[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1599-H1600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     QUESTION OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of personal 
privilege.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chaffetz). The Chair has been made aware 
of a valid basis for the gentlewoman's point of personal privilege.
  The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an attack on my 
integrity and my reputation.
  Last week, Representative Darrell Issa, the chairman of the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform, on which I have served for many 
years, gave an interview to a newspaper in San Diego. The story was 
published on March 21, and it quoted the gentleman as accusing me of 
lying, knowingly and intentionally, during a hearing that was held 
before the Oversight Committee on February 16.
  That hearing received a significant amount of public attention 
because it addressed the issue of insurance for reproductive health 
care, yet included no witness testifying on behalf of the tens of 
millions of women across this country who seek access to coverage for 
reproductive health and contraception.
  I certainly understand that Members on both sides of the aisle have 
different viewpoints on this issue, and I'm not here to discuss the 
underlying policy differences we may have.
  Today I ask from Mr. Issa the same commitment I ask of myself, to 
always strive to hear from all sides of a debate without resorting to 
name-calling or attacks on the personal integrity of others. Even when 
we disagree with what others might say, we have an obligation to listen 
to them and respect their viewpoints.
  I am sure there are some who will accuse me of using these remarks to 
merely revisit the contraception issue. To the contrary, I am 
responding to statements published just last week by the gentleman from 
California, his arguments regarding my actions.
  In his recent interview on the hearing, Mr. Issa said this, to be 
absolutely clear, and I quote:

       Carolyn Maloney then made the famous statement, Where are 
     the women? That was an outright lie, and she knew it when she 
     said it.

  First of all, I would like to point out that what I actually offered 
was an outright question. I asked it as I sat there looking directly at 
an all-male panel, the panel that you see in this now-famous picture. 
It is a picture that I believe is worth a thousand words.
  And as I look at this picture again, my question is as pertinent and 
legitimate today as it was back then. Look at this picture and tell me, 
Where are the women? If you can point to one woman on this first panel, 
then I will happily withdraw and offer my apologies to Mr. Issa.
  Just to make sure we have my question in context, let me repeat 
remarks that I made that morning that Mr. Issa and some found so 
objectionable. I said, and I quote:

       What I want to know is, Where are the women? I look at this 
     panel, and I don't see one single individual representing the 
     tens of millions of women across this country who want and 
     need insurance coverage for basic preventive health care 
     services, including family planning and contraception. Where 
     are the women?

  I still maintain, without fear of any contradiction, there is no one 
on this panel who is a woman, or who represents the tens of millions of 
women who want and need insurance basic coverage for family planning.
  Now, if Mr. Issa believes or tries to argue that that statement is 
somehow false because there were two women witnesses who appeared later 
that day on a second and separate panel, I would draw his attention to 
the fact that those witnesses were not there to represent the woman's 
point of view that is upheld primarily by the Democratic Party on this 
particular issue.

                              {time}  1430

  Those Republican-appointed witnesses were there only to represent the 
interests of institutions. So even in surveying both panels, I don't 
see one single individual representing the tens of millions of women 
across this country who want and need insurance coverage for basic 
preventive health care services, including family planning.
  In conclusion, I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, rising for a point 
of personal privilege is sometimes accompanied by a call for a personal 
apology. Earlier today, Mr. Issa apologized to me, and he sent me this 
letter just an hour or two ago. I am encouraged by his actions, and I 
accept his apology.
  In the fallout of that unfortunate hearing, women were called far 
worse than liars. I know what I said that day, and I know it to be 
true. But I do think the Democratic witness, Sandra Fluke, and the 
women of America are owed an apology, an apology for denying them a 
voice, an apology for denying them a seat at the table. It was wrong 
then, and it is wrong each time that it happens. And it is especially 
wrong when women's health, women's lives, and women's rights are being 
discussed. And to cavalierly dismiss or deny that fact does greater 
damage to the fabric of democracy than words can ever redress.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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