[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2184-S2185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5,
UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES RELATING TO ``ENSURING ACCESS TO EQUITABLE,
AFFORDABLE, CLIENT-CENTERED, QUALITY FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES''--MOTION
TO PROCEED
Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, for too long, Americans' taxpayer dollars
have been used as a backdoor way to help promote abortion as a family
planning service. President Trump put a stop to this. Back in 2019, he
barred the Federal Government from providing these funds, the funds
through the title X Family Planning Program, from going to entities
that refer or provide abortions, organizations such as the big business
that is known as Planned Parenthood.
Now, understand, it didn't reduce title X funding. It didn't cut one
penny of it. Instead, it directed it to organizations that do not
perform and do not promote the taking of innocent life.
Last year, unfortunately, the Biden administration, as was to be
expected, pulled the plug on this vital protection, and now we see
taxpayer money flowing once again to these abortion providers and to
their referrers. This has to stop, and that is why I have worked with
Representative Tony Gonzales in the House to introduce the
Congressional Review Act of title X to ensure that not one more
taxpayer dollar is used to fund the abortion industry.
By reversing this administration's ruling, abortion clinics will once
again be excluded from receiving this taxpayer money, and it would put
more money toward improving and saving lives instead of ending them.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to be really clear about what this
vote is actually about. This vote is about birth control. This is about
lifesaving pelvic and breast exams to detect cancer early, and it is
about STI testing and treatments. That is the basic reproductive
healthcare that title X providers deliver to communities--especially to
women with the tightest budgets.
Republicans are here tonight fighting to undermine healthcare. It is
really that simple. And we are here fighting to protect it.
I fought long and hard against President Trump's disastrous gag rule.
It was a rule that cut title X provider networks in half. It forced
entire States, including my home State of Washington, out of the Title
X Program. It forced doctors and nurses to withhold information from
their patients on all the options they have, including abortion, and
ultimately resulted in patients traveling farther, paying more, or
going without care. In short, it made it harder for women to
[[Page S2185]]
get birth control and other critical reproductive healthcare, and that,
to me, is unacceptable.
That is why I was really relieved when, after years of fighting back
against Republicans' extreme agenda, President Biden acted quickly to
reverse that dangerous gag rule, and we could finally start rebuilding
the title X network and providing patients with critical reproductive
healthcare.
And I know that patients and providers in my State were relieved too.
I heard from them firsthand earlier this month about what this means
for our communities. It means that patients in Washington State and
across the country can get the birth control they need to plan a family
on their own terms, breast and pelvic exams to detect cancer early, STI
testing and treatment, and more.
But as has been so often the case, most Republicans were not
listening because, tonight, they are leading a resolution to bring back
the gag rule and deny women across the country access to services made
possible by title X. We are talking about basic lifesaving healthcare
like cancer screenings. We are talking about STI screenings, which, by
the way, are especially important as cases, which are already
underreported due to decreased screenings, have been spiking now.
We are talking about birth control that so many patients depend on to
stay healthy, to treat health conditions, to plan their families, and
control their own reproductive health.
Talking about these issues, it is just unthinkable to me that anyone
would not support this program. What are Republicans here talking
about? They are talking about once again taking this healthcare away
from millions of patients, and tonight they are forcing a vote on it.
And some extreme Republicans, by the way, are even talking about how
they think Griswold v. Connecticut--that is the U.S. Supreme Court case
that first struck down a ban on birth control--might have been wrongly
decided. This is chilling.
The message Republicans are sending tonight with this vote--loud and
clear--is that they won't just stop at banning abortion with cruel laws
like the ones we have seen in Texas and Oklahoma and across the border
from Washington State in Idaho; they are determined to restrict access
to all kinds of reproductive healthcare, from abortion to birth
control, to STI testing and treatment.
Well, we should not stand for this. We can't just let Republicans rip
away healthcare again from women and families. Patients, providers, and
families across my State and across the country have spoken out loud
and clear on this, and I am going to make sure that they are heard here
in Washington, DC.
I will work hard to make sure we protect title X from these attacks,
and I am going to make sure everyone who supports this resolution owns
what this vote means and whom they are voting against: women who want
birth control--and that is, by the way, two-thirds of women in this
country; patients who are seeking STI screenings; patients who need a
cancer screening; people who are just looking for affordable healthcare
and information from providers that they trust because--you know what--
women are not going to forget this, which party is fighting to protect
birth control and which party is doing everything they can to rip your
birth control away.
I urge every single one of my colleagues to join with me in voting
against this resolution.
Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 355, S.J.
Res 41.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 41, a joint resolution
providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of
title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the
Department of Health and Human Services relating to
``Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered,
Quality Family Planning Services''.
Vote On Motion
Mr. RUBIO. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion to proceed.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy)
and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily absent.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 49, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 140 Leg.]
YEAS--49
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Manchin
Marshall
McConnell
Moran
Paul
Portman
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Tuberville
Wicker
Young
NAYS--49
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Lujan
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murkowski
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Whitehouse
NOT VOTING--2
Murphy
Wyden
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
____________________