[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     COERCIVE CONTRACEPTION MANDATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, there is no shortage of issues here in 
Washington, and I find it so interesting when people come to our 
offices and ask: What is going on today?
  As you will hear, whether it is talking about foreign affairs, the 
job issues, the budget, the issues that are of such concern to our 
constituents, there is always something that is on the front burner, 
and today is one of those days. The Supreme Court will hear yet another 
legal challenge to one of the many unconstitutional aspects of 
ObamaCare, and that is the HHS contraception mandate. Of course, this 
isn't the first time that the Affordable Care Act, the President's 
health care law, has been pulled into the Supreme Court, and it is 
probably not going to be the last, but today the hearing is on the 
contraception mandate.
  No American should have to choose between feeding their family and 
abiding by their faith. I have to tell you, that is what we see 
happening right now. It is precisely what this coercive contraception 
mandate is doing to millions of hardworking people of faith, like the 
Hahns and the Greens, who simply want to run a business and practice 
their faith. These family businesses want to take care of their 
employees and provide them with quality health care coverage. All they 
ask is to not be forced to pay for the life-ending contraceptives that 
violate their religious convictions.
  Now, ObamaCare's unreasonable mandate has placed them in a bind: 
violate the tenets of their faith or be fined, fined by the Federal 
Government, fined by ObamaCare, fined $100 per employee per day. That 
is what the fine works out to be. Unbelievably, it would be cheaper to 
strip their employees of health care coverage altogether and pay a 
single $2,000 fine per employee per year. That is what you find in the 
20,000 pages of regulation, in the 2,700 pages of the President's 
health care law.
  That is not what these family businesses want to do. They really want 
to do the right thing and take care of the hardworking men and women 
who are in their employment.
  If these family businesses are forced to close or drop health care 
for their employees, it will be the employees and their families who 
are made to suffer.
  This mandate is just another flawed part of a terribly flawed law, 
and Americans are growing tired of having to cope with it. Fifty-nine 
percent of the country opposes the contraception mandate because they 
know what the Greens and the Hahns know. This is a country founded on 
religious liberty, and that freedom of conscience is a cherished 
American tradition. The American people know that and they value that; 
they value that liberty and they value that tradition.
  The Obama administration has already doled out special exemptions to 
100 million health care plans from this mandate, and for every reason 
under the sun except religious liberty. In fact, the HHS mandate only 
explicitly contains a religious exemption for churches and their 
affiliates. The Obama administration even expects hospitals and 
religious nonprofits to abide by the mandate without complaint, as if 
the very founding principles of these organizations aren't outright 
violated by paying for life-ending contraceptives.
  Unless it is a religious institution, the Obama administration seems 
to think no organization, not even a charity, is allowed to exercise 
the right of conscience, unless it is granted a special waiver from the 
administration, of course. The administration: What the government 
gives, the government can delay, and the government can take away. That 
is their plan.
  It is my hope the Court will act to uphold the protections inherent 
in the First Amendment, respect America's long-held tradition to right 
of conscience, and let these families operate their businesses in 
accordance with their religious beliefs and tenets.

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