[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 3, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H315-H318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ROE V. WADE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Jacobs of California). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks on the topic of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, before yielding to my good 
friend and colleague, there are a number of Members who will be making 
their way over here. We do have an important caucus going on, on the 
Republican side, and that caucus is very intense; but we will have 
Members coming.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. 
Hartzler), my good friend and colleague, who has been a big leader in 
the pro-life movement.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. It 
is an honor to work with him and to stand with him and some of the 
colleagues for life--for the unborn.
  Madam Speaker, today, I rise to remember 62\1/2\ million children who 
have lost their lives at the hands of abortionists. It has been 48 
years since the passage of Roe v. Wade, and our children continue to 
suffer and die by the millions. It is unfathomable.
  We know many of these children perished in the most horrendous and 
brutal of ways. The pain must have been excruciating, yet we are still 
failing to hear their cries. The single most-effective life-saving 
protection to stopping the spread of this scourge is the Hyde 
Amendment.
  Over 2.4 million children are alive today because of Hyde's 
protections, which prevents taxpayer dollars from going to pay directly 
for abortions. We know the Hyde Amendment can't save every life, but it 
can and it has saved many. Yet this limitation on Federal funds is the 
number one target for many of my colleagues. Eliminating Hyde 
protection will cause more child deaths, not less.
  Madam Speaker, I also rise today to remember women like Keisha Marie 
Atkins and Jamie Morales, who died as a result of the abortion 
procedure. I also remember the women who mourn the loss of their 
babies, who suffer physical, emotional, and spiritual trauma from their 
abortions. I remember abortion-seeking women today who are offered 
hopelessness and death and unsanitized, dirty, and subpar clinics when 
they should be offered hope, prenatal care, and life for the baby 
inside.
  Today is a day of remembrance. So let us not forget the women and 
children who have suffered and perished from abortion. Let us hear 
their cry and silence them no more.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
her remarks.
  Madam Speaker, tonight is really an appeal--an appeal to my 
colleagues. It is a cry for survival and justice for unborn baby girls 
and boys. Unborn children need the President of the United States and 
all of us to be their friend and advocate, not powerful adversaries.
  In his inaugural speech, President Biden said: ``The dream of justice 
for all will be deferred no longer.'' He spoke of ``a cry for survival 
from the planet itself. A cry that can't be any more desperate.''
  I--we--believe the dream of justice for all cannot be achieved if an 
entire segment of society is legally ignored and legally discriminated 
against because of where they live, in their mother's womb, and how 
small and unbelievably defenseless they really are.
  We know the President understands this. He gets it--or at least he 
once did. Years ago, then-Senator Biden wrote to a constituent 
explaining his support for a law against funding for abortion, and he 
said it would ``protect both the woman and her unborn child.''
  Senator Biden said, ``I have consistently, on no fewer than 50 
occasions, voted against Federal funding for abortions.'' He went on to 
say, ``Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled 
to pay for them.''
  My colleagues on the floor and Americans all across the country agree 
with that. Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be 
compelled to pay for them. According to public opinion polls, most 
Americans,--60 percent, according to the most recent Marist Poll--agree 
that taxpayers should not be compelled to fund abortion.
  Madam Speaker, lives have been saved by the Hyde Amendment. More than 
20 peer-reviewed studies show that more than 20 million people are 
alive today in the United States because of the Hyde Amendment, with 
almost 60,000 children spared death by abortion each and every year.
  Madam Speaker, over 2 million people who would have been aborted, 
instead, survived because public funds were unavailable to effectuate 
their violent demise; and their mothers, instead, benefited from 
maternal and prenatal healthcare and support. As we all know, the 
science of human development has not changed and, thanks to ultrasound, 
unborn babies are now more visible than ever.
  As we all know--my wife and I are grandparents--with each new child 
our children given birth to, our daughters and daughters-in-law, the 
first pictures we see, the first pictures we put on the refrigerator 
are ultrasound pictures. The first movies we see, the videos are of 
that ultrasound of that child sucking his or her thumb, doing 
somersaults, having great activity that will be great activity when 
they are born, as well.
  Madam Speaker, it was Abby Johnson who quit as a Planned Parenthood 
director in Texas when she was told she had to assist in an ultrasound-
guided abortion. And when she saw that child in realtime literally 
ripped and shredded and then sucked out of the womb by the suction 
machine, she walked out of that abortion clinic and has never gone 
back. She is now a very powerful and articulate spokeswoman for the 
right-to-life cause. Her book ``Unplanned,'' I recommend it. It is a 
book that changes hearts. She was on the other side for years, so much 
so that she was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic. Yet when 
she saw the deed itself, the dismemberment of that child, she walked 
out, and walked out forever.

  The same goes for guys, abortionists like Bernard Nathanson, who 
said, Once you see that ultrasound--and he was one of the founders of 
NARAL, a very large abortion rights organization. He said, ``I have 
come to the agonizing conclusion that I presided over 60,000 deaths.'' 
And he, too, became a pro-lifer. An ultrasound and prenatal surgery 
where the babies were treated as patients, not as a being, to be 
extinguished or exterminated changed his mind.
  Madam Speaker, growing numbers of Americans are shocked that the 
methods of abortion include dismemberment. They include the literal 
decapitation of this helpless child. And, of course, drugs like RU-486 
starve the baby to death before he or she is then forcibly expelled 
from the womb.
  Madam Speaker, the multibillion-dollar abortion industry is very 
clever, and they cleverly market to savagery of choice while going to 
extraordinary lengths to ignore, trivialize, and cover up the battered 
baby victim.
  Madam Speaker, abortion violence must be replaced with compassion and 
empathy for women and for defenseless unborn babies. We must love them 
both. Birth is an event that happens to all of us. It is not the 
beginning of life. That child is just as vibrant before birth as after, 
just too big to continue inside the womb.

[[Page H316]]

  Sadly, more than 62 million babies have been killed by abortion in 
the United States since Roe v. Wade, a loss of children's lives that 
equates with the entire population of Italy. I truly believe that 
someday future generations of Americans will look back on us like we 
look back on people who did other things in previous centuries, in 
years back, and wonder how and why a society that prided itself on 
human rights could have effectuated and enabled the loss of so many 
defenseless babies--62 million and counting.

                              {time}  1815

  Madam Speaker, last week, President Biden overturned the Protecting 
Life in Global Health Assistance policy, the Mexico City policy. His 
executive order forces--forces--U.S. taxpayers to fund organizations 
that promote, lobby, or perform abortions on demand in foreign 
countries.
  Americans overwhelmingly oppose using U.S. foreign aid to subsidize 
abortion. The Marist poll just last week found that more than three in 
four Americans, 77 percent, oppose using tax dollars to support 
abortions in other countries--77 percent. Let's use those tax dollars 
to combat AIDS, to help people with malaria.
  I am the author of the reauthorization of the PEPFAR program, the 
AIDS program that is now in effect. It was originally sponsored by our 
good friend and colleague Henry Hyde, and George W. Bush, it was one of 
his greatest achievements. That is where our foreign policy dollars and 
foreign aid dollars need to be spent, on nurturing. There is nothing 
benign about dismembering an unborn child or giving poisons that 
effectuate their death.
  Among other pro-abortion executive orders, on January 29, the 
President announced steps to resume funding to the U.N. Population 
Fund, even though that agency has supported China's forced abortion 
policy for decades.
  Madam Speaker, I have chaired hearings, 66 of them, on human rights 
in China over these many years. I have been here 41 years. I can tell 
you that China treats its unborn and its women in the most horrific of 
ways. One child per couple, now two children per couple, where coercion 
is used to enforce it, has led to massive, massive losses of life and 
to broken women. The U.N. Population Fund has been right there, 
cheerleading, supporting, aiding and abetting these crimes against 
women and children.
  Finally, Madam Speaker, by reason of their age, dependency, 
immaturity, inconvenience, or unwantedness, unborn children have been 
denied justice. When the President calls, we all want justice. And they 
have been rendered legally persona non grata. Yet, their cries for 
survival, using the President's words, can't be any more desperate than 
they are.
  These children need the President of the United States to be their 
friend and advocate, not another powerful adversary. They need us to be 
their friend and advocate and not powerful adversaries.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), my 
good friend and colleague.
  Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman for yielding, 
and I want to thank the gentleman for his decades of support for life 
and the unborn in this country and for everything he has done. Thank 
you very much.
  Since 1973, more than 62 million innocent unborn babies' lives have 
been taken by abortion in this country. Tragically, abortion continues 
to put women in danger, takes the life of an innocent child, and fails 
to recognize the dignity of all lives, regardless of how small.
  In 2017 alone, there were roughly 860,000 abortions in the United 
States. That number is far greater than the population of the district 
I represent, Ohio's Fifth Congressional District.
  While the overall abortion rate is decreasing, the rate of using 
chemical abortion is going up, accounting for roughly 39 percent of 
procedures that year.
  I am proud that my legislation, the SAVE Moms and Babies Act, would 
recognize chemical abortions for what it is: dangerous.
  Thankfully, there is still reason for hope. Three-quarters of 
Americans, including a majority of whom identify as pro-choice, want 
significant restrictions on abortion. This is most certainly thanks to 
the growing pro-life movement advocating for the protection of the 
unborn children who deserve the dignity of life. Without the right to 
life, we truly have no other right.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and, again, for all 
of his work.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
his leadership and bill, which will save lives.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Hinson), a 
new Member but a Member who has secured an important post in the 
Appropriations and the Budget Committees.
  Mrs. HINSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today as a voice for the 
voiceless.
  Since Roe v. Wade was enacted by the Supreme Court decision 48 years 
ago, 62 million abortions have been performed--62 million. This is a 
tragedy. This is definitely something that is devastating to think 
about.
  We must stand up for the unborn, those who cannot stand up for 
themselves. I always will, and I am doing that here tonight.
  As a mom of two boys, this issue is close to my heart. While 
reflecting on the lives lost is difficult to do, I am inspired here 
tonight. I am inspired by the growing pro-life community and movement 
in our country. I am hopeful that the next generation will fight for 
life, and I am proud to help lead this fight in Congress, standing with 
you.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend, the gentleman from 
New Jersey, for his leadership on this very important issue, and I am 
honored to add my voice to his and many others in the defense of life 
here tonight.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
her very powerful statement and her leadership, which I know is going 
to be greatly appreciated.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. 
Harshbarger), my friend who is a new Member. She is on the Education 
and Labor Committee, the Homeland Security Committee, and she is a 
pharmacist.
  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the right 
to life.
  As a mother, a grandmother of two precious grandsons, and the other 
mother to many students and young people who I have mentored over the 
years, I am truly committed to saving the lives of the unborn.

  As a pharmacist, I have helped many women through the years with 
infertility issues and helped them achieve successful pregnancies. 
These women were desperate to have and to hold those precious children 
that many women want to abort. That is why I will continue to advocate 
on behalf of the right to life.
  I believe it is a moral and a God-given responsibility that we 
protect these treasured trusts from Heaven. We always must remember to 
protect the most vulnerable among us and give a voice to those 
voiceless babies, those precious children that somebody would want and 
somebody would nurture and somebody would love.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for her 
statement, and I look forward to working with her going forward in this 
Congress.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes), a 
member of the Ways and Means Committee, the lead sponsor of the 
Protecting Individuals With Down Syndrome Act, which prohibits 
abortions based on Down Syndrome.
  Mr. ESTES. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my friend from New Jersey for 
yielding and for hosting this special hour.
  As Americans, we realize that our government was formed to protect 
our God-given rights, and among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. However, we recently marked the tragic anniversary of the 
Roe v. Wade decision, an anniversary that reminds us that nearly 62 
million babies never got a chance to see the world.
  This anniversary is also a call to action. As elected officials, we 
must stand for the rights of the unborn and be a voice for the 
voiceless. Instead of working to protect innocent life, President Biden 
has neglected this duty by signing executive orders that are neither 
pro-life nor pro-taxpayer.

[[Page H317]]

  He has reversed the Mexico City policy, forcing U.S. taxpayer dollars 
to fund abortions in foreign countries, a policy that is opposed by 77 
percent of Americans, Democrats and Republicans. And he signaled that 
he will rescind the Title X protect life rule, which restricts funding 
organizations that consider abortion routine family planning.
  I am proud to stand with Americans who believe in the sanctity of 
life, and I am proud to lead this movement in Congress with our 
Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act to safeguard babies with 
a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome.
  Thankfully, more pro-life leaders, activists, and legislators are 
rising up to defend the unborn across our country. In Kansas, over the 
last couple of weeks, our State legislature has passed a resolution 
that puts a Kansas constitutional amendment on the ballot next year to 
say with certainty that Kansas values both the life of the mothers and 
the babies.
  There is so much more work to be done, and I look forward to 
representing the many pro-life Kansans in Congress.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
his leadership on that bill and his leadership on the issue of 
protecting defenseless lives for many years.
  Madam Speaker, some Members are making their way over from our 
caucus, but I just want to say a couple of points before closing.
  Years ago, a friend of mine by the name of Jean Garton, who was the 
head of Lutherans For Life, was preparing a speech, a lecture. In that 
lecture, she had a few slides of unborn children, just beautiful slides 
of that life before birth. But she also had a couple of slides that 
spoke truth to power. It was of what the abortion actually looks like, 
mangled bodies, dismembered children.
  While she was preparing that talk, it was late into the evening. One 
of the children walked in, and out of the mouth of babes comes truth. 
That child said: Mommy, who broke the baby?
  Abortion breaks babies. It hurts women, and we need a reappraisal in 
this Congress, in legislatures, where they are not supportive of the 
right to life.
  As I said earlier, we will look back someday and say: How could we 
have allowed it, particularly in the age of ultrasound, where we speak 
so often of the importance of science?
  Babies need help, growth, nutrition, and they certainly need 
protection legally from this assault on their lives.

                              {time}  1830

  Again, I thank my colleagues for participating. I have a number of 
Members who are submitting statements in the Record.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. 
Boebert).
  Mrs. BOEBERT. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening with a heavy heart. 
Like many Americans, I am saddened by the loss of millions of innocent 
and precious lives over the last 48 years since Roe v. Wade.
  I know that there are millions of pro-life Americans rising up to 
protect the unborn. Because of this, I am encouraged. I have hope. Over 
the last 4 years, we saw remarkable pro-life wins all across America. 
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio, these 
States rose up to protect the most vulnerable among us. From both sides 
of the aisle, they passed heartbeat bills because they know life--every 
human life--matters.
  Madam Speaker, when Roe v. Wade was passed, we didn't have 3D 
ultrasounds readily available. We didn't have readily accessible 
sonograms or the ability to provide lifesaving care to those whom we 
call miracle babies, children who are prematurely born as early as 21 
weeks. I have held a child in my arms, in my hands, who was born at 23 
weeks, 1 pound, 8 ounces. She is a miracle baby. America didn't know 
that pre-born children could feel pain as early as 21 weeks, or see 
videos of babies in the womb clapping as their mother sings to them.
  Sadly, not all States have seen the light. Back home in Colorado, we 
are one of only seven States that allows full-term abortion in America. 
We have to do better than this.
  The CDC states that, in 2017, 647,000 Americans died from heart 
disease, making it the leading cause of death in America. That is not 
true. The leading cause of death in 2017, in the United States, was 
abortion, killing 862,000 precious babies. This is not a tragedy; it is 
an atrocity.
  Madam Speaker, I am the mother of four children--four wonderful boys, 
who I am raising to be men. I am raising my boys to love America, to 
love people, and to always do their best. I have been in the doctor's 
office, and I have seen my baby boys talking and turning in my womb. 
They are my children. They are made in God's image, in His likeness. 
They have a God-given purpose and a plan by their Creator who knows 
them intimately and deeply and loves them, who has a plan, a future, 
and a desired outcome for their lives. It is my job to raise them 
according to God's bent. Before they had taken their first breath, God 
knew them, and I was blessed to carry them.
  Madam Speaker, I have seen women make the choice. I have a waitress 
in my restaurant who chose life. She was in a very questionable 
situation. Her life wasn't what everyone thought it should be. She 
ended up with child, and she had a choice. She had a choice to not go 
forward and be a mom, but she chose life, and now she is one of the 
greatest mothers that I know. Her name is Jasmine Higgs, and her baby 
boy is Darius. He is alive today because, glory to God, she chose his 
life. She said that his life is worth any of the consequences that may 
come against her.
  Madam Speaker, today, with this rise, I encourage my colleagues to be 
hopeful because a culture that celebrates life is on the rise in 
America, and I am committed to working with pro-life patriots all 
across the country until we end the horror of abortion.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
Colorado (Mrs. Boebert) for that very passionate defense of life and 
the passionate and beautiful story of life.
  Madam Speaker, we know that Dr.   John Joyce is on his way. 
Congressman Joyce should be here momentarily.
  Madam Speaker, I just want to point out one final thing. I just want 
to point out to my colleagues that we know that this is a difficult 
time for the pro-life movement in this Chamber. I have been here when 
we have had majorities and when we have had minorities. Based on what 
we think are the votes, we probably are in the minority right now. But 
I have to tell you, Madam Speaker, that any victory that results in 
more child deaths is a Pyrrhic victory. It is no victory at all. These 
children deserve our respect and our love, and the mothers as well, not 
the violence of abortion.
  I would point out, too, that we do face these enormous challenges. I 
have been in the movement for 48 years. So I can say this with some 
sense of knowing the people who make up the pro-life movement. We love 
those who disagree with us. We respect even those with whom we 
fundamentally disagree, even when it is not reciprocated.
  It is all about respect from womb to tomb and for each other. So as 
the debates heat up and as we go through this session of Congress, we 
will, with respect, hear you. We disagree fundamentally because we do 
believe that it is a truth and a fact that these children are deserving 
of respect. So I want you to know, Madam Speaker, this will be a very 
rough couple of years for the pro-life movement in this House.
  It has happened before. I was here when Bill Clinton had majorities 
in both Houses and when Barack Obama had majorities in both Houses. But 
we will persevere and we will never quit because these children's lives 
are worth it.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), who 
is a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Education and Labor 
Committee.
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Smith for his work on 
this important endeavor. I appreciate his hosting this opportunity to 
lift up the sanctity of life. I think there would be no debate that 
every life is precious and worthy of dignity and respect.
  Jeremiah 1:5 says: ``Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.''
  I will repeat that. That is from the Holy Scriptures. ``Before I 
formed you in the womb, I knew you.''

[[Page H318]]

  The right to life should not be a political debate. We should uphold 
the value and dignity of life, even those who are defenseless and not 
with us yet.

  This January marked the 48th anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court 
ruling on the case of Roe v. Wade that made abortion available 
throughout pregnancy for nearly any reason. Since that tragic ruling, 
over 62 million innocent babies have been aborted. In the year 
following Roe v. Wade, one in every three abortions in the U.S. were 
funded via taxpayer funds.
  Again, from the Scriptures, Daniel, one of the great prophets, would 
not have paid taxes in this country and probably would have gone to 
jail on that basis.
  Congress made changes so that taxpayer-funded abortions were 
prohibited in spending bills, but the Democrats are now placing the 
long bipartisan Hyde amendment on the chopping block while President 
Biden rescinds important pro-life protections, like the Mexico City 
policy, which allows taxpayer dollars to go toward promoting abortion 
abroad. We are not only doing it here, we are doing this to the rest of 
the world.
  As a father of four and a grandfather of 14, I feel very passionately 
about protecting unborn babies. Any and all measures that take steps to 
ensure the life of an unborn child will have my complete support, and I 
will adamantly oppose any that promote or defend such an immoral 
practice.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 
statement.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Joyce), who is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the 
Small Business Committee.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, every precious life is made 
in the image of our Creator. As image bearers, each person is deserving 
of fundamental rights, including the right to life.
  As a doctor, I took an oath to protect all human life. That 
unequivocal truth was the foundation for my medical career, and it has 
continued through my work here in the United States Congress.
  From forcing American taxpayers to pay for abortions against their 
conscience to rolling back our recent pro-life achievements, President 
Biden has cemented his anti-life agenda in the first few days of his 
administration. To paraphrase President George Washington, it is deeds, 
not words, that define a leader.
  Right now, pro-life Americans are facing a daunting path ahead. But 
we are not without hope. Together, with the help of our Creator, we 
will persevere in our pursuit to defend the most vulnerable among us.
  Our enduring commitment to life will always prevail.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, since the Supreme Court wrongly decided 
Roe v. Wade 48 years ago, we have lost 62 million lives to abortion. 
Any loss of life to abortion is not only heartbreakingly preventable, 
it is completely unacceptable in our modern society.
  This pin, I always wear on my collar. These two little feet represent 
the exact size and shape of a baby's feet 10 weeks after conception. 
Every day, as I put this pin on my collar, I reflect on the millions of 
lives cut short and the innovations, ideas, and improvements lost to 
our world. If anything else was extinguishing life on the same scale as 
abortion, every American would be up in arms fighting to right that 
wrong.
  Why is the sanctity of life any different?
  As Members of Congress, if we are not willing to fight for life, then 
what are we willing to fight for?
  The Lord has blessed me with two children and now three 
grandchildren. Every individual can attest to the indescribable feeling 
of joy meeting a newborn for the first time and holding that child. Our 
Creator has a plan for every single one of us, and I will work 
tirelessly to ensure every life has the chance to realize its full 
potential.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
his comments and for his leadership.
  Madam Speaker, one of my friends now for quite a long time has been 
the niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King. Alveda King is her name. 
Dr. King used to be pro-choice. Very strongly so. She actually had two 
abortions. Then she became pro-life. And she has become passionately 
pro-life not just for the babies, but maybe even more so for the women.
  She has said:

       How can the dream of my uncle, Martin Luther King, survive 
     if we murder the children?

  She speaks and reaches out to women who are post-abortive with such 
compassion, as do so many organizations and women; to women who have 
the abortions, to help them, to love them, and to care for them.
  Alveda King is an example to be followed. Like her uncle and his bold 
and tremendous civil rights leadership, she argues--again, she is the 
niece of Dr. King--that this is the new civil rights movement and we 
need to protect and provide legal protection for these innocent unborn 
babies.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin). Dr. 
Brian Babin is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee and the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Dr. Babin 
is the sponsor of H.R. 28, Protecting Life in Crisis Act.
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, we really appreciate Representative Smith.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in solemn memory of the 62 million 
innocent lives who have been aborted since the tragic ruling on Roe v. 
Wade.
  Tellingly, earlier this week, as my wife of 48 years and I welcomed 
our 17th grandchild into the world, I was reminded of just how precious 
life really is.
  Unfortunately, the Biden administration has already shown a blatant 
disregard for the unborn of our Nation. The President has promoted 
abortion at home and abroad by reversing the Mexico City policy and by 
taking the first steps in rescinding a protect life rule known as Hyde.
  Although the fight for life will be an uphill battle under this 
particular administration, we will never give up. Life is just too 
important. In our Declaration of Independence, it is written that we 
have the right to life. That is the first of the inalienable rights 
that we are granted, the right to life. And although the fight for life 
will be tough this administration, we will resolve ourselves to 
continue this battle.
  At a time when Americans are so deeply divided in our Nation, I pray 
to our good Lord above that we unite in the belief that life is 
precious and it should be defended at all costs. May we be the 
generation that will see Roe v. Wade overturned.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.

                          ____________________