[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 143 (Thursday, October 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO MAKE CORRECTIONS 
                     IN THE ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 719

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 30, 2015

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H. 
Con. Res. 79, which seeks to add language to the underlying Continuing 
Resolution before it is sent to the President to eliminate federal 
funding for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for one year.
  H. Con. Res. 79 is nothing more than a political exercise in 
futility, and yet another attempt to appease extremists in the 
Republican Conference who are determined to limit women's access to 
critical health care services.
  This concurrent resolution is substantively identical to both the 
language in H.R. 3134, which the House has already passed and the 
Senate has refused to consider, and the Continuing Resolution that was 
rejected by a bipartisan majority of 47 to 52 in the Senate last week. 
With just hours left to pass legislation to keep our government open, 
we should not be hindering access to women's health care.
  Mr. Speaker, opposition to these political gimmicks is not limited to 
Democrats in Congress. Earlier this week the fight over defunding 
Planned Parenthood and similar scuffles facilitated by fringe elements 
of the Republican party lead to the resignation of the Speaker of the 
House, and has divided the Republican conference so fervently that we 
can again expect a very real threat of a government shutdown in 
December.
  The reality is, the Continuing Resolution we are currently 
considering does not provide one cent of federal funding for Planned 
Parenthood, as my Republican friend Representative Tom Cole, Chairman 
of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, 
Education and Related Agencies, astutely points out. Knowing this, I am 
both bewildered and outraged that we are using precious time 
considering another bill designed to restrict the constitutional 
reproductive rights of women to satisfy the extreme political agenda of 
a few in Congress.
  Planned Parenthood has long served as a critical health safety net 
for millions of men and women. Over 90 percent of the services it 
provides are preventative in nature, including cancer screenings, 
testing for sexually transmitted infections, and family planning 
services. Indeed, each year Planned Parenthood centers provide an 
average of 400,000 cervical cancer screenings, 500,000 breast cancer 
screenings, and nearly 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually 
transmitted infections. Defunding this important organization and its 
affiliates would do an immeasurable disservice to millions of 
Americans.
  Like it or not, the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade conferred 
upon women the right to do with their own bodies what they determine 
best until the point of viability. This decision acknowledges the 
notion that the choice to have an abortion is excruciatingly difficult, 
and belongs exclusively with a woman, in consultation with her doctor 
and god. To subject this right to the ideological whims of politicians 
flies in the face of years of Supreme Court jurisprudence and is an 
unconscionable affront to women's health.

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