[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14360-14366]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CONDEMNING THE MURDER OF DR. GEORGE TILLER

  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 505) condemning the murder of Dr. 
George Tiller, who was shot to death at his church on May 31, 2009.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 505

       Whereas Dr. George Tiller was murdered in Wichita, Kansas, 
     on May 31, 2009;
       Whereas Dr. Tiller is mourned by his family, friends, 
     congregation, community, and colleagues;
       Whereas Dr. Tiller, 67, was killed in his place of worship, 
     a place intended for peace and refuge that in a moment became 
     a place for violence and murder;
       Whereas places of worship should be sanctuaries, but have 
     increasingly borne witness to reprehensible acts of violence, 
     with 38 people in the United States killed in their place of 
     worship in the past 10 years and 30 people wounded in those 
     same incidents;
       Whereas these acts of violence include the murder of an 
     Illinois pastor at the pulpit in March 2009, the murder of an 
     Ohio minister in November 2008, the murder of an usher and a 
     guest during a children's play in a Tennessee church in July 
     2008, the murder of four family members in a church in 
     Louisiana in May 2006, and the shooting of a worshipper 
     outside a synagogue in Florida in October 2005; and
       Whereas violence is deplorable, and never an acceptable 
     avenue for expressing opposing viewpoints: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) offers its condolences to Dr. Tiller's family; and
       (2) commits to the American principle that tolerance must 
     always be superior to intolerance, and that violence is never 
     an appropriate response to a difference in beliefs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 505, which 
condemns the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death at his 
church on May 31. The resolution also offers the condolences of the 
House of Representatives to Dr. Tiller's family. I know that Dr. Tiller 
and his family are in the thoughts and prayers of every Member of the 
House today.
  I want to commend our colleague, the distinguished chairperson of the 
Rules Committee, my fellow New Yorker, Ms. Slaughter, for introducing 
this resolution.
  It is imperative that the House of Representatives speak with a 
united voice in condemning this crime. It is a sad reminder that 
medical personnel are still at risk from armed extremists who are 
willing to resort to deadly violence in order to advance their causes 
even when they cloak their cause in the language of life. There can 
never be room in a free society for the use of deadly violence to 
advance a cause. It is against everything this country stands for. I 
have no doubt there isn't a single Member of this House who would 
disagree.
  This resolution renews our commitment to the American principle that 
tolerance must always be superior to intolerance and that violence is 
never an appropriate response to differences and belief.
  As deplorable as this murder was, it was all the more reprehensible 
because the victim was targeted as he was leaving church. In the past 
10 years, 38 people have been murdered in their place of worship and 30 
more have been wounded.
  Dr. Tiller was a controversial figure. He was the target of threats 
and even a prior shooting because of his dedication to providing 
needed, if unpopular, services. He was murdered solely because of the 
work he did. The continued violence directed at abortion providers, 
including doctors and the people who staff their clinics, is well-
known. Bombings, shootings, vandalism, and harassment all serve to warn 
women and their health care providers that they may pay a terrible 
price if they choose to avail themselves of their rights under the 
Constitution.
  This was not the first time a health care provider was similarly 
targeted. I am sure every Member of this House and every decent 
American, however they may feel or whatever they may believe on the 
question of abortion, will insist that this and every other

[[Page 14361]]

question must be decided by our legal, constitutional, and democratic 
processes and not by murderous violence. I am sure we all condemn those 
people or groups who espouse or excuse domestic terrorism.
  But while violence has long been directed at the clinics and the 
people who work there, this time the killer chose, in addition, to 
invade the sanctity of the Sabbath. Murderous intolerance is never 
justified; even so, the idea of bringing death and mayhem to a house of 
worship strikes all people as particularly reprehensible. These acts 
include the murder of an Illinois pastor in the pulpit in March of this 
year; the murder of an Ohio minister in November of last year; the 
murder of an usher and a guest during a children's play in a Tennessee 
church in July of last year; the murder of four family members in a 
church in Louisiana in May 2006; and the shooting of a worshipper 
outside a synagogue in Florida in October 2005; not to mention the 
attempted bombings of two synagogues in Riverdale in the Bronx just a 
few weeks ago. Whether these acts of violence target one individual or 
an entire community of faith, we must all join together and speak out 
against them.
  I urge all of my colleagues to stand up to those who would bring 
their reign of terror into a house of worship and those who would seek 
to change American law by violence and unconstitutional means to 
express their opprobrium of this conduct by supporting this resolution 
condemning the murder of George Tiller and extending the condolences of 
this House to the members of Dr. Tiller's family.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. COBLE. I rise in support of the House Resolution 505, Mr. 
Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I support House Resolution 505 which deplores the murder of Dr. 
George Tiller who was shot to death at his church, as has already been 
mentioned, on May 31. I join with the National Right to Life Committee, 
the Nation's largest pro-life group, in condemning the killing of Dr. 
Tiller. As that organization correctly said, Anyone who works to 
increase respect for human life must oppose any unlawful use of 
violence that is directly contrary to that goal.
  Because I believe everyone who is the victim of unlawful violence 
should be treated equally under the law, I voted against the so-called 
hate crimes bill when it was brought up on the House floor earlier this 
year. The resolution we are now debating and another we will debate 
today recognize what should be obvious to all, which is that anyone can 
be the victim of hate-inspired crimes and that the perpetrators of 
those crimes should be equally condemned and punished.
  I urge, Mr. Speaker, all of my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), the 
chairperson of the Rules Committee.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak about the senseless 
killing of a good man as he was volunteering as an usher among family 
and friends in his place of worship. Dr. George Tiller got shot to 
death, as most of us know, at his church in Wichita, Kansas, on May 31. 
A single gunshot fired by a man who apparently has a long history of 
animosity to a woman's right to choose ended the life of a man who had 
dedicated his life to helping others and was a stark reminder to all of 
us of the raw emotion surrounding this issue.
  In the days since the arrest of the shooter, we have now heard 
reports that even more violence may be planned against doctors who 
believe in choice. And while this kind of violence is deplorable, it 
seems to me that this act is particularly villainous because it took 
place in a house of worship.

                              {time}  1245

  This church, a place where people come together to seek peace, 
safety, and protection, was in an instant transformed into a place of 
shocking, senseless violence.
  Our places of worship are meant to be peaceful refuges for those who 
seek serenity in times of turmoil and safety in times of hostility. The 
sanctity of these places is honored at all times and without regard to 
denomination. There should be no exception to this rule that we are 
taught early and that provides us with a structure for our interaction 
with other faiths and beliefs. Only the most evil can bring violence 
into these sacred buildings. To defile houses of worship with bloodshed 
is nothing less than villainous, and we should not tolerate such 
actions in a civilized society.
  For millennia, into the Middle Ages, our churches, synagogues, 
mosques, and others have been the center of communities, places of 
scholarship, proponents of peace and love among humankind. There is 
more to a place of worship than its physical presence; there is a sense 
of community and accord and safety where worshippers can share their 
faith. But when you look at our recent history, what we have seen is a 
disturbing rise in violence at churches that we have taken no note of 
in the House of Representatives. As mentioned, 68 persons have been 
shot, dead, wounded or assaulted in violence in religious institutions 
here in the United States. This is more than deplorable.
  Deepening the tragedy is the fact that, until now, there has been no 
expression of outrage decrying violence in a place of worship. It 
shakes the foundations of our communities, our principles, and our 
Nation. It is not a Christian issue or a Jewish issue or an Islamic 
issue or any one faith. It is a test of what we as a society are 
willing to tolerate and a reminder that some people in this Nation do 
not respect the sanctity of a house of worship.
  The brutal killing of Dr. Tiller was the latest church killing. In 
March of 2009, Rev. Fred Winters was killed while at the pulpit by 
gunfire at the First Baptist Church in Illinois. It was only after the 
gun malfunctioned that members of the congregation subdued the shooter 
to prevent further fatalities.
  Rev. Donald Fairbanks, Sr., was fatally shot at the Ninth Street 
Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky, in November of 2008. He was 
visiting from his Cincinnati, Ohio, church to attend a funeral for a 
woman with relatives in his congregation. Grief turned to fear as the 
gunman opened fire in the church.
  In July 2008, an usher and a guest were shot and killed during the 
opening act of a children's play in Knoxville, Tennessee. This time, 
the gunman walked into the sanctuary carrying a guitar case with a 12-
gauge shotgun. He is said to have fired over 40 shots, killing two and 
injuring seven.
  In May 2006, five family members were killed by a gunman who opened 
fire during a church service at The Ministry of Jesus Christ Church in 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A whole family was wiped out, and the shooter's 
wife was abducted from the church and killed nearby.
  One of the most upsetting church killings in recent memory occurred 
in 1999 when a lone gunman massacred seven worshippers and wounded 
seven others at a youth celebration--150 teenagers strong--that was 
taking place in the sanctuary of the Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort 
Worth, Texas. The assault was one of the worst ever, and I know there 
was a tremendous sense of loss after that awful act.
  Why doesn't America care about this? Why have we said absolutely 
nothing about it? Why are we now allowing concealed weapons to be 
carried in Federal parks where, frankly, I hope most people will not be 
able to go in any notion that they might come out of there alive.
  Dr. Tiller's family held a memorial service for him over the weekend 
after his burial on Friday, and he was remembered by all four of his 
children for his care and devotion as both a physician and father. It 
is a senseless tragedy, and so I offer this resolution and hope that 
all Members of this House will say ``no more.''
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have left?

[[Page 14362]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York has 12 
additional minutes.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlelady from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, our society has too often, recently, 
devolved into violence to address controversy.
  The murder of a doctor, who was beloved by his family, trusted by his 
patients, and respected by his community, is never an acceptable form 
of expression. While virtually all established groups have condemned 
this act, some individuals are still threatening violence against the 
health care providers they disagree with. The message to those people 
needs to be unequivocal and it needs to be unanimous: We will not 
condone violence in any form, and those who perpetrate it will be 
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
  Mr. Speaker, we must have a civil discourse in this society, and this 
is something we all have to strive for together. I know that we on our 
side of the aisle and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle all 
believe this. We need to put it into action.
  I will say that Dr. George Tiller is survived by his wife, Jeanne, 
their four children and their 10 grandchildren. I think the saddest 
thing about all this and the thing that personalizes it the most is 
that Jeanne called Dr. Tiller ``Buddy.'' And the reason she called him 
Buddy was because he was her best friend.
  Mr. Speaker, the mark of a civilized society must be civil discourse. 
We cannot lose one more of someone's best friend because of this lack 
of civility.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to 
the distinguished gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the distinguished chairman and the 
author of this legislation, the distinguished gentlelady from New York 
(Ms. Slaughter), chairman of the Rules Committee. And I rise to simply 
say to this House and to America, enough is enough.
  I am delighted that we have heard the majority of pro-life 
organizations, who are Americans as well, denounce this horrific act. 
My deepest sympathy to Dr. Tiller's wife and children and 
grandchildren, but I think it is not enough to offer our sympathy; it 
is a requirement that we denounce this with every fiber of our body.
  In addition, I think it is important, as we go forward, that right-
to-life organizations learn to respect the First Amendment, and 
certainly the sanctity of a house of worship. It is important to note 
that Dr. Tiller is not and was not a criminal, did not perform criminal 
acts, but responded to women who willingly came into his office with 
the counsel of their family and a religious leader and made a decision 
addressing the question of their health and the concerns of their 
family. Many of those women who came to Dr. Tiller wanted to have 
children, were praying for children, and were able to have children and 
give birth to a healthy child thereafter.
  I am concerned that the alleged perpetrator now incarcerated and held 
in jail is continuing to make threats against those who are trying to 
both abide by the law but serve the needs of more than 51 percent of 
America. Yes, we know there is opposition to abortion. None of us stand 
here as abortion proponents. What we stand here as is simply 
individuals who believe in choice, prayerfully believe in choice. 
Therefore, I am asking for full support for this initiative to denounce 
the killing of Dr. Tiller, but I am also saying enough is enough.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 
505 honoring the life of Dr. George Tiller and condemning his brutal 
murder at church. I thank Representative Slaughter for this resolution.
  Dr. Tiller was a husband and a father. He studied at the University 
of Kansas School of Medicine and served his country as a United States 
Navy flight surgeon intern. Despite attacks and threats against him, he 
continued to serve as a tireless advocate for women's health and 
women's rights. On May 31, he was brutally gunned down in broad 
daylight in his place of worship by an extremist who took the law into 
his own hands. Enough is enough. It is time for us to condemn this act 
of violence and state forcefully that we will not condone murder, 
threats, or intimidation in the future.
  In addition to my condolences to Dr. Tiller's family, I extend my 
gratitude to them for his life, his courage, his unyielding support for 
women, their health, and freedom to exercise their constitutional 
rights.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentlelady from California (Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 505, with 
deepest sympathy for the family and loved ones of Dr. George Tiller and 
in strongest condemnation of his murder.
  Murder in any setting is horrific. It is unconscionable but to commit 
a heinous crime of violence inside a place of worship that teaches a 
message of tolerance and nonviolence is especially reprehensible. Dr. 
Tiller was guiding worshippers to their seats and his wife was singing 
in the choir when he was gunned down. This is so precisely the opposite 
of where humanity should be in 2009.
  Violence, especially murder, should never be a recourse for 
differences in beliefs. So I ask my colleagues to join me in condemning 
acts of violence and intolerance. And I ask that we resolve to honor 
the memory of Dr. George Tiller, a physician and a man of God, by 
working harder than ever to promote tolerance and to promote 
nonviolence. I urge all of my colleagues to stand unanimously and vote 
in favor of this resolution.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
resolution before the House sponsored by my very good friend, 
Representative Louise Slaughter, condemning the senseless killing of 
Dr. George Tiller.
  Dr. Tiller, as we have heard, was gunned down while serving as an 
usher during church services last week. We are blessed in this country 
to have the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to 
protest. Our country has a rich history of nonviolent protests from the 
women's rights movement to the civil rights movement to the gay rights 
movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., preached nonviolence, and his 
great movement heeded this call in the face of unspeakable acts of 
violence from their opposition.
  This shooting is, in the words of the New York State Catholic 
Conference, a terrible perversion of what it means to be pro-life. 
While we may have different views of this issue, no side should resort 
to atrocious acts of violence such as this.
  Since 1977, there have been more than 5,800 reported acts of violence 
against providers like Dr. Tiller. Since 1993, eight people have been 
murdered, and there have been 17 attempted murders since 1991. Clinics 
like Dr. Tiller's over a 20-year span have been bombed 41 times and 
faced 175 arsons and 96 attempted bombings and arsons.
  I understand that this is a passionate issue for both sides, but we 
cannot allow this to continue.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney).
  Mrs. MALONEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his 
leadership.
  Rochester, New York, has historically given this Nation some of our 
greatest women leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and 
Louise Slaughter. With this bill that she authored, she is one of the 
strongest links in leading women in this country and protecting our 
rights. We thank you, Louise, for your continued leadership.
  The horror that played out inside a Wichita church, the murder of Dr. 
Tiller, is a wound to the conscience of this

[[Page 14363]]

Nation. He had long been a target of violence and hate because he 
provided legal abortions, he provided medical care to women in need. 
Any time a doctor has to put his life on the line to provide medical 
care it has a chilling effect on Americans' ability to get the medical 
care that they need.
  The consequences of Dr. Tiller's murder are a tragedy not only to his 
family, not only for women in Kansas, but for women everywhere, 
especially in areas of our country where there are relatively few 
medical providers. Dr. Tiller is the eighth abortion provider to be 
murdered since 1977, and he was one of just seven doctors in the entire 
State of Kansas.
  Where will women go for the medical help that they need? We have seen 
throughout history that hate is not just ugly, it can be deadly. I hope 
that leaders on both sides of this debate will look at the savage 
killing of Dr. Tiller and call to account those who would use hate, 
intolerance, and fear to divide us.
  My heart goes out to Dr. Tiller's family and friends, and my prayers 
are with them.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentlelady from New York (Ms. Slaughter).

                              {time}  1300

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I thank my colleague Mr. Nadler for yielding.
  I want to close my portion here by reminding people what a terrible 
thing that has happened in this country to a man who was simply doing 
what he was allowed to do, what he was trained to do.
  I think perhaps I should state for the record, too, that third 
trimester abortions are less than 1 percent, and even Roe v. Wade says 
that after the first trimester the State has an interest and that it 
takes two doctors, as well as it does for the third trimester. These 
are oftentimes babies that have been desperately wanted and planned, 
but in order to save the health of the mother or to prevent her from 
carrying a toxic fetus that has already expired, it is sometimes 
necessary to do this. It is not a whim. It is not something that women 
do. I think, if anything, what insults my intelligence and my feeling 
as a woman and a grandmother is the notion that women will just wake up 
one morning and say, Well, I've had enough. That just does not happen. 
Women are, by nature, nurturers, and we are just not like that, and 
it's a major insult to us.
  But as we remember this killing and affirm the need for peace in our 
places of worship, let's remind ourselves of the need for tolerance and 
kindness. I offer this resolution and offer the most sincere 
condolences to the family.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the 
gentlewoman.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. The resolution affirms that the House of 
Representatives commits to the American principle that tolerance must 
always be superior to intolerance.
  I urge Members to join me in supporting this to renounce nefarious 
violence in our places of worship where Americans seek sanctuary. 
Violence is deplorable and never an acceptable avenue for expressing 
opposing viewpoints.
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, the pro-life movement is absolutely nonviolent and is 
totally committed to protecting unborn children and their mothers 
through peaceful, nonviolent means. I have been in the pro-life 
movement for 37 years, and those peaceful, nonviolent means include 
legal and constitutional reform as well as tangibly assisting women 
with crisis pregnancies.
  Dr. Tiller's murderer must be brought to swift justice commensurate 
with the heinous crime that he has committed.
  Murder is murder. Murder is never justified and can never be condoned 
by any society committed to fundamental human rights, justice, and the 
rule of just law.
  Let me, as well, like my other colleagues on the floor today, extend 
my profound condolences to the Tiller family.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Clay). Without objection, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Issa) controls the balance of the time of the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble).
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may state his inquiry.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Does that mean the gentleman has declined his 
right to a closing?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has yielded back his time.
  Mr. ISSA. I'm declining on this bill. I will pick up on the next one. 
Thank you.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution condemns the murder of Dr. Tiller. It 
condemns the murder of people who are murdered in church and places of 
worship. It condemns the practice, and it has become a practice, of 
seeking to change the laws of this country, of seeking to intimidate 
women from availing themselves of their rights, of their constitutional 
right to an abortion, of intimidating doctors from availing themselves 
of their constitutional right to perform medical procedures that are 
legal and that they believe are moral by threats of murder and mayhem.
  I was glad to hear Mr. Smith say that the pro-life movement is 
nonviolent, and I'm sure that most of it is. But, unfortunately, it is 
clear that there are some people, a small minority, who believe 
themselves part of the pro-life movement who are not nonviolent. And 
these people have engaged in such conduct and have murdered several 
providers of abortion simply for doing what they believe to be the 
right thing, what I believe to be the right thing, and, more 
importantly, what the law allows them to do, and to intimidate other 
people from doing this.
  This resolution, which I trust every Member of this House will vote 
for, says that we do not believe in trying to change the law by 
violence. We do not believe in domestic terrorism, defining 
``terrorism'' as an attempt to change the law through murder and 
violence and mayhem. We believe in constitutional processes. And if 
every single one of us does not believe in that, then we have no moral 
superiority over the terrorists that we condemn around the world.
  So I trust everyone will vote for this resolution to express our 
horror of what was done in this instance, to express our belief that 
social change, if necessary, will be brought about by peaceful 
democratic debate and by votes, not by bullets, and that this country 
stands for the evolution of law by debate and by consideration and by 
democratic means. I urge everyone to vote for this resolution.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Res. 505.
  Like the vast majority of people throughout our nation, I was 
appalled by the unconscionable act of violence that took the life of 
Dr. Tiller at his place of worship.
  I offer my deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and 
many friends of Dr. Tiller. My thoughts and prayers are with them as 
they struggle with this tremendous loss.
  Dr. Tiller was a medical pioneer who, for two decades, worked to 
provide the highest quality of care to his patients.
  Despite encountering constant harassment and threats Dr. Tiller 
remained committed to providing abortion services and other 
reproductive care to women and their families.
  Often times, Dr. Tiller provided these services to women during the 
most challenging and heart-wrenching of circumstances.
  The shooting death of Dr. Tiller is an affront to all physicians who 
provide abortion and reproductive care to women; it's also an affront 
to a woman's right to choose.

[[Page 14364]]

  Moreover his death was an affront to our nation's rich religious and 
democratic traditions.
  No matter which side you may stand on in regards to protecting a 
woman's right to choose, we can and should all agree that violence has 
no place in our political discourse.
  I thank my colleague Ms. Slaughter for authoring this resolution, and 
I urge all my colleagues to vote in favor of its passage.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 505, 
condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller.
  Dr. George Tiller was murdered in Wichita, Kansas, on May 31, 2009. 
Dr. Tiller was 67 years old, a father, a husband and a friend, and was 
killed in his place of worship, a place intended for peace and refuge 
that in a moment became a place for violence and murder.
  As stated in H. Res. 505, in the past 10 years, 38 people in the 
United States have been killed in their place of worship with 30 more 
sustaining wounds in those same incidents. This violence is deplorable, 
and never an acceptable avenue for expressing opposing viewpoints.
  I join the author of this bill, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, in 
offering my condolences to Dr. Tiller's family, and commit to the 
American principle that tolerance must always be superior to 
intolerance, and that violence is never an appropriate response to a 
difference in beliefs.
  It's nearly impossible to find comfort after such a senseless and 
horrific act, and I extend my deepest condolences to the Tiller family 
and all those families whose lives he touched. Like many others, Dr. 
Tiller persevered through decades of threats and attacks, and I condemn 
anyone who takes action or makes statements to incite violence as an 
acceptable response.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 505, 
which condemns the tragic murder of Dr. George R. Tiller of Wichita, 
Kansas. I would like to thank the author of the bill, Congresswoman 
Louise Slaughter and Judiciary Chairman John Conyers for their 
expeditious work in bringing this bill to the floor.
  We mourn the loss of Dr. Tiller, a husband, father of four, and 
grandfather of ten. We also mourn the loss of a man who was a friend to 
women and young girls around the world, who he saw through their most 
desperate hours of need.
  Dr. Tiller, born and raised in Wichita, was the son of a physician. 
In medical school, Dr. Tiller planned to become a dermatologist. After 
his father, mother, sister, and brother-in-law died in a 1970 plane 
crash, he returned to Kansas to close his father's family practice. His 
father's patients pleaded with him to return and take over the 
practice. Eventually, his clinic evolved from general family practice 
to focusing on reproductive services.
  Acts of terror and intimidation were an all too common occurrence at 
his clinic. In 1986, Dr. Tiller's clinic, the Women's Health Care 
Services, was bombed. In 1991, it was blockaded for six weeks. In 1993, 
Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms while trying to enter the clinic. In 
May 2009, vandals cut wires to security cameras and made holes in the 
clinic roof.
  Dr. Tiller was murdered on Sunday, May 31, 2009. He was shot in his 
place of worship, the Reformation Lutheran Church. Dr. Tiller served as 
an usher and his wife, Jeanne, sang in the choir.
  I would like to insert into the Record an article by Judith Warner 
that was published in her New York Times blog. One of Dr. Tiller's 
cases mentioned by Ms. Warner, that involving a 9 year-old girl who had 
been raped by her father, is particularly haunting.
  This child was 18 weeks pregnant and her small body just would not be 
able to physically bear the burden of labor and delivery. There was no 
doctor or hospital in her rural, Southern town that would provide her 
with an abortion. She was referred to Dr. Tiller, the doctor of last 
resort. Dr. Tiller took her case for free. He kept her under his 
personal care for three days. The young girl and her sister stated that 
even in this difficult and heart-wrenching situation, he could not have 
been more wonderful in his care.
  On Saturday, memorial services were held for Dr. Tiller. His family 
and friends remembered him for his generosity and his sense of humor. 
Let us also remember him for his courage.
  Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much).

                [From the New York Times, June 4, 2009]

                       Dr. Tiller's Important Job

                           (By Judith Warner)

       The 9-year-old girl had been raped by her father. She was 
     18 weeks pregnant. Carrying the baby to term, going through 
     labor and delivery, would have ripped her small body apart.
       There was no doctor in her rural Southern town to provide 
     her with an abortion. No area hospital would even consider 
     taking her case.
       Susan Hill, the president of the National Women's Health 
     Foundation, which operates reproductive health clinics in 
     areas where abortion services are scarce or nonexistent, 
     called Dr. George Tiller, the Wichita, Kan., ob-gyn who last 
     Sunday was shot to death by an abortion foe in the entry 
     foyer of his church.
       She begged.
       ``I only asked him for a favor when it was a really 
     desperate story, not a semi-desperate story,'' she told me 
     this week. Tiller was known to abortion providers--and 
     opponents--as the ``doctor of last resort''--the one who took 
     the patients no one else would touch.
       ``He took her for free,'' she said. ``He kept her three 
     days. He checked her himself every few hours. She and her 
     sister came back to me and said he couldn't have been more 
     wonderful. That's just the way he was.''
       Other patients of Dr. Tiller's shared their stories this 
     week on a special ``Kansas Stories'' page hosted by the Web 
     site ``A Heartbreaking Choice.''
       One New York mother wrote of having been referred by an 
     obstetrician to Tiller after learning, in her 27th week of 
     pregnancy, that her soon-to-be son was ``so very sick'' that, 
     once born, he'd have nothing more than ``a brief life of 
     respirators, dialysis, surgeries and pain.'' In-state doctors 
     refused to perform an abortion.
       ``The day I drove up to the clinic in Wichita, Kansas, to 
     undergo the procedure that would end the life of my precious 
     son, I also walked into the nightmare of abortion politics. 
     In this world, reality rarely gets through the rhetoric,'' 
     wrote another mother, from Texas, of the shouts, graphic 
     posters and protesters' video camera that greeted her when 
     she came to see Tiller.
       Our understanding of what late abortion is like has been 
     almost entirely shaped in public discourse by the opponents 
     of abortion rights. In recent years, discussions of the issue 
     have been filled with the gory details of so-called partial-
     birth abortion; the grim miseries that drive some women and 
     girls to end their pregnancies after the first trimester have 
     somehow been elided.
       ``Late abortion is not a failure of contraception. It's for 
     medical reasons,'' Eleanor Smeal, the president of the 
     Feminist Majority Foundation, who has worked to defend 
     abortion providers like Tiller against harassment and 
     violence since the mid-1980s, told me this week. ``We've made 
     pregnancy a fairy tale where there are no fetal 
     complications, there's no cancer, no terrible abuse of girls, 
     no cases where to make a girl go all the way through a 
     pregnancy is to destroy her. These are the realities of the 
     story. That's what Dr. Tiller worked with--the realities.''
       There was a great deal of emotion in the air this week as 
     the reality of Tiller's death set in. Much of it was 
     mournful, some was celebratory, some was cynical and self-
     serving.
       There were the requisite expressions of disapproval and 
     disavowal by politicians from both sides of the abortion 
     divide. And yet it seemed to me that even from pro-choice 
     politicians, the response was muted. In death, as in life, no 
     one wanted to embrace this man who had specialized in helping 
     women who learned late in their pregnancies that their 
     fetuses had gross abnormalities.
       It seemed that no one wanted to be too closely associated 
     with the muck and mire of what Tiller had to do in carrying 
     out the risky and emotionally traumatic second- and third-
     trimester abortions that other doctors and hospitals refused 
     to do. In news reports, there was a tendency to frame the 
     ``abortion doctor's'' murder almost as a kind of combat 
     death: a natural occupational hazard.
       Yet Tiller--who went to work in a bulletproof vest, lived 
     in a gated community and drove a bulletproof car--was a 
     doctor, not a soldier. And it is precisely this kind of 
     thinking--this viewing of his life and work through the lens 
     of our most gruesome cultural warfare, this slippage and 
     mixing up of medicine and politics--that left him largely 
     unprotected at the time of his death.
       Someone resembling Scott Roeder, the man charged in Dr. 
     Tiller's murder, was seen on Saturday trying to pour glue 
     into the lock on the back door of a Kansas City clinic. 
     Before that, abortion providers around the country had been 
     telling local law enforcement and the United States Justice 
     Department that harassment at their clinics was on the rise, 
     and they were scared. The Feminist Majority Foundation had 
     been hearing all spring that the atmosphere outside clinics 
     was heating up in the wake of the new pro-choice president's 
     election. ``We all lived through Clinton, the shootings in 
     '93 and '94. We were concerned some of the extremists said 
     they had to take the fight 'back to the streets,''' Smeal 
     said.
       There are legal protections in place that ought to keep 
     abortion providers like Tiller safe. The Freedom of Access to 
     Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, passed by Congress after the 
     1993 murder of Dr. David Gunn outside his Pensacola, Fla., 
     women's health clinic and the attempted murder of Tiller that 
     same year, prohibits property damage, acts or threats of 
     force, and interference with and intimidation of anyone 
     entering a reproductive health care facility.
       When the federal law is backed by complementary state laws, 
     and when local law

[[Page 14365]]

     enforcement officers apply those laws assiduously, serious 
     violence greatly declines. When the law's not applied 
     strenuously, when vandalism goes uninvestigated, when 
     protesters are allowed to photograph or videotape patients 
     arriving at women's health clinics, when death threats aren't 
     followed up, more serious acts of physical violence follow. 
     In fact, when intimidation occurs at a clinic, the reported 
     rate of violence triples, the Feminist Majority Federation's 
     2008 National Clinic Violence Survey found.
       ``We really do need to arrest people who are trespassing. 
     Arrest people who are gluing locks. Committing more minor 
     violations of the law so criminal activity doesn't escalate, 
     so these criminals don't feel emboldened,'' said Vicki 
     Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation. 
     ``In places where the laws are enforced, you don't see 
     violence escalate. Protesters generally go someplace where 
     there's a more hospitable climate,'' she told me. But, she 
     added, in a lot of communities, law enforcement views clinic 
     violence as a political problem. ``They don't view it for 
     what it is: criminal activity outside of a commercial 
     establishment,'' she said. ``Law enforcement can't treat this 
     as a political issue. It's a criminal issue.''
       We as a nation cannot continue to provide a hospitable 
     environment for the likes of Roeder because the thought of 
     what happens to fetuses in late abortions turns our stomachs. 
     We have to accept that sometimes terrible things happen to 
     young girls. We have to face the fact that sometimes desired 
     pregnancies go tragically wrong. We have to weigh our 
     repugnance for late abortion against the consequences for 
     women and girls of being denied life-saving medical 
     treatment.
       Only a tiny handful of doctors in this country will, like 
     Dr. Tiller, provide abortion services for girls or women who 
     are advanced in their pregnancies. These doctors aren't well 
     known to patients or even to other doctors, but they're 
     closely monitored by antiabortion groups, who know where they 
     work, where they live and where they worship. Roeder may have 
     been a lone gunman, but in the largest possible sense, he did 
     not act alone. The location of Tiller's gated community was 
     prominently featured on an easily-accessed Web site, along 
     with a map of the streets surrounding his house. It was 
     really only a matter of time before someone was unbalanced 
     enough to take the bait.
       Most Americans, I'm sure, do not believe that a 9-year-old 
     should be forced to bear a child, or that a woman should have 
     no choice but to risk her life to carry a pregnancy to term.
       By averting our eyes from the ugliness and tragedy that 
     accompany some pregnancies, we have allowed anti-abortion 
     activists to define the dilemma of late abortion. We have 
     allowed them to isolate and vilify doctors like Tiller.
       We can no longer be complicit--through our muted 
     disapproval or our complacency--in domestic terror.

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, as millions of Americans are now aware, Dr. 
George Tiller was assassinated in his church on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 
because of his political beliefs and profession. Dr. Tiller provided 
legal abortions, and his dedication to his profession, to the health 
and well-being of the women he cared for, cost him his life. I join 
President Obama, members of Congress, and millions of Americans in 
professing horror, shock, and sadness over this blatant act of terror. 
I hope that all Americans--regardless of their personal stances on the 
issue of abortion--will join in opposing those who would seek to 
control the actions of women and doctors through the use of violent 
intimidation.
  Abortion doctors and women's clinics across this country which 
provide a range of women's health services including abortion face 
threats and violent acts every day. I sincerely hope that in the wake 
of this terrible event, the Department of Justice and law enforcement 
agencies across this country take future threats directed toward 
women's health providers seriously. Justice and the rule of law demand 
nothing less.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 505, 
condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller.
  On May 31, 2009, Dr. Tiller was gunned down while handing out church 
flyers to the congregation of the Reformation Lutheran Church in 
Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Tiller was murdered because he had provided 
comprehensive legal reproductive healthcare to women and their 
families.
  For 20 years, Dr. Tiller lived under a constant threat of violence. 
His clinic was bombed in 1986 and he was shot in both arms in 1993. He 
received constant death threats. Despite feeling the need to wear body 
armor and travel with a guard dog, he continued to provide reproductive 
services to women, often in the most difficult and heartbreaking 
circumstances. Dr. Tiller once said that he provided these services 
because ``Women and families are intellectually, emotionally, 
spiritually, and ethically competent to struggle with complex health 
issues--including abortion,'' he said, ``and come to decisions that are 
appropriate for themselves.'' I could not agree more. Women must have 
the right to make their own reproductive choices.
  Regardless of one's personal feelings about abortion, we all must 
stand vigilant against such abhorrent and vile acts of violence. To 
murder someone because of disagreement with his belief system is 
morally, ethically, and legally wrong. It is especially disturbing that 
this murder took place in a church. Assaulting, intimidating, and 
harassing doctors and clinic employees should not be tolerated.
  Dr. Tiller's death is only one act of violence against those that 
perform abortion services. Pro-life extremists have engaged in more 
than 5,800 reported acts of violence against abortion providers since 
1977, including bombings, arsons, death threats, kidnappings, and 
assaults, as well as more than 143,000 reported acts of disruption, 
including bomb threats and harassing calls. Eight abortion providers 
have been murdered in the United States, and another 17 have been the 
victims of attempted murder. It is past time that we condemn the 
violence and intimidation against clinics that provide legal services 
to women in need.
  I hope and pray that the friends and family members of Dr. Tiller 
find solace and comfort as we deal together with this historic and 
heartbreaking episode.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 505, 
which condemns the tragic murder of Dr. George Tiller. The murder of 
Dr. Tiller is a form of domestic terrorism that we cannot tolerate in 
our country.
  I firmly agree with President Obama that we can maintain our beliefs 
while agreeing to disagree. Dr. Tiller's medical practice in Kansas was 
operating legally, and we must abide by the rule of law.
  Mr. Speaker, I have personal knowledge of the work of Dr. Tiller. In 
2000, my Subcommittee Staff Director, Jason Steinbaum, and his wife, 
Miriam, were expecting a child. This was their first baby, and they 
were very excited about becoming new parents.
  Through visit after visit to their doctor, they learned the pregnancy 
was proceeding well and all seemed normal. The sonograms were all as 
they should have been, until calamity struck. At 28 weeks the doctors 
discovered a horrible brain deformity. They said the baby would die in 
utero or shortly after birth.
  I recall that Jason and Miriam went from doctor to doctor and 
hospital to hospital to try to find a way to save their baby boy, but 
all told them that there was no chance that he would live. At that 
point, after consulting with their clergy, their doctors, and their 
families, they decided to terminate the pregnancy to put an end to this 
tragedy in their lives.
  At 28 weeks, however, extremely few physicians in the country would 
provide the medical care they needed. Dr. Tiller was recommended to 
them as the best physician to help them.
  I recall that I could not believe they had to fly to Wichita, Kansas 
to get the medical care they required. As a member of Congress from New 
York, I have become accustomed to receiving the best health care in New 
York City and could not imagine that they would have to travel half way 
across the country because no such clinic existed nearby. Nevertheless, 
when they determined that there was no other place to which they could 
turn, Jason, Miriam, and their mothers flew to Kansas to Women's Health 
Care Services of Wichita and Dr. Tiller.
  Jason has told me that the care they received at Dr. Tiller's clinic 
was extraordinary and that the people at the clinic treated them as 
well as they could imagine. The procedure was safe and humane, and at 
the end, they held their baby boy for a moment and said goodbye. Today, 
the baby is buried not far from their home in north Virginia.
  So, as the House votes on this solemn resolution, I ask that my 
colleagues reflect for a moment on the fact that Dr. Tiller helped 
someone right here in our congressional community and that his murderer 
took someone who was there for one of us in a time of need. This is a 
terribly sad day, and I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 505.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
resolution Condemning the Murder of Dr. George Tiller (H. Res. 505) and 
with deepest sympathy for the loved ones of Dr. Tiller.
  On May 31, 2009, an assassination took place in Kansas. A physician 
was murdered in an act of terrorism in his church. This act of anti-
abortion vigilantism inspires fear and terror. The murdered doctor had 
previously been shot and the clinic in which he worked had been 
previously bombed.
  This resolution, of which I am an original cosponsor, expresses our 
sympathy for the family and loved ones of Dr. George Tiller and 
declares that violence should never be recourse for a difference in 
beliefs. In honor of the memory of Dr. Tiller we must work harder than 
ever to promote tolerance and non-violence.

[[Page 14366]]

  Abortion in this nation is a legal health care procedure. I support a 
woman's right to make her own health care decisions and the work of 
health care providers to meet women's health care needs. What America 
witnessed with Dr. Tiller's death was a Taliban-like tactic to prevent 
abortions by murdering a doctor. It is terrorism and I urge the 
administration to extend protection to women's clinics all across our 
country.
  I support comprehensive sex education, evidence-based science, full 
access to family planning and reproductive health care for all women, 
and counseling to ensure women of all ages have the best information to 
make good choices about when they decide to have children. This is how 
we reduce abortions. This is how we empower individuals to prevent the 
need for abortions.
  Safe, comprehensive reproductive and family planning services should 
be accessible to all Americans and providers, because it is essential 
for the health and well-being of women and families. I will continue to 
work with President Obama in the 111th Congress to keep women's health 
as a priority.
  My condolences go out to Dr. Tiller's family and loved ones. I urge 
my colleagues to support this resolution and join me in condemning the 
murder of Dr. Tiller.
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 505, 
condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was shot to 
death at his church on May 31, 2009. It is with great sorrow and a 
heavy heart that I extend my condolences to his friends and family.
  A sixty-seven-year-old physician, a husband, a father of four, and a 
grandfather of ten, Dr. Tiller dedicated his life to providing family 
and community health care services in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Tiller's 
murder leaves in its wake an unsettling sense of grief and sadness that 
continues to ripple its way through countless communities of patients, 
colleagues, friends and family members. To the legions of admirers who 
view the care that he provided as an essential option for the women 
most in need, he will be sorely missed.
  Dr. Tiller was beloved for his professionalism, his compassion and 
sensitivity. He showed unwavering courage and commitment to his 
patients. Dr. Tiller deserves to be acknowledged for the service that 
he provided to his community. His senseless murder must be strongly 
condemned. A truly democratic society includes a thriving atmosphere of 
political debate and dialogue, regardless of the intensity of the 
debate. The use of violence and murder as a means to express dissent is 
not only undemocratic, but simply unacceptable.
  I strongly support this important bill and urge my colleagues to vote 
in favor of H. Res. 505.
  Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 505.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________