[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 21 (Monday, February 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S837-S839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 130

  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, thank you.
  In a few minutes, the U.S. Senate is going to have an opportunity to 
condemn infanticide. One hundred U.S. Senators are going to have an 
opportunity to unanimously say the most basic thing imaginable, and 
that is that it is wrong to kill a little newborn baby. Every Senator 
will have the opportunity to stand for human dignity, to stand for the 
belief that in this country all of us are created equal, because if 
that equality means anything, surely it means that infanticide is 
wrong.
  Frankly, this shouldn't be hard. Politicians come to this floor every 
single day and talk about how they care for the poorest or the weakest 
or the most marginalized members of our society. In recent weeks, I 
have heard it stated this way in powerful, eloquent, and, from some 
ambitious Senators, very clear terms about human dignity.
  One of my distinguished colleagues recently on the campaign trail 
declared rightly ``that the people in our society who are the most 
often targeted by predators are also most often the voiceless and the 
vulnerable.'' Amen to that.
  Another Democratic Senator seeking the Presidency said they seek to 
``build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind.'' 
Amen to that.
  Giving words of hope and encouragement, a third Senator reminded us 
that ``no matter where you live in America . . . you deserve a path to 
opportunity.'' Amen to that.
  A fourth continued that this individual was committed ``to fight for 
other people's kids as hard as I would fight for my own.'' Yet again, 
Amen.
  But, sadly, in the last week, these beautiful and inspiring words 
have been choked out by the ugliness and the cruelty from another 
public official. In Virginia, disgraced Governor Ralph Northam 
tarnished the American idea of equality under law. He betrayed the 
universal truth of human dignity, and he turned the stomachs of 
civilized people, not just in this country but in every country on 
Earth.
  Governor Northam endorsed infanticide. He said:

       The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be 
     resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family 
     desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the 
     physicians and the mother.

  This was the quote--that the infant would be kept comfortable and 
resuscitated if that is what the mom and doctors wanted to do, and then 
they could have a debate about what to do next. He was literally 
talking about allowing space and time for a discussion about 
infanticide--no euphemisms or weasel words there. Infants can be kept 
comfortable and resuscitated, and baby girls could be left cold and 
alone to die.
  Just a few years ago, the abortion lobby was really clear in its talk 
about hoping that abortion would be safe and legal, but rare. This was 
the slogan. Abortion would be ``safe, legal, and rare.'' Now we are 
talking about keeping a baby comfortable while the doctors have a 
debate about infanticide. That is what we are talking about here on the 
floor tonight. We are not talking about second-trimester abortion. We 
are not having some big, complicated discussion about a mother's 
reproductive freedom. As important as all of those debates are, we are 
actually talking about babies that have been born.
  The only debate on the floor tonight is about infanticide. The 
abortion industry's PR army couldn't defend this. Many in the national 
media decided to overlook it, but none of us in this body can escape 
it. What we are talking about on the Senate floor tonight is 
infanticide.
  Instead of saying he misspoke and instead of offering an apology, the 
Governor of Virginia decided to double down on the ugliness and 
cruelty. This is not about a clump of cells. This is about fourth-
trimester abortion. That is actually what we are talking about here 
tonight.
  Governor Northam is a disgraced coward, and he has such an abysmally 
low belief of human dignity that he couldn't say this basic truth: It 
is wrong to let babies who have been born die. He couldn't say it.
  This isn't about Republicans and Democrats. We are way beyond that. 
Everyone in the Senate ought to be able to say unequivocally that the 
little baby deserves life, that she has rights, and that killing her is 
wrong. Tonight every Member of this body has that chance.
  The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act prohibits exactly 
the kind of infanticide Governor Northam was endorsing. That is it. It 
is based on the simple idea that every baby deserves a fighting chance. 
It is a simple idea that every human being is an image bearer. Even the 
weakest and most marginalized among us is no less human, and every one 
of us has a moral obligation to defend the defenseless.
  It is my understanding that some of my Democratic colleagues are 
prepared to object tonight. I humbly say that I don't understand why, 
and I beg you from the bottom of my heart not to do so.
  Please don't betray the ideals that have been so eloquently 
expressed. Please don't reduce truths to an empty campaign slogan, and 
please don't take the principle of dignity and equality this cheaply.
  There are two sides of the debate on the floor tonight. You are 
either for babies or you are defending infanticide. That is actually 
what the legislation is before us.
  Please don't block this legislation. Please don't let Governor 
Northam define you. Don't let an extremist pro-abortion lobby and 
pledge hold you hostage. Please don't protect infanticide.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the 
Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 130 and that 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I ask unanimous 
consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and 
that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). Is there objection?
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we have laws against infanticide in this 
country. This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of 
the bill that is being asked to be considered, and, therefore, I 
object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. SASSE. With all due respect, Mr. President----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. SASSE. To the Senator from Washington, the bill we are talking 
about before this body tonight is because New York and Virginia--New 
York already and Virginia in debate--are having a conversation about 
removing exactly these protections. This debate is about infanticide 
and infanticide only, and this is a sad day for this body.
  It shouldn't be controversial to say that a newborn child deserves to 
be treated with dignity and humanity. It shouldn't be difficult to say 
that babies who survive an abortion shouldn't be left to die cold and 
alone on that table.
  I am sad, but I am not discouraged. I am actually encouraged by the 
strong group of Senators who cosponsored this legislation and who have 
come to the floor to support it tonight, and I am encouraged by the 
millions and millions and millions of pro-life Americans who continue 
to speak the truth in love. There is legislative work we need to do, 
but, far more importantly, in the movement for love and life and 
science and little babies, what we need to have happen is a lot more 
persuasion and a lot more conversation with our neighbors. A number of 
my colleagues on the floor tonight are prepared to do just that, and I 
look forward to listening to their eloquent and love-based, science-
based speech.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I rise today very, very disheartened, and I 
do want to thank the junior Senator from Nebraska for having this very 
difficult discussion on the floor of the Senate.

[[Page S838]]

  As my colleague from Nebraska was speaking, I felt a tightness in my 
chest. I am a mom. I have been through childbirth, and I can't imagine 
anyone taking my child, setting her aside, and then having a discussion 
on whether she should live or die. I can't imagine that. I can't 
imagine, after having such a precious thing as a child brought into the 
world, having these odious discussions of whether she should live. I 
can't imagine putting a baby through that.
  So I am disheartened and I am absolutely appalled by the debate we 
have in front of us--a debate I would have once considered unfathomable 
on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
  Many have often referred to this as the world's greatest deliberative 
body, but let me be clear, folks. There is nothing great, there is 
nothing moral or even humane about the discussion we have before us 
today.
  Over the past week, we have witnessed the absolutely ugly truth about 
the far-reaching grasp of the abortion industry and its increasingly 
radicalized political agenda. Politicians have not only defended 
aborting a child while a woman is in labor but have gone so far as to 
support the termination of a child after his or her birth--a child--a 
baby.
  Rationality, decency, and basic human compassion have fallen by the 
wayside. Somehow this conversation has devolved so completely that a 
bill prohibiting the murder of children who are born alive--a bill that 
simply prohibits infanticide--has tonight been blocked on the floor of 
the Senate. We have moved beyond all common sense, and this body can no 
longer unanimously condemn murder. We face a moral crisis when this 
body refuses to acknowledge the repugnancy and savagery of infanticide.
  This assault on human dignity cannot stand. I urge my colleagues to 
set aside their partisanship and, instead, defend the most basic values 
of compassion and decency that should define our society. We can and we 
must do better, folks.
  Again, I thank the junior Senator from the great State of Nebraska 
for his leadership on this issue, and I call on my colleagues to bring 
this commonsense legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. I also 
implore my colleagues.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. 130, which I am 
proud to cosponsor. This legislation would ensure that healthcare 
providers treat babies who have been born alive, after failed abortion 
attempts, with the same care they would treat any other baby born at 
the same stage of pregnancy.
  I also thank the Senator from Nebraska for his leadership on this 
issue and for bringing this issue to the floor.
  In one sense, it is very hard to imagine this legislation is even 
necessary in the United States of America. In the 21st century, when, 
every day, new, advanced technologies bring new revelations about the 
wonders of human life, it is hard to fathom the extremism of the 
politicians in New York and now in Virginia who would deny the 
protections of law to the most vulnerable members of our society--the 
innocent unborn--and allow them to be aborted, allow them to be killed 
right up to the moment of birth. It is hard to comprehend statements 
like those of Ralph Northam's, the Virginia Governor, who said that if 
he had his way, infants who survived abortion attempts would be 
delivered and kept comfortable--that is his word--while the doctors and 
the parents decided their fate. Is this really what it has come to in 
the United States? Is this really the social vision of today's 
Democratic Party? Frankly, I can't imagine a vision less just or less 
consistent with the goodness and compassion of the American people.
  In another sense, perhaps we should not be so surprised. After all, 
the cruelty and extremism that has been advocated by a growing number 
of Democratic politicians made up the conventional wisdom for much of 
recorded history.
  We often hail the ancient Greeks as the founders of democracy, but, 
of course, most of the Greeks believed that most humans were born to be 
slaves and that their lives were utterly worthless. Oh, they had a 
democracy, of course, but it was the democracy of the few ruling over 
the many.
  The Romans took the same view. They kept most of their subjects in 
chains. They infamously killed children they didn't want and left them 
to be exposed on hillsides or in deserted places. The Romans had a 
republic, but citizenship was for the few. The strong ruled. Most 
lives, they thought, didn't matter.
  This has been the general rule of the ages. The Aztecs, the Mayans, 
the Incas all practiced child sacrifice. Archaeologists recently 
discovered a burial ground dated to the tomb of the empire in Peru 
where more than 140 children were dismembered in a ritual of sacrifice. 
So it has gone down through the years. The strong prey upon the weak. 
The few rule the many. Individual lives don't count.
  We here in the United States of America hold to a different 
conviction. Our Constitution was written and the whole edifice of 
American liberty depends on a very different belief, on a belief that 
is as simple as it is powerful--that every life matters. We believe and 
it is our pride to believe that every person has dignity and worth--
worth that is not given to one by the strong or the rich, that does not 
come to one from the State or the city, that does not depend on place 
of birth or social status, but is one's by right because of who one 
is--a human being created in the image of the living God.
  That is our faith, and against the drift of history, it is a 
revolutionary creed. It is a creed that inspired the early Christians 
to rescue those infants the Romans left to die and to bring them up to 
be free. It led them to found hospitals and schools and, later, 
universities on the supposition that all people should be cared for, 
that all could learn, and that all could govern themselves. It is a 
creed that has brought down empires and raised up the forgotten.
  It is the faith of our Constitution and of our whole way of life. 
Yes, we have struggled to realize it in this Nation. We have struggled 
to make it real, and we have fallen short many times, but this struggle 
for this faith defines our history and binds us together as Americans, 
and this faith is again at issue in our time.
  I know some are tempted, when they see this rising tide of barbarism 
and cruelty, to feel despair, but I do not. I think of the words of 
Lincoln, who spoke of the unfinished work of this Nation, and I take 
courage that all of these years later, we are a revolutionary nation 
still.
  So we must press forward in this generation for our revolutionary 
faith. Let us not go back to the darkness and cruelty of the past. Let 
us not go back to the arbitrary rule of the powerful and the few. Let 
us affirm again our founding belief in the equal worth and equal 
dignity of all. As we do, we will do our part for liberty and justice 
in our day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, the Senate often does things by 
unanimous consent in areas in which there is really no common 
disagreement. This body will do a unanimous consent to congratulate the 
New England Patriots for winning the Super Bowl, and, unanimously, all 
of us will agree to congratulate them. Yet, today, the Senator from 
Nebraska brought up a very straightforward, simple bill: Do we as a 
nation permit infanticide?
  For some reason, the New England Patriots is noncontroversial, but 
the death of children at their deliveries is controversial enough that 
my Democratic colleagues are blocking it. It is not some fancy, formal 
bill with a trick piece in it; it is a very simple, straightforward 
bill. Occasionally, an abortion is botched, and while they are actually 
trying to take the life of a child, the child is actually delivered. At 
that moment, the child is delivered and is on the table, crying, and 
the question is, Now what do we do?
  Current medical practice is to back away from the child and allow him 
to die slowly on the table because there was supposed to have been an 
abortion, although the child was fully delivered and was on the table, 
with the umbilical cord attached, crying. It doesn't seem like this 
should be controversial; it seems like this should be as 
straightforward as congratulating the Patriots for winning the Super 
Bowl. How can we as Americans say no to a fully delivered child's life?

[[Page S839]]

  The question about abortion has been historically a question about, 
when does life begin? I am one of those crazy radicals who actually 
believe in science. I think, when cell division is occurring and when 
DNA is there that is different from the mom's and different from the 
dad's, that it is actually a different human being--a smaller human 
being but a different human being. That is what everyone in science 
believes. That child who is developing is alive. The day of his birth 
is just another day. Now, it is a pretty traumatic day for him to 
transition from being inside the womb to the outside, but birth is just 
another day of life for that child because he is fully developed. He 
was developing in the womb, and he is developing outside the womb. 
Every single person who can hear this has had the exact same experience 
of developing in the womb.
  This seemed like a commonsense issue until the legislators in the 
State of New York, a few weeks ago, stood and cheered and applauded 
when they passed a bill for third-trimester abortions. These are ultra-
late-term abortions. This is a fully viable child abortion.
  Let me review quickly what the State of New York did. There are only 
four countries in the world that allow late-term abortions. There are 
only four left--North Korea, China, Vietnam, and the United States. 
Those in the New York Legislature stood and cheered that they are in 
the middle of the human rights-depraved nations of China, North Korea, 
and Vietnam. That is at 24 weeks and on. At 20 weeks, there is still 
Canada and the Netherlands and Singapore that are left, but by 24 
weeks, at that late-term, Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore drop 
off. They say: No, we are out. That is a fully viable child. Yet those 
in the New York Legislature stood and applauded.
  It got one-upped in Virginia last week as the Governor of Virginia 
explained Virginia's late-term abortion bill as one-upping New York's. 
He said, in Virginia's bill, in his words, this is how it would work. 
If children have deformities, however that is defined, or for the 
mental or physical health, however they want to define that because 
there was no definition, they would deliver the child, make him 
comfortable, resuscitate the child if the mother wants, and then would 
discuss what to do with the child.
  It is not enough for the State of New York to applaud late-term 
abortions and join North Korea, China, and Vietnam as the only places 
on Earth to allow this. No. The Virginia Democrats had to go one more 
and say: Let's deliver the children and then discuss it based on their 
deformities.
  Back to the Super Bowl conversation, one of the most popular 
commercials in the Super Bowl was for a gaming system that showed kids 
with disabilities who played a video game just like other kids, except 
now they want to decide at those children's births whether to just take 
their lives then. How in the world can we as a culture run a television 
commercial and say: That kid is just like that kid. Look, they play 
games just alike. But when they are little, let's deliver them and 
discuss it and figure out what we want to do.
  This is infanticide. This is not about pro-life and pro-choice; this 
is pro-humanity. To get to the point at which we are discussing whether 
children live or die based on what they look like at birth and then, if 
they don't quite look right, we will take those lives is inhumane and 
is beneath us as a society. I cannot fathom the discussion that we are 
having on the floor of the U.S. Senate as to whether a fully delivered 
child lives or dies or discuss what happens during a botched abortion 
when a child is fully delivered. It used to be that my Democratic 
colleagues said life begins at birth. Now, apparently, it is not at 
birth anymore; it is unknown when life actually begins because it is a 
discussion we are going to have at their births now.
  How can we block this bill? How can this, of all things, not bring 
unanimous consent? It is inhumane.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I came here mostly to support my colleagues 
and to actually listen for an objection to a bill like this. For the 
short time I have been here, what a rude awakening as to what can 
happen.
  Everything I have heard here makes sense, and I would just ask for 
the citizens across this country and for Hoosiers to weigh in. Let your 
Senators know that this is a step too far when something like this 
occurs in this Chamber, when it is crystallized so simply. You are 
either for or against infanticide, and I never imagined I would be 
seeing this so early in my tenure here. I ask for the folks across this 
country to make their voices heard because this is a tragedy that has 
happened.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, this is gross, what has happened here 
tonight. We should pass this by unanimous consent. If we continue being 
unable to pass it by unanimous consent, a lot of us are going to 
continue to fight for a rollcall vote because it is the right thing to 
do. Those little babies aren't Republicans or Democrats; they are 
babies. They need protection from all of us.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________