[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           TRAFFICKING GRANT

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, The Washington Post 
uncovered astonishing evidence that political appointees at the 
Department of Health and Human Services meddled with a grant to help 
victims of human trafficking. For 5 years, the U.S. Conference of 
Catholic Bishops has provided these services. Now The Post has revealed 
that the grant renewal was denied over the objections of career staff 
and despite the recommendation of an independent review board that 
rated the Catholic program as the best agency to do the work. In fact, 
some career staff within HHS refused to sign the documents awarding the 
new grants. It cannot be a coincidence that the ACLU is suing to force 
the Catholic bishops to offer abortion services with this grant money.
  It is outrageous that the administration appears to be letting the 
ACLU dictate policy and interfere with a grantee that is doing good 
work. Victims of trafficking will now face a reduced level of service 
because of political meddling.
  A complaint has been referred to the HHS inspector general. I hope 
there will be a thorough investigation determining whether religious 
bigotry played a role in this grand decision.

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