ``Unplanned,'' Abby Johnson exposes the duplicity
and cruelty of what really goes on behind closed doors at a Planned
Parenthood clinic. In it she writes how she witnessed and assisted in
an abortion of a 13-week-old baby by holding the ultrasound probe, and
as she pointed out in the book, it was the first ultrasound-guided
abortion at that facility.
She writes in the book: ``The details startled me. At 13 weeks you
could clearly see the profile of the head, both arms, legs, and even
tiny fingers and toes. With my eyes glued to the image of this
perfectly formed baby, I watched as a new image emerged on the video
screen. The cannula, a straw-shaped instrument attached to the end of
the suction tube, had been inserted into the uterus and was nearing the
baby's side. It looked like an invader on the screen: out of place,
wrong. It just looked wrong.''
She goes on to write: ``My heart sped up; time slowed. I didn't want
to look, but I didn't want to stop looking either. At first, the baby
didn't seem aware of the cannula. It gently probed the baby's side, and
for a quick second I felt relief. But I couldn't shake an inner
disquiet that was quickly mounting to horror as I watched the screen.''
Remember, this is an abortion clinic director saying this.
``The next movement was a sudden jerk of a tiny foot of the baby as
he started kicking, as if trying to move away from the probing
invader.''
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado's time has expired.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last
word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. ``As the cannula pressed in, the baby began
struggling to turn and twist away. It seemed clear to me that the fetus
could feel the cannula, and it did not like the feeling. And then the
doctor's voice broke through, startling me: `Beam me up, Scotty,' the
abortionist said lightheartedly to the nurse. He was telling her to
turn on the suction, in an abortion the suction isn't turned on until
the doctor feels he has the cannula in exactly the right place.''
[[Page H1172]]
This abortion clinic director went on to write: ``I had a sudden urge
to yell, Stop; to shake the woman and say, Look at what's happening to
your baby. Wake up; hurry. Stop them. But even as I was thinking those
words, I thought of my own hand and saw my own hand holding the probe.
I was one of them performing this act'' of abortion.
{time} 2330
``My eyes shot back to the screen. The cannula was already being
rotated by the doctor and now I could see the tiny body violently
twisting with it. For the briefest moment it looked as if the baby was
being wrung like a dishcloth, twirled and squeezed. And then the little
body crumpled and began disappearing into the cannula before my eyes.
The last thing I saw was the tiny perfectly formed backbone sucked into
the tube. And then everything was gone. The image of that tiny dead
baby mangled and sucked away kept replaying in my mind. What was in
this woman's womb just a moment ago was alive. It wasn't tissue. It
wasn't cells. This was a human baby, fighting for life. A battle was
lost in the blink of an eye.
``What I have told people for years''--8 years as a clinic director
at a Planned Parenthood clinic--``what I have told people for years,''
Abby Johnson continues, ``What I believed and taught and defended is a
lie.''
I ask Members to read this book, ``Unplanned,'' and realize the
scandal of the killing of these unborn children and calling it choice.
Mr. Chairman, there is nothing whatsoever benign or caring or
generous or just or compassionate or nurturing about abortion. Earlier
one of our colleagues called abortion healthy for the child. Abortion
dismembers children piece by piece. Planned Parenthood's own fact sheet
talks about D&E abortions done during the second trimester period. Have
you ever seen what a D&E is? The doctor goes in with forceps and this
device and literally hacks that baby to death. Planned Parenthood
itself says it takes 10 to 20 minutes to literally dismember that
child.
Then there's the shots in the heart. There's a doctor right here in
this area, that on perfectly healthy babies gives them cardiac sticks
with either feticide poison or a burst of air which kills the unborn
child.
So it is not healthy for children and we know for a fact it is not
healthy for women, either.
Mr. Chairman, the Pence amendment simply seeks to end U.S. taxpayer
complicity with this massive violence against children. Who we back,
who we subsidize does matter. Not just what but who.
Planned Parenthood does more than 300,000 abortions each and every
year. They are the largest provider; about a fourth of all the
abortions in the United States. It is child abuse. It is time to take a
second look at Child Abuse, Incorporated.
Support the Pence amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. SPEIER. I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from California is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, I had really planned to speak about
something else, but the gentleman from New Jersey has just put my
stomach in knots, because I'm one of those women he spoke about just
now.
I had a procedure at 17 weeks, pregnant with a child that had moved
from the vagina into the cervix, and that procedure that you just
talked about was a procedure that I endured. I lost the baby. But for
you to stand on this floor and to suggest as you have that somehow this
is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done
without any thought is preposterous. To think that we are here tonight
debating this issue, when the American people if they are listening are
scratching their heads and wondering: What does this have to do with me
getting a job? What does this have to do with reducing the deficit? And
the answer is: Nothing at all.
There is a vendetta against Planned Parenthood and it was played out
in this room tonight. Planned Parenthood has a right to operate.
Planned Parenthood has a right to provide services for family planning.
Planned Parenthood has a right to offer abortions. The last time I
checked, abortions were legal in this country.
Now, you may not like Planned Parenthood. So be it. There are many on
our side of the aisle that don't like Halliburton, and Halliburton is
responsible for extortion, for bribery, for 10 cases of misconduct in
the Federal database for a $7 billion sole source contract. But do you
see us over here filing amendments to wipe out funding for Halliburton?
No. Because, frankly, that would be irresponsible.
I would suggest to you that it would serve us all very well if we
moved on with this process and started focusing on creating jobs for
the Americans who desperately want them.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Chairman, Planned Parenthood receives a third of its
$1.1 billion budget from taxpayer dollars. The opposition to this
amendment continues to say that this is not about Federal funding of
abortion, which the Hyde amendment prohibits. We all know, however,
that money is fungible. Taxpayer dollars are going to keep the lights
on and the doors open and to pay for things which frees up money for
abortions. Recently, Planned Parenthood has been caught red-handed in
several different clinics, including one in my hometown of Richmond,
aiding and abetting sex trafficking and prostitution of minors.
Now the other side continues to say that Planned Parenthood has a
right to operate. They don't have a right to do that. You cannot argue
that an organization that engages in patterns of conduct such as those
revealed in the videos seen in clinics such as that in my hometown, you
cannot argue that an organization like that cares about the rights of
women and girls it purports to serve.
So, Mr. Chairman, I ask you: Why on Earth are we giving $363 million
in taxpayer funds every year to Planned Parenthood? It is time to say
no more. The time has come to respect the wishes of a vast majority of
Americans who adamantly oppose giving taxpayer dollars for abortion.
That is why I support this amendment, Mr. Chairman, and that is why I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I'm new to this body but I was just
elected to the Congress of the United States and what I heard during
the course of my campaign is the urgency to get people back to work, to
strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to deal with the
deficit. We've just spent the last 3 hours under the cloak of deficit
reduction. My friends on the other side of the aisle have pushed this
very extreme amendment, which is targeting women's health care and
women's health care providers. This ideological attack comes at the
expense of our Nation's women. It's an attack on health centers and
will put the lives of millions of women at risk--millions of women who
seek and receive health care at Planned Parenthood centers all around
this country.
Every year, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses carry out nearly 1
million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer and 830,000 breast
exams. Its health centers provide contraception to nearly 2.5 million
patients, and nearly 4 million patients are treated for sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV.
{time} 2340
Planned Parenthood provides preventative health care, and that
represents 90 percent of its work. We already have a Federal
prohibition of using Federal funds for abortion. Not a single penny
intended or targeted by this amendment is used to terminate a
pregnancy.
What we should be talking about is getting the American people back
to work: creating jobs, responsibly dealing with our deficit, and doing
everything we can to strengthen the middle class. That's what we were
sent here to do. That's what we should be doing.
I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment so that we can get back
to the important business of putting Americans back to work.
[[Page H1173]]
I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I'll bet the American people
are really surprised tonight because we are debating a continuing
resolution when they are facing tremendous challenges. We should be
thinking about them and about the challenges they face. We should be
talking, as my colleague has said, about how to save money and about
how to create jobs. Instead, we are debating an amendment that will do
neither. It will undermine women's health.
This amendment denies women access to reproductive care, and it
attacks the health providers that they rely on in their communities.
These are health providers that are serving the underserved, and we are
spending the evening attacking them.
Planned Parenthood plays a critical role in our Nation's health care
system. We know that. These clinics help over 3 million Americans every
year. More than 90 percent of the care they provide is preventative.
``Preventative.'' What does that mean? We have many physicians here.
What does that mean, ``preventative care''? ``Preventative care'' means
that men and women do not have to go through more costly procedures and
even that their lives can be saved.
One in five American women has been to a Planned Parenthood health
center for services like breast cancer screenings and cervical cancer
screenings. We talked about all of that this evening.
I cannot let San Diego families lose these valuable services. I will
not let that happen, because I know that, when women have better access
to these services, it leads to healthier outcomes for both the women
and their children. But this amendment proposes to cut these services
under the guise somehow of being fiscally responsible. That's not true.
What I know about my State of California is that title X-supported
centers saved $581,890,000 in public funds in 2008 alone.
So let's talk about saving money. Let's talk about creating jobs.
Let's not talk about constricting women's access to health care. Vote
``no'' on the Pence amendment.
Mr. CICILLINE. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Tennessee is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. This has been a good debate this evening. Mr.
Chairman, I want to thank you for the time you have allowed this body
to stand and have this debate. There has been a lot said. A couple of
things, I think, do need to be corrected.
Mr. Chair, we are thinking about the American taxpayer, and we are
thinking about our responsibility to the taxpayer. This is not a debate
about a vendetta; this is not a debate about Planned Parenthood; this
is not a debate about something that is extreme. What this is tonight
is a debate about our stewardship and our responsibility to the
American people.
Our discussion tonight--and I thank Mr. Pence for his leadership on
this--is how we fund this government in a responsible manner and how we
get this government back on track. The taxpayers are weighing in.
They're reminding us that we, the Members of the House, are the keepers
of the purse of this great Nation, and that it is important that we
have these discussions. They want us to do it respectfully; they want
us to do it responsibly; and they want us to make wise decisions.
Quite frankly, Mr. Chairman, to give $363 million in taxpayer funds
to an organization that has not conducted itself in a manner that
suggests it deserves those funds is not respectful of the taxpayer.
I want to go back to what Mr. Pence said at the beginning of the
debate, that this is a debate about who pays. No one is saying that
Planned Parenthood has to stop operating or has to stop being an
advocate for abortion. What we are saying is that the American taxpayer
should not have to foot the bill, especially for an organization that
is facing criminal charges, that has admitted wrongdoing, and that is
accused of endangering the safety of Americans. The American taxpayers
should not have to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on this.
I encourage my colleagues to stand for appropriate stewardship of the
taxpayer dollars and to support and vote ``yes'' on the Pence
amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. GARAMENDI. I had not intended to get into this particular debate.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Reserving the right to object, we had an
agreement. I thought that this would end the debate, and I would hope
that that agreement could be agreed to.
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my
opposition to the Pence amendment and efforts to eliminate the Title X
family planning program.
Title X funding has connected millions of American women with
essential health care since it was created forty years ago.
Given that federal funds, including those provided through Title X
funding, are already banned from being used for abortion service, the
real impact of this proposal is that over 5 million Americans will lose
access to health care services--including important preventive care,
such as cancer screenings, annual exams, and contraception.
This is a time when we should be focused on creating jobs, helping
middle-class families, and encouraging innovation, not restricting
access to health care for millions of Americans.
Thank you Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose these efforts to
eliminate Title X funding.
Mr. LANDRY. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the Pence amendment
to prevent funds going to Planned Parenthood.
I've heard from many of my colleagues that this amendment defunds
many necessary women's health services.
Let me be clear we must expand access to care for women in this
country; however, abortion is not health care.
The Planned Parenthood website states, ``Our primary goal is
prevention--reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, especially
the alarmingly high number of teenage pregnancies, in the United
States.'' Abortion is not a method of preventing unintended
pregnancies; abortion takes lives that have already began.
We must not continue to support institutions that take unnecessary
risks with the lives of young women and institutions that have been
proven to be irresponsible with taxpayer dollars, have failed to report
statutory rape, and have been caught aiding and abetting sex
trafficking.
The thousands of taxpayers who do not condone the slaughter of
innocent lives, many of my constituents on the coast of Louisiana, know
that they deserve better than to support corrupt organizations.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment without hesitation.
Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the C.R. put
forward by the Republican majority, and specifically to the defunding
of Title X family planning programs, authorized under the Public Health
Service Act. Started in 1970 by President Nixon, Title X funding
provides for voluntary family planning projects, and is essential to
protecting women's health services.
Currently, Title X is our nation's only program dedicated to
providing low-income Americans with family planning and reproductive
health services. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
attempting to misconstrue Title X as federal subsidizing of abortion.
However, Title X does not provide for abortion services. But it does
cover essential health care for millions of families and women.
From birth control to cancer screenings, approximately 5 million
Americans rely upon Title X programs every year. In my hometown of
Sacramento, I hear from women who tell me that if community health
centers--like Planned Parenthood--close they would have nowhere else to
go.
I also hear from health care providers, who tell me that if the local
Planned Parenthood closes, they would not be able to absorb their
patients.
For women who are unemployed or underemployed, often times they lack
quality health coverage. That means that preventive health measures
like cervical cancer screenings are financially unfeasible, so they
turn to community health centers that receive Title X funding.
It means that care for pregnant women, who should deserve the best
possible pre-natal care for their babies feel like they cannot afford
to go to the doctor as often as they need to. So they turn to community
health centers that receive Title X funding.
It means that young women, who are scared to talk to their parents
about their sexual health, who want to seek out birth control and
contraceptive measures, often before they become sexually active, but
feel like they can't see their family doctor, turn to community health
centers that receive Title X funding.
[[Page H1174]]
For all of these women, community health centers are their sole
source of medical care. We simply cannot afford to cut the lifesaving
and preventive care services for those who would not otherwise have
access to such care, especially in our current economic climate.
Study after study shows that preventive care makes a healthier
person. Preventive care creates healthier outcomes throughout one's
life. And preventive care helps reduce health care costs, and will
result in a healthier nation--both fiscally and physically.
Recently, I heard from one of my constituents, a woman named Cathy,
who has been a health educator for the past 13 years. She started her
teaching career at Planned Parenthood under Title X funded grants.
Cathy said, ``Without knowledge and preventative services, we are bound
to accrue more expenses in reactive verses pro-active measures . . .''
The House version of the FY11 Continuing Resolution would cut millions
of American women off from birth control, cancer screenings, HIV tests,
and other lifesaving care.
This outrageous attack would have a devastating impact on the women,
men, and teens in our community. For the thousands of women in
Sacramento, who depend on the services that community health centers
that Title X supports, I urge my colleagues to vote against this
harmful amendment. The defending of these vital health programs
contained in the C.R. will devastate women's health for generations to
come. Increased costs, unintended pregnancies, and spikes in sexually
transmitted diseases, would all be consequences of stripping this
critical funding.
Millions of young women, all around this country are looking to their
leaders in Congress for leadership. It is my hope that this body acts
in their interests, and the interests of their families. We must not
cut off their only access to medical care.
I once again urge my colleagues to vote against this irresponsible
amendment. As a mother and a grandmother, I find it offensive, and
shameful.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to the
amendment offered by Congressman Pence.
Congressman Pence's amendment is a threat to women's health. It would
prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds. As a
result, Planned Parenthood would be disqualified from receiving Title X
family-planning grants and other health related program funds.
Much of the cuts in H.R. 1 target the most vulnerable among us--the
poor, children, young adults, and now women. We are a diverse country
with good people on all sides of an issue, including abortion. I know
this amendment strikes at a favorite target of the anti-choice group.
Sadly, in pushing their anti-choice agenda, tens of thousands of women
in our country will be denied health care services that have nothing to
do with abortion.
The vast majority of Planned Parenthood's medical services are
related to contraception, testing and treatment for sexually
transmitted infections, cancer screening, and other services like
pregnancy tests and infertility treatment. Abortion services comprise
only 3 percent of the medical care Planned Parenthood provides. Federal
law already prohibits Title X funds from being used for abortion
services. It is important to point out that there are no known
violations of this law. Despite any claims to the contrary, the Pence
amendment is clearly a direct attack on women's preventive health care.
Congressman Pence goes out of his way to name specific Planned
Parenthood entities in his amendment that should not be funded,
including Planned Parenthood Hawaii. I would like to share with the
Congressman and this body my views on how Planned Parenthood Hawaii has
helped women and their families.
In Hawaii, there are three Planned Parenthood centers, one in
Honolulu on the island of Oahu, one in Kahului on the island of Maui,
and one in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii. Together, those three
centers:
Served 7,835 patients.
Provided 2,582 cervical cancer screenings that detected 321 abnormal
results that required further diagnosis and treatment.
Provided 2,705 breast exams.
Conducted 3,346 tests for chlamydia--the leading cause of preventable
infertility--that resulted in 172 positive results and follow-up
treatment.
By eliminating funding for the Title X Family Planning Program, the
Planned Parenthood Clinic in Kailua-Kona may have to close its doors.
That center is one of the only dedicated sexual and reproductive health
clinics on the island. The centers on Maui and Oahu would be forced to
reduce their clinic hours.
The Pence amendment eliminates a safety net program that provides
family planning services and lifesaving preventive care to 3 million
Americans every year. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposition to
this amendment.
Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much).
Mr. GARAMENDI. I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana will
be postponed.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. 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.
Westmoreland) having assumed the chair, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Acting
Chair 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. 1) making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the
other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes, had come to no
resolution thereon.
____________________