[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15847-15858]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF ESTABLISHING A SELECT INVESTIGATIVE 
             PANEL OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 461 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 461

       Resolved, That there is hereby established a Select 
     Investigative Panel of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
     (hereinafter ``select panel'').
       Sec. 2. (a) The select panel shall be composed of not more 
     than 13 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner 
     appointed by the Speaker, of whom not more than five shall be 
     appointed on the recommendation of the minority leader. Any 
     vacancy in the select panel shall be filled in the same 
     manner as the original appointment.
       (b) Each member appointed to the select panel shall be 
     treated as though a member of the Committee on Energy and 
     Commerce for purposes of the select panel.
       (c) No member may serve on the select panel in an ex 
     officio capacity.
       (d) The Speaker shall designate as chair of the select 
     panel a member elected to the Committee on Energy and 
     Commerce.
       Sec. 3. (a) The select panel is authorized and directed to 
     conduct a full and complete investigation and study and issue 
     a final report of its findings (and such interim reports as 
     it may deem necessary) regarding--

[[Page 15848]]

       (1) medical procedures and business practices used by 
     entities involved in fetal tissue procurement;
       (2) any other relevant matters with respect to fetal tissue 
     procurement;
       (3) Federal funding and support for abortion providers;
       (4) the practices of providers of second and third 
     trimester abortions, including partial birth abortion and 
     procedures that may lead to a child born alive as a result of 
     an attempted abortion;
       (5) medical procedures for the care of a child born alive 
     as a result of an attempted abortion; and
       (6) any changes in law or regulation necessary as a result 
     of any findings made under this subsection.
       (b) The chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce shall 
     cause any such report to be printed and made publicly 
     available in electronic form.
       Sec. 4.  Rule XI and the rules of the Committee on Energy 
     and Commerce shall apply to the select panel in the same 
     manner as a subcommittee except as follows:
       (1) The chair of the select panel may authorize and issue 
     subpoenas pursuant to clause 2(m) of rule XI in the 
     investigation and study conducted pursuant to section 3, 
     including for the purpose of taking depositions.
       (2) The chair of the select panel, upon consultation with 
     the ranking minority member, may order the taking of 
     depositions, under oath and pursuant to notice or subpoena, 
     by a member of the select panel or a counsel of the select 
     panel. Such depositions shall be governed by the regulations 
     issued by the chair of the Committee on Rules pursuant to 
     section 3(b)(2) of House Resolution 5, One Hundred Fourteenth 
     Congress, and printed in the Congressional Record. The select 
     panel shall be deemed to be a committee for purposes of such 
     regulations.
       (3) The chair of the select panel may, after consultation 
     with the ranking minority member, recognize--
       (A) members of the select panel to question a witness for 
     periods longer than five minutes as though pursuant to clause 
     2(j)(2)(B) of rule XI; and
       (B) staff of the select panel to question a witness as 
     though pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(C) of rule XI.
       Sec. 5.  Service on the select panel shall not count 
     against the limitations in clause 5(b)(2)(A) of rule X.
       Sec. 6.  The select panel shall cease to exist 30 days 
     after filing the final report required under section 3.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose 
of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 461 provides for the 
creation of a select investigative panel of the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce. The resolution ensures the House exercises one of its most 
fundamental constitutional responsibilities: oversight of the use of 
Federal funds and compliance with Federal law.
  Undercover investigations have revealed that an organization that 
receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually, Planned 
Parenthood, has also been taking the remains of unborn children and 
selling them to tissue collection firms.
  Its staff has reportedly even altered their medical procedures to 
more effectively dismember unborn children, with one abortionist 
saying: ``We have been very good at getting heart, lung, liver . . . 
because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part, I'm gonna 
basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I 
can get it all intact.''
  There are also allegations that children may have been born alive and 
left to die in order to harvest their tissue.
  How can we in Congress ignore these charges? It is clear that a full 
investigation is not only warranted, but imperative, into these issues. 
Even if these abortion providers somehow managed to comply with all 
Federal laws while dismembering children, it is clear we need to learn 
more about their barbaric tactics so we can amend those laws and ensure 
practices like these never happen again, particularly by organizations 
receiving millions from U.S. taxpayers.
  Madam Speaker, in order to effectively continue the oversight that 
the House has begun into these issues, H. Res. 461 would establish a 
select investigative panel at the Committee on Energy and Commerce to 
provide a full investigation and study into these allegations. This 
panel would be made up of 13 members appointed by the Speaker, 5 of 
which will be by the recommendation of the minority leader and chaired 
by a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Its operations 
will not require any additional appropriations of funds.
  The investigation will be focused on medical procedures and business 
practices of entities involved in fetal tissue procurement; Federal 
funding and support for abortion providers; practices of providers of 
second- and third-trimester abortions, including partial birth 
abortions; medical care provided to children born alive as a result of 
an attempted abortion; and necessary changes in law or regulation 
identified by this investigation.

                              {time}  1600

  This type of investigation or special panel is far from 
unprecedented. When in the majority, my colleagues across the aisle 
formed the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel under the Appropriations 
Committee as well as a Select Committee on Energy Independence and 
Global Warming.
  The creation of a select investigative panel on the issues 
surrounding the sale of unborn children's tissue is clearly within 
precedent, and I hope Members on both sides of the aisle will agree 
that we must get to the bottom of this.
  We have seen video evidence of children being dismembered to 
facilitate the sale of their hearts and other organs. Few issues can 
make us come together like our children. It is my hope that our 
partisan battles will cease for a brief moment to enable us to have a 
full investigation into the fate of children at the most vulnerable 
time of their lives.
  Even for those who support abortion on demand, it should be simple to 
unite behind the principle that organizations receiving hundreds of 
millions in taxpayer funds are subject to congressional oversight, 
particularly when their divisive practices may violate Federal law and 
are, frankly, barbaric.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and the resulting 
investigation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, creating a select committee to investigate Planned 
Parenthood is a journey with no end, a solution in search of a problem.
  Congressman Chaffetz, who is chair of the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, held a hearing 2 weeks ago that lasted 
over 5 hours and relentlessly badgered the president of Planned 
Parenthood, the only witness. Cecile Richards comported herself so 
well. But despite that, we are going to do this again.
  Mr. Chaffetz was asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer after the hearing, ``Is 
there any evidence, in your opinion, that Planned Parenthood has broken 
any law?'' Mr. Chaffetz responded, ``No, I'm not suggesting they broke 
the law.''
  So if they haven't broken the law, what are we doing here? Why do we 
investigate over and over? There are three committees in the House 
right now investigating Planned Parenthood.
  We have spent the day trying to get our colleagues to stop putting on 
these select committees, which do not comply with the way things have 
always been to be fair to both sides of the committee and let Democrats 
have the same kind of benefit of information as they have.
  This one, though, I think is even worse because it gives subpoena 
power to the head of what is basically a subcommittee of the Energy and 
Commerce Committee that is unilateral. We have never seen that before.

[[Page 15849]]

  So why do we spend time and funds and resources investigating an 
organization that we know has done nothing wrong? Because we are 
dealing with a majority obsessed with taking constitutionally protected 
health care away from women, many of whom, I may add, are poor.
  If you add that to the 54, 55 votes to do away with a healthcare bill 
called ObamaCare, apparently, the major obsession of the majority is to 
take health care away from people. That is a little hard to comprehend, 
since we all represent about 750,000 constituents who I don't think 
would be happy about that.
  So every time we attack Planned Parenthood, remember that you are 
attacking one in five American women who have used Planned Parenthood.
  Whether it is a select committee or intentionally misleading data, 
this majority will use any tactic necessary. In fact, the tactics Mr. 
Chaffetz used a week ago were resoundingly discredited. His hearing 
materials--one chart in particular--was so misleading that the press 
called it words that I am not allowed to say on the floor of the House.
  Is that what we expect from this select committee? Let me say, for 
one, it is certainly what I expect. A flippant disregard for truth goes 
against what we have come here to Congress to do. We came to govern, 
uphold the Constitution of the United States, and to do our best 
domestically.
  We are not doing our best domestically. We have no budget. As a 
friend of mine said today, this is a majority that can't build bridges, 
roads, or highways, but can sure build select committees.
  This House majority decides to spend the time, money, and resources 
of the taxpayers attempting to cut funding for the same idea that has 
not happened for 39 years. Remember, this has not happened for 39 
years.
  Since the appearance of the Hyde amendment, not a single Federal 
dollar has been spent on abortion, except in very, very rare cases to 
save the life of the mother. That is right.
  Contrary to what the majority would have the American public believe, 
Planned Parenthood spends zero Federal dollars on abortions today. That 
is what the majority select committee will investigate. For 39 years, 
that law has never been broken.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Mimi Walters).
  Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support 
of House Resolution 461. This resolution would create a select panel to 
investigate a number of claims related to Planned Parenthood's 
activities involving abortion and fetal tissue procurement.
  Like many Americans, I was horrified by the recent videos which 
depicted Planned Parenthood employees callously discussing the 
trafficking and sale of aborted babies' tissues and organs.
  As a mother of four, I know that nothing is more sacred than the gift 
of human life, and any organization that puts a price on unborn 
children must be held accountable.
  As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I am actively involved 
in the House investigation examining the atrocities committed by 
Planned Parenthood. While we are continuing to gather information and 
determine the exact nature of the organization's actions, one thing is 
certain. These practices represent a blatant disregard for innocent 
life, and they must be stopped.
  By establishing a select panel, we can ensure that we have the proper 
tools and time needed to uncover the truth, bring accountability to the 
organization, and justice to the most innocent among us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe of Texas). The time of the 
gentlewoman has expired.
  Ms. FOXX. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.
  Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California. I urge my colleagues to support this 
measure and to stand with me in the fight to defend innocent human 
life.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the distinguished ranking 
member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as well as 
the Select Benghazi Committee.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  As the ranking member of the Select Committee on Benghazi and the 
House Oversight Committee, I rise in strong opposition to this proposal 
by House Republicans to establish yet another new select panel to ramp 
up their baseless and politically motivated attacks against Planned 
Parenthood.
  Last week two senior Republicans, both of whom are now competing to 
become the next Speaker of the House, made stunning admissions on 
national television within 24 hours of each other.
  First, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy admitted that House Republicans 
established the Benghazi Select Committee to use millions of dollars in 
taxpayer funds to damage Hillary Clinton's bid for President.
  The next day the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Chairman 
Chaffetz, admitted on national television that there is no evidence 
that Planned Parenthood has violated any laws, despite months of 
investigations.
  Let me repeat that. The chairman of the chief investigative committee 
that has been investigating Planned Parenthood for months admitted on 
national television that there is no evidence that Planned Parenthood 
violated any laws. His admission is consistent with the findings of 
multiple State investigations in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania, Missouri, and South Dakota, all of which have cleared 
Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing.
  I ask my colleagues, if the top investigator in the House of 
Representatives says there is no evidence against Planned Parenthood, 
why in the world are we considering a proposal to set up a new select 
panel? I think the answer is the same here as it was with Benghazi. It 
is simply politics.
  These stark Republican admissions obviously argue against continuing 
with these taxpayer-funded political attacks. Yet, House Republicans 
are proposing exactly the opposite.
  They have already squandered more than $4.5 million on the Benghazi 
Select Committee in one of the longest, least productive, and most 
partisan congressional investigations in history.
  Now they want to use the same terrible model to attack the rights of 
millions of women across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for 
cancer screenings, breast exams, and other critical healthcare services 
every year.
  Planned Parenthood has cooperated with every aspect of the 
congressional investigations to date. They have produced tens of 
thousands of pages of documents. Planned Parenthood president Cecile 
Richards testified voluntarily for nearly 5 hours before the Oversight 
Committee. Even Chairman Chaffetz conceded that she has been ``very 
cooperative with the investigation.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. So, again, why do we need this new panel? Based on 
Planned Parenthood's exemplary record of cooperation, the tens of 
thousands of pages of documents the organization has produced in 
response to congressional requests, and the lack of any evidence that 
the group has violated any laws, there is simply no legitimate basis to 
adopt this proposal.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is those Members across the aisle who raise the issue 
of Benghazi that are playing politics by trying to distract Americans 
from the actual issue we are debating today.
  The purpose of this resolution is to establish a select panel 
consistent with past precedent under Democrat majorities to ensure that 
this House conducts a thorough investigation into the practices 
surrounding fetal tissue procurement and federally funded organizations 
that participate in these practices.

[[Page 15850]]

  Taxpayers deserve to know what their hard-earned dollars fund. It is 
incumbent upon us, as Representatives, to ensure that Federal funds are 
directed only to organizations that operate fully within the law.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina 
(Mrs. Ellmers).
  Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman 
from North Carolina for allowing me to speak on the floor today during 
this rule debate.
  As a sitting member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I am proud 
to see my committee taking the lead on the investigation of Planned 
Parenthood. As a woman, a nurse, and a mother, I have fully supported 
the decision to defund Planned Parenthood. But as a representative of 
the people, our responsibilities are more than that. We have a 
responsibility to ask questions that will produce answers.
  Our constituents deserve to know how this organization is using 
Federal funds, and they deserve to know which medical services they are 
actually providing to women. In forming this panel, we will begin 
finding the facts and hold Planned Parenthood accountable.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to 
the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), the distinguished ranking 
member of the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this 
resolution.
  As a member of the Benghazi panel, I think what we have learned from 
the Benghazi panel is that this House majority is not to be trusted 
when it comes to forming special investigatory panels. Basically, they 
form them for purely partisan reasons, as Representative McCarthy 
admitted just last week.
  The second point here is one that has been made repeatedly. There is 
no evidence whatsoever that Planned Parenthood has violated the law.
  So what exactly is it exactly that we are investigating? Even the 
chairman of the House Committee on Oversight has admitted there is no 
evidence that Planned Parenthood has violated the law.
  Third, there is a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 
In fact, just about every committee in Congress has an oversight 
function.
  So why don't we use that instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on 
something like the Benghazi Committee, which is admittedly breaking all 
kind of records in terms of wasting taxpayer dollars? But we don't need 
to pile on with another wasteful committee.

                              {time}  1615

  If you want to investigate this, do it through the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee. Do it through the existing committees.
  Lastly, it is incredibly important to point out that Planned 
Parenthood performs enormously important services to women in this 
country. They provide much-needed health care to poor women and much-
needed family planning to poor women.
  You should have a family when you want a family. If you are not 
prepared to take care of children, then family planning makes an 
enormous amount of sense. In fact, what it does is it prevents 
abortions. It stops women from getting pregnant when they are not ready 
to have children. It goes after precisely the issue that the majority 
is most concerned about, to prevent abortions.
  Planned Parenthood deserves our support, not another wasteful, 
taxpayer-funded, partisan investigation.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the House committees who have investigated this issue 
thus far have done good work, but it is clear that much remains to be 
done. At Energy and Commerce in particular, the Subcommittee on 
Oversight and Investigations has the task of conducting meaningful and 
necessary oversight of several other matters within the jurisdiction of 
the committee.
  Given the large number of expected documents to be reviewed and 
interviews to be conducted, the select investigative panel will permit 
this necessary investigation to continue without impairing the other 
important work of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee at the 
Energy and Commerce Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee 
(Mrs. Blackburn).
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina for her leadership on this issue.
  She spoke a little bit earlier about the structure and the 
organization of the investigative panel, and I want to go back to that 
and help to make the point because sometimes I think, in our passion 
and the emotions as we talk about bills, we begin to attribute to 
legislation jurisdiction that may not be there.
  This is a small bill. It is very explicit in how the energy of the 
investigative panel is going to be utilized. There are six items that 
they are being tasked to investigate.
  Number 1, medical procedures and business practices used by entities 
involved in fetal tissue procurement. We know there are questions that 
surround this, whether it is a not-for-profit or a for-profit entity.
  Number 2, any other matters with respect to fetal tissue procurement.
  Number 3, Federal funding and support for abortion providers.
  Number 4, the practices of providers of second- and third-trimester 
abortions, including partial-birth abortion procedures that may lead to 
a child born alive as a result of an attempted abortion.
  Number 5, medical procedures for the care of a child born alive as a 
result of an attempted abortion.
  And number 6 will be any changes in law or regulation necessary as a 
result of any of the findings which are there from the committee.
  I want to clearly state this is about getting answers of how we treat 
and protect life in this country.
  The select panel will act to centralize the investigations that are 
at the Energy and Commerce Committee, Judiciary and Oversight 
Committees, and bring it all under one umbrella.
  Over the past several weeks, we have had lots of serious questions. 
They are troubling questions that have been asked. I think that the 
investigations we have had have raised a lot of those questions.
  It is imperative that we centralize these operations and bring it 
together under one umbrella.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
because I have some important information that I got recently that I 
want to bring to my colleagues' critical attention.
  The chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
Congressman Jason Chaffetz, has in his possession right now a computer 
hard drive that contains videos produced by David Daleiden, the head of 
the group that tried to entrap Planned Parenthood.
  Those videos are official committee records, but Chairman Chaffetz is 
refusing to give the Democratic Members a copy of those videos.
  On September 22, Chairman Chaffetz issued a subpoena to Mr. Daleiden, 
who is the Executive Director of the Center for Medical Progress. The 
subpoena demanded that Mr. Daleiden provide all of his unedited video 
footage.
  We believe that the videos will show how Mr. Daleiden deceptively 
edited his videotapes to distort the truth, but those tapes are being 
hidden away. It appears that the Republicans do not want the Democrats 
to be able to see these videos.
  Chairman Chaffetz's subpoena explicitly required that a copy of the 
videos be provided to both the Republicans and Democrats. Specifically, 
paragraph 18 of the subpoena's schedule instructions stated, ``Two sets 
of documents shall be delivered, one set to the Majority Staff, and one 
set to the Minority Staff.''
  On Friday, September 25, 2015, Mr. Daleiden delivered those videos to 
the committee, but provided them only to the Republicans. He did not 
provide a copy to Democrats, a direct violation of the subpoena.

[[Page 15851]]

  Chairman Chaffetz and his staff members then refused to open the 
package until today, two weeks later, and now the chairman's staff is 
refusing to allow Democrat Members to have a copy of the videos that 
are only in his possession.
  So I have a couple of questions I need to ask here. On what authority 
are the Republicans refusing to provide the Democrat Members of the 
body a copy of the videos?
  And we know that Republicans actually have no authority to do that.
  By the chairman's own subpoena, Democrats are entitled to a copy. 
That is explicit in his subpoena.
  Another question that we must ask of our colleagues is: Last night at 
the Rules Committee, Representative Marsha Blackburn said the intent of 
establishing a select committee is ``to bring all the work under one 
panel.''
  Now, we know that Energy and Commerce has a hearing scheduled for 
tomorrow, according to one of the members. What we need to know is: 
Will Chairman Chaffetz be permitted to continue his investigation of 
Planned Parenthood if the select committee is in existence?
  And how will that bring all the work under one panel if he is allowed 
to continue his own investigation if the Energy and Commerce Committee 
are allowed to bring theirs?
  I would like to know if the chairman would assure Members of this 
body that he plans to immediately provide a copy of these videos to 
Democrats, as required by his own subpoena, so that all Members of the 
committee have equal access.
  And I also need to know whether the chairman will be required under 
this resolution to immediately provide the videos to the new select 
panel today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Van Hollen), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on the 
Budget.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for 
bringing those troubling revelations to the attention of the House. It 
shows what a sham process this has been from the beginning.
  Mr. Speaker, we have got a lot of work to do in this Congress. We 
have got to come together with a budget agreement to keep the 
government open, to invest in our economy, to deal with modernizing our 
transportation infrastructure in this country.
  Yet, what are Republicans bringing to the floor? Another measure to 
create another so-called select committee to investigate Planned 
Parenthood, when, as we have heard today, three other House committees 
have already done that. And what has been the sum total of that 
investigation?
  Well, the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee 
told us on national television when he was asked if Planned Parenthood 
had broken any laws, ``No, I'm not suggesting they broke the law.''
  So when you don't get the answer you want, what do you do? Create 
another special committee.
  Rather than creating a special committee, the Government and 
Oversight Committee owes an apology to Cecile Richards, the president 
of Planned Parenthood, for dragging her through a committee process 
that was disrespectful, where the chairman of the committee began with 
a chart that PolitiFact determined was a pants-on-fire 
misrepresentation. That is the most untrue ranking you can get from 
PolitiFact, Pants on Fire.
  That was the gist of that hearing. And now we are learning today 
possible nondisclosure of certain documents. So what is happening here?
  As the late Yogi Berra would say, ``This is deja vu all over again.''
  They had many committees investigating Benghazi to try to get to the 
bottom of a tragedy in the House and the Senate, and all those 
committees concluded there was no wrongdoing.
  And so what did our Republican colleague do? Spent $5 million on a 
special committee on Benghazi, which, the Majority Leader just 
announced the other day on national television, was simply about 
politics, simply about hurting Secretary Clinton. So that is what this 
is all about.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman another 1 minute.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I want to thank the ranking member.
  So that is what this all boils down to. When committees in the House 
and the Senate investigated Benghazi--and not just any committees--the 
Defense Committee, the Intelligence Committees in the House and the 
Senate--they all concluded that the allegations were false, that it was 
a terrible, awful tragedy in Benghazi, but nobody was involved in any 
wrongdoing.
  When they didn't get the answer they wanted then, Special Committee 
on Benghazi, which, as we heard, turned out to be all about politics. 
And that is exactly what is happening now with Planned Parenthood.
  Mr. Chaffetz just announced the results of all the hearings on 
Planned Parenthood. No violation of the law.
  And so what do you do when you don't get the answer you want? Let's 
spend more taxpayer money on another special committee. This is a 
kangaroo court. This is a misuse of public funds.
  So, Mr. Speaker, let's get on with the business of the House. Let's 
focus on the economy. Let's come together with a budget agreement to 
keep the government open.
  Let's do the real work of the American people and not run a McCarthy-
like hearing against Planned Parenthood and women's health. Let's do 
what we should be doing, Mr. Speaker.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution.
  This summer 10 videos were released that showed high-level executives 
at major organizations, including Planned Parenthood, StemExpress, 
Advanced BioResources, speaking candidly about the activities that 
violate Federal law.
  They speak of using ``less crunchy abortion techniques'' to preserve 
organs, of ``crushing'' certain body parts in order to spare others, 
and of children killed after they ``fell out,'' that is, after being 
born alive.
  It is interesting to hear people criticize the videos that haven't 
even watched the videos. These 10 videos constitute sufficient grounds 
for probable cause that criminal activity has occurred.
  Subsequently, thanks to the leadership of the Judiciary Committee, 
Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the Energy and Commerce 
Committee, the House has begun to investigate the scope and prevalence 
of these activities.
  Congressional discovery has already yielded important and revealing 
testimony. This House, as a body, has already voted to stop giving 
taxpayer funding to abortion providers and to ban late-term abortions, 
which are the abortions that yield the highly developed organs sought 
for medical experimentation.
  Deniers of the unborn child's humanity or their human right to life 
have tried to ignore the clear evidence already uncovered about fetal 
organ procurement. The deniers have tried to discredit the videos that 
they are too horrified to watch. The videos speak for themselves.
  The deniers have tried to create distractions. They insult pro-life 
Americans. They make excuses. No wonder, then, that the deniers oppose 
this panel. They don't want the truth to come out.
  Whether you consider yourself pro-life or pro-choice, you should want 
the truth to come out. This debate ought to be settled by the facts.
  It is Congress' duty to the American people that we find out the 
truth, especially as it pertains to the deaths of millions of innocent 
Americans and half a billion dollars in annual taxpayer funding. That 
will be the task and purpose of this select committee.
  We, as a legislative body, rely on good information. We ought to base 
our actions on the facts.
  I urge support for the resolution.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I will insert into the Record a copy of a 
letter to Speaker John Boehner from Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Rosa DeLauro, 
and myself on this issue.


[[Page 15852]]




                                     House of Representatives,

                                  Washington, DC, October 5, 2015.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Mr. Speaker: We are very concerned about the hearing that 
     House Republicans conducted in the Oversight and Government 
     Reform Committee involving Planned Parenthood on September 
     29, 2015. Notwithstanding the absence of any wrongdoing, its 
     President, Ms. Cecile Richards was cross-examined and 
     accosted with personal questions and accusations for 4\1/2\ 
     hours while constantly being interrupted. This hearing was 
     not ``oversight'' it was a witch hunt against her personally 
     and an ideological attack on a critical provider of women's 
     health care.
       It became apparent that the Republicans' intentions were 
     not to investigate Planned Parenthood's receipt of federal 
     dollars when shortly after her opening remarks Ms. Richards 
     was questioned about her compensation which had no relevance 
     to the hearing. Never before has a witness had her salary 
     attacked, not even when the Committee has questioned the CEOs 
     of companies that have actually been found guilty of breaking 
     Federal law.
       We sincerely believe that the Committee should extend an 
     apology to Ms. Richards and refrain from such ideologically 
     based personal attacks of its witnesses in the future 
     particularly because there was no basis to the allegations 
     from the outset.
       In fact, Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason 
     Chaffetz, who conducted the hearing, admitted that he had 
     identified no evidence that Planned Parenthood has violated 
     any laws during a recent appearance on CNN's Situation Room 
     with Wolf Blitzer.
       On October 1st, the Pulitzer Prize winning PolitiFact News 
     Service awarded Chairman Chaffetz, a rating of ``Pants on 
     Fire'' for springing a highly misleading chart on Planned 
     Parenthood head Cecile Richards during her testimony at the 
     recent hearing. The chart falsely suggested that Planned 
     Parenthood performs more abortions than cancer screenings and 
     prevention services.
       PolitiFact found that Chaffetz's chart ``suggests a 
     conclusion that's flat wrong.'' It cited numerous experts who 
     concluded that his chart is ``a damn lie,'' ``ethically 
     wrong,'' ``purposeful deception,'' ``scandalous,'' 
     ``propagandized,'' ``an egregious example of using a chart to 
     mislead,'' and ``absolutely misleading, and intentionally 
     so.''
       Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood are 
     clearly political and greatly misguided. The majority of 
     Americans recognize that Planned Parenthood is an 
     organization that plays a vital role in providing health care 
     to women across the country. One in five women will use 
     Planned Parenthood for primary and preventative care in their 
     lifetime, and in 103 counties with Planned Parenthood 
     centers, Planned Parenthood is the sole provider of these 
     services. Republicans would eliminate the ability for those 
     women across the country to get basic preventative care that 
     over a lifetime can be life-saving.
       After a two month investigation, conducted by three 
     different House Committees, considering tens of thousands of 
     pages of documents and multiple hearings, there is no 
     evidence to substantiate Republican claims of illegal 
     activity by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has been 
     the victim of an entrapment scheme conducted over three years 
     in which an opposing political organization actively lied and 
     used deceptive tactics against Planned Parenthood's 
     employees. Clearly Planned Parenthood, and its President, was 
     the subject of a hostile hearing in the absence of evidence 
     of any wrongdoing.
       We sincerely hope that you direct the Chairs of House 
     Committees to refrain from conducting this type of hearing in 
     the future and to abandon any thoughts of establishing a 
     Subcommittee to pursue these allegations that the Chairman of 
     the Oversight Committee admitted have not been substantiated.
           Sincerely,
     Chris Van Hollen,
       Member of Congress.
     Rosa DeLauro,
       Member of Congress.
     Louise Slaughter,
       Member of Congress.

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

                              {time}  1630

  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill, which is just 
another political stunt to put the government between a woman and her 
healthcare provider. This is yet another instance where the House 
majority is exploiting their position to use hard-earned taxpayer 
dollars to fund partisan, baseless smear campaigns. Today we are asked 
to vote to do it again.
  Despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing through multiple 
congressional committee hearings, including those conducted by the 
Energy and Commerce Committee, despite numerous State-level 
investigations that have cleared Planned Parenthood of these charges, 
and despite reports from outside experts that there is no evidence of 
illegal activity, the House seems insistent on doubling down on this 
bad idea to waste taxpayer money and time on yet another fabricated 
investigation.
  It is time to say ``no more.'' There are far too many real issues 
facing our country that Congress should, instead, be addressing. Vote 
``no'' on this resolution.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, last month, Pope Francis admonished a joint session of 
Congress to follow the Golden Rule, to ``do unto others as you would 
have them do unto you,'' and said that the Golden Rule compels us to 
``protect and defend human life at every stage of development'' and 
that ``it is wrong to remain silent and look the other way.''
  Establishing this select committee is the right thing to do. We 
simply can't remain silent or look the other way. Instead, Congress 
needs to thoroughly investigate profoundly disturbing conduct by top-
level Planned Parenthood officials. Caught on tape--and I have watched 
all the tapes, Planned Parenthood's top leadership, not interns or 
lower level employees, showed callous disregard for children's lives 
while gleefully calculating the financial gain derived from the sale of 
baby body parts.
  We already know that every day Planned Parenthood dismembers or 
chemically poisons to death approximately 900 unborn babies. Since 
1973, more than 7 million children have been violently killed in 
Planned Parenthood clinics.
  Now, because of the CMP videos, Planned Parenthood's involvement in 
trafficking in baby body parts has been revealed. In one clip, Dr. 
Deborah Nucatola, senior director of Planned Parenthood Federation of 
America's Medical Services says on camera: ``We have been very good at 
getting heart, lung, liver, and because we know that, I am not going to 
crush that part. I am going to basically crush below, I am going to 
crush above, and I am going to see if I can get it all intact . . . I 
would say a lot of people want liver; and for that reason, most 
providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they will 
know where they are putting their forceps.''
  Ladies and gentlemen of the House, this is a dismemberment abortion--
arms, legs, torsos, decapitation--but the prized body part is 
preserved, pulled out intact, and then sold to brokers.
  This needs to be done. We haven't lost our sense of being shocked.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), a member of the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce.
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this wasteful maneuver by 
Republicans in Congress to establish yet another investigative 
committee at a cost of untold millions of taxpayer dollars.
  It is unconscionable to establish such a committee without any basis 
to do so and at a time when Congress should be focused on higher wages, 
modern infrastructure, and the basic responsibility to pass an 
appropriations plan for America. But no, action on all of these 
pocketbook issues for American families and businesses is being shoved 
aside by Republicans in Congress for a witch hunt based upon false You 
Tube videos that are full of distortions and misinformation.
  Republican attacks on Planned Parenthood and women's health care is 
part of an unfortunate pattern of assaults over the last two decades. 
But this latest maneuver borders on an abuse of power. At best, it is 
an attempt by Republican leaders to distract the American public from 
their failure to do their job.

[[Page 15853]]

  I urge my colleagues to defeat this bill and get back to the business 
of hardworking Americans.
  Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, what is unconscionable is the callous disregard for 
unborn babies that has been exhibited for far too long in our culture 
and which has been brought home to us full force by these videos that 
we have seen.
  Mr. Speaker, the organizations and providers to be investigated by 
this select panel maintain a culture with a callous disregard for life.
  Recently, a series of undercover videos have exposed in horrifying 
detail what Planned Parenthood values. They show the organization's 
leaders admitting to haggling over the prices for the limbs and organs 
of aborted children; callously recounting the harvesting of a brain 
from a fully intact, aborted child; admitting that clinics collect 
``specimens'' without informed consent and that abortionists will alter 
the procedure to keep intact in-demand organs.
  These videos make clear that neither women's health nor the well-
being of their tiny victims will stand between Planned Parenthood and 
profit.
  Since the release of these videos, the big money behind the pro-
abortion political machine has kicked into high gear to obfuscate what 
services organizations like Planned Parenthood truly provide.
  We hear about breast cancer screenings, but not a single Planned 
Parenthood clinic has a mammogram machine. We have heard repeatedly 
that abortions account for only 3 percent of Planned Parenthood 
services. The Washington Post Fact Checker assigned this data point, 
along with others pushed by Planned Parenthood, three Pinocchios. It is 
also clear from Planned Parenthood's own annual reports and testimony 
to Congress that a significant portion of its annual nongovernmental 
revenue comes from abortion.
  The undercover videos alone would merit full investigation and 
review, but the problems at Planned Parenthood are not limited to those 
discussed in the series by the Center for Medical Progress.
  We know that Planned Parenthood clinics in several States have failed 
to report sexual abuse of young girls, enabling and empowering those 
who would exploit them:
  Just this year, the Alabama Department of Public Health found that a 
clinic in Mobile performed two abortions on a 14-year-old girl in a 
single 4-month period without reporting suspected sexual abuse.
  Just last year, an Arizona Planned Parenthood counselor intentionally 
miscoded the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by a serial predator 
as a consensual encounter.
  Also last year, a Denver clinic failed to report the rape of a 13-
year-old girl by her stepfather, who brought her to the clinic for an 
abortion.
  Mr. Speaker, the list of outrageous acts by these abortion providers 
goes on and on. It is past time that we investigate and understand just 
what type of organizations our tax dollars are subsidizing.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say what any 
woman in this room could say: your doctor determines whether you need 
to go to a radiologist to get a mammogram. None of us get that in our 
doctor's office, unless it is a most unusual place, and I know you 
gentlemen wouldn't know that.
  I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. 
Schakowsky), an Energy and Commerce Committee member.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the 
creation of a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood.
  Let's be clear: this is just another political witch hunt, this time 
targeting women, their trusted organization, and women's health.
  Now, let's talk about the Republican vision for women of America. 
Just look at their record. First, they passed a budget that completely 
eliminated title X--that is contraception--the only Federal grant 
program dedicated to family planning, and slashed funding by 80 percent 
for the teen pregnancy initiative by over 80 percent.
  Then we find that last week the Republicans proved that this witch 
hunt is not just aimed at Planned Parenthood. They passed a bill that 
threatened funding for every doctor, clinic, and hospital that dares to 
participate in abortion services. They also want to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance companies to cover 
maternity care. They don't want to expand Medicaid, which currently 
covers one out of every three births and more than 43 million children. 
In fact, they want to turn Medicaid into a block grant program. And 
Republicans have proposed huge cuts to education.
  I want to say to my Republican friends: Be careful what you wish for. 
The women of America are watching.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentlewoman from New York.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us have the memory of the back alley abortions 
and the many dead young women who cried alone without any help. None of 
us want that. None of us want women to have to make that choice. But we 
know the Supreme Court has established as the law of the land Roe v. 
Wade as a matter of choice, and that this procedure is a medical 
procedure.
  Planned Parenthood does not sell body parts. Planned Parenthood has a 
very infinitesimal amount of fetal research. Planned Parenthood is not 
the person who ganged up on them and planned these horribly disorderly, 
if you will, videos and stole the ID of his high school friend to do 
these horrible videos.
  Abortions have gone down. And so we come again to another Benghazi-
like committee where we are ignoring the law. We are allowing 
unilateral subpoena, even if they are consulting, where we are looking 
at abortions that are done, but are not done by Federal money.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to vote against this bill that 
is doing nothing, Mr. Speaker, but politicizing a Presidential 
candidate and attacking women--attacking women, attacking health care.
  Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, 
and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, 
I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 461, which would establish a 
Select Investigative Panel of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
  The ostensible purpose of this Select Investigative Panel is to 
investigate and report on all issues related to medical procedures and 
practices involving fetal tissue donation and procurement; federal 
funding and support for abortion providers; and late-term abortions.
  But make no mistake, the Republican majority's real purpose in 
establishing this panel is (1) to open another front in their ongoing 
War Against Women, (2) impede women in the exercise of their right to 
make their own choices when it comes to their reproductive health, and 
(3) to persecute, smear, and demonize Planned Parenthood.
  We know this from our experience with the so-called ``Benghazi 
Committee,'' which the Republican leadership claimed was a nonpartisan 
inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding the 2012 tragedy 
in Libya which claimed the lives of four brave and heroic Americans.
  We know now, as confirmed by the Majority Leader and the Speaker-
apparent, that the Benghazi Committee was in reality part of 
politically motivated strategy to disparage and damage the former 
Secretary of State and leading candidate for the Democratic 
presidential nomination that has wasted $4.5 million of the taxpayers' 
money.
  The Chairman of the Benghazi Committee sent to Committee Members an 
investigative plan that set out monthly hearings with all the different 
agencies involved in preparing for and responding to the attacks in 
Benghazi, including the State Department, the Defense Department, and 
the Intelligence Community.
  But after the New York Times' email story broke on March 2, however, 
the Chairman completely abandoned this plan and began focusing almost 
exclusively on Hillary Clinton.
  Since then, the Committee has not held any of the hearings on his 
schedule, and his upcoming hearing with Hillary Clinton is the only 
hearing now scheduled.

[[Page 15854]]

  Abandoned are plans for hearings that were to have been held in April 
with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary Leon Panetta.
  The Committee has never held even one public hearing with anyone from 
the Department of Defense.
  The only hearing the Committee has held with an intelligence 
official, was with the CIA's head of Legislative Affairs regarding the 
status of document production.
  Mr. Speaker, with so many pressing challenges facing our nation, 
wasting time and taxpayer money on another partisan witch hunt is a 
luxury we simply cannot afford.
  The structure and powers to be given the Select Investigative Panel 
does not inspire any confidence that it will operate in a fair and 
impartial manner.
  For example, the composition of the committee is lopsided in favor of 
the majority (8 Republican; 5 Democrat), instead of more equally 
divided as select committees usually are comprised.
  Second, H. Res. 461 gives the chairman of the select panel subpoena 
power and deposition authority, including the authority to order the 
taking of depositions by a member of the select panel or the panel's 
counsel.
  Third, the resolution authorized the chairman to recognize members to 
question witness for periods longer than the traditional five minutes 
and to recognize staff to question witnesses.
  Taken together, these unusual powers are susceptible to abuse and are 
valued tools to any party wishing to conduct a fishing expedition as 
opposed to a dispassionate search for facts.
  Mr. Speaker, let me save our Republican colleagues some time by 
pointing out the facts that an objective, fair-minded inquiry would 
reveal.
  In 2011, approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the U.S., 
down from an estimated 1.21 million abortions in 2008, 1.29 million in 
2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996.
  Based on available state-level data, an estimated 984,000 abortions 
took place in 2013--down from an estimated 1.02 million abortions in 
2012.
  Fetal tissue research has been scientifically accepted since the 
Reagan Administration.
  In 1988 the Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel (or the 
Blue Ribbon Commission) sought to separate the question of ethics of 
abortion from the question ethics of using fetal tissue from legal 
elective abortions for medical research.
  The report of this commission laid the foundation for the NIH Health 
Revitalization Act of 1993 (which passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan 
support), prohibits the payment or receipt of money or any other form 
of valuable consideration for fetal tissue, regardless of whether the 
program to which the tissue is being provided is funded or not.
  The law contains a limited exception that permits reimbursement for 
actual expenses (e.g. storage, processing, transportation, etc.) of the 
tissue.
  These fees generally amount to less than $l00.
  Less than 1% of Planned Parenthood chapters participate in this area 
of research.
  Planned Parenthood reports revenue by source (either government or 
non-government) rather than the manner of disbursement (income versus 
grants and contracts).
  Payments from Medicaid managed care plans are listed as ``Government 
Health Services Grants and Reimbursements'' to reflect the ultimate 
source of the funds.
  Planned Parenthood spends about $1.1 billion annually on 11.4 million 
services, 83% of which is spent on research, client services and 
education.
  Client services are divided into six categories: Cancer Prevention 
and Screenings, STI Testing, Contraception, Abortion Services, Other 
Women's Health Services & Other Services.
  According to Planned Parenthood financial statements from 2009-2014, 
86% of Planned Parenthood's Services fall under the categories of 
Cancer Prevention and Screenings (12-16%), STI Testing for men and 
women (35-41%), and Contraception (32-35%).
  Only about 3% of its services fall under the Abortion category 
nationally.
  Additionally, Planned Parenthood is already prohibited from spending 
federal funds on abortion services anyway.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 461 is an irresponsible diversion from 
tackling and addressing the following critical challenges facing this 
Congress and the American people, and if unresolved pose grave threats 
to our economy and communities across the country:
  The Highway & Transit Trust Fund expires on October 29, endangering 
good paying jobs and critical construction projects throughout America;
  Treasury Secretary Lew has notified the Congress that the debt limit 
is expected to be reached on November 5 and action must be taken to 
raise the limit to protect the full faith & credit of the United States 
and prevent interest rates for mortgages, student loans, credit cards 
and car payments soaring;
  Funding to keep the government open expires on December 11 and 
Congress must find a way to keep the government open in the face of 
irresponsible opposition from 151 Republicans who voted to shut down 
the government rather than allow women access to affordable family 
planning and life-saving preventive health care.
  In addition, American small businesses and manufacturers continue to 
suffer from Republicans' refusal to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.
  Mr. Speaker, we have far more important things to do than waste more 
time and taxpayer money on another partisan attempt to deprive women of 
their right to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive 
health that has been recognized as constitutionally guaranteed since 
1973 by the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
  I oppose H. Res. 461 and urge all Members to join me in voting 
against this wasteful and irresponsible measure.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, this charge laid about subpoena powers is a 
red herring. Every House committee holds subpoena power, though the 
structure differs depending on the committee. Granting this standard 
authority to the select panel ensures its ability to investigate 
thoroughly the issues within its scope. It would make little sense to 
convene a select investigative panel with limited investigative power.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is left on 
both sides.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York has 10 minutes 
remaining. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 11 minutes 
remaining.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. I thank my friend for yielding 
and for her great leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 461, to create a 
select committee on investigating Planned Parenthood.
  I take very seriously the congressional responsibility to investigate 
wrongdoing and improve transparency, but this panel is not at all about 
due diligence. It is about purely partisan politics, an attempt to 
``Benghazi'' Planned Parenthood.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. Speaker, six States have investigated Planned Parenthood and 
found nothing. Four committee hearings have found nothing. Planned 
Parenthood has handed over tens of thousands of pages of documents to 
Congress, and there has not even been a whiff of wrongdoing. Even the 
chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has said 
he has no evidence of anything unlawful.
  This panel would be a waste of Congress' time and taxpayers' money. I 
urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and stop this relentless crusade 
attacking access to health care for women who desperately need it and 
cannot afford it.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear about the budget for the 
select panel. The resolution does not authorize or appropriate 
additional resources for this panel. It will use existing funds solely.
  Further, one of Congress' most important duties is oversight of how 
scarce funds are spent, and that oversight is a proper use of the 
limited budget the House and its committees receive.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu.)
  Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, here we are again with 
Republicans attacking women and Planned Parenthood on the House floor. 
But now the attacks are taking the form of yet another politically 
inspired committee.

[[Page 15855]]

  As with the Benghazi committee, Republicans are not seeking out truth 
or better policy. Instead, they want to use taxpayer-funded resources 
for a political witch hunt.
  Here are the facts: Abortion today is protected by our Constitution, 
and we have found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood so far in the 
three House investigations that are already taking place.
  Another fact: Planned Parenthood helps women. Every year Planned 
Parenthood provides 2.1 million patients with family counseling and 
contraception. They are trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies from 
occurring in the first place, something that my Republican colleagues 
should support. Let's not use lies and edited tapes to unfairly color 
and bring down this organization. We should be better than that.
  Mr. Speaker, I oppose this committee. I urge my colleagues to vote 
``no.''
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).
  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the 
resolution to create a select committee to investigate Planned 
Parenthood. Well, here we go again. Planned Parenthood is the new 
Benghazi.
  Under the ruse of saving lives, my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle would use the resources of the United States Government to 
pursue their
extreme agenda. The targeting of Planned Parenthood is a gross abuse of 
political power to punish a trusted organization because it provides a 
full array of health services that includes abortion, and it sends a 
chilling message to anybody who would dare to give women choices.
  Mr. Speaker, to quote a well-known political thinker, ``There is no 
greater tyranny, than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law 
and in the name of justice.''
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to House Resolution 461. 
This resolution supposedly establishes a select panel to investigate 
Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue procurement.
  Now, what do we know already, Mr. Speaker? What facts do we know? We 
know that these videos have already been entirely discredited and 
debunked by a team of independent forensic experts. What do we know? We 
know that women have a legal right to a safe and legal abortion.
  What do we know already, Mr. Speaker, while we are investigating 
Planned Parenthood? We know that fetal tissue procurement signed into 
law by the venerated Ronald Reagan provides lifesaving research for 
diseases like Parkinson's, ALS, and others.
  No, Mr. Speaker, you are not trying to find the facts. Instead, this 
is just another pathway to deny a woman a right to a safe and legal 
abortion.
  We already know that the chairman of the Oversight and Government 
Reform Committee said that there is no ``there'' there. We don't need 
to get to the bottom of this. Mr. Speaker, we are already at the bottom 
of this.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. Let me thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for your 
tremendous leadership on this vital issue and so many issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to House Resolution 461, 
which really is nothing more than a politically motivated bill. It 
would establish a select Energy and Commerce Committee to so-call 
investigate Planned Parenthood.
  How outrageous. Let's be clear. This is nothing more than yet another 
attempt to attack Planned Parenthood and undermine a woman's right to 
choose.
  There have already been multiple hearings and committee 
investigations, none of which have resulted in any evidence of 
wrongdoing, and this shameful resolution is the fourth anti-choice vote 
we have had to take in the last month alone.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. We know that Planned Parenthood 
centers are critical to the health of women all across the country. One 
in five women have used Planned Parenthood services at some point in 
her lifetime for vital services like birth control, lifesaving cancer 
screenings, and STI screenings.
  Continuing attempts to restrict access to these health services would 
hurt our most vulnerable women, including low-income women and women of 
color.
  You want to restrict access to family planning, and you want to 
restrict access to safe and legal abortions. Come on. It is time to 
stop this war on women.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).
  Mr. ENGEL. I thank my good friend from New York.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the fourth time in less than 1 month that I have 
been compelled to voice my opposition to a measure attacking women's 
health care.
  This is just what Congress does not need, another polarizing battle 
in Congress. I have been on the Energy and Commerce Committee for 20 
years, and this is the wrong thing to do. This is just absolutely the 
wrong thing to do.
  The American public wants to see us pass a budget, a transportation 
bill, keep the government open, do the Export-Import Bank and other 
things that are important.
  What are we doing, getting into another political brawl? We don't 
need another committee like Benghazi, which should be abolished.
  The Washington Post reported last week that more Americans have 
supported continued Federal funding for Planned Parenthood than opposed 
it in every single public survey taken this year.
  I don't want to infringe on women's rights to choose whatever is 
right between them, their doctor, their family, and their God, and I 
don't think Congress should either.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle talk about wanting smaller 
government. I don't want government to be so big that it intrudes on 
women's privacy and women's health. This is ill-thought and should be 
defeated.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this 
resolution. It is beneath the dignity of this Chamber to participate in 
an ideological witch hunt, especially one based on entirely false 
allegations.
  The chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee 
spent hours last week cross-examining Planned Parenthood's president 
about these claims, and even he has publicly admitted that they have no 
merit. So let us call this proposed committee what it really is, the 
select committee to attack women's health.
  The majority wants to kill Planned Parenthood. If they succeed, many 
low-income women will have nowhere left to go for breast cancer exams, 
Pap smears, and a range of other lifesaving services. So this 
resolution tells these women flat out: We do not care about your health 
care. We do not care if you die.
  The hypocrisy of the majority is breathtaking. One minute they 
condemn all government spending--even on health care for some of our 
poorest families--and now they plan to spend millions of taxpayers' 
dollars on a politically motivated witch hunt.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this disgraceful 
resolution.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), our colleague.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Speaker, I was in my office watching the debate, and I thought,

[[Page 15856]]

well, if I really thought I was innocent, if I really thought there was 
nothing that really went with what the other side is claiming, if I 
really thought I needed to wipe the slate clean, if I really thought 
that sunlight is truly the best antiseptic.
  Forget about the organization. Let's talk about the act. This is one 
of the most repulsive things you can watch. It turns your stomach to 
see our unborn--our born--listen, little boys and little girls being 
dissected and being sold. It is a criminal activity.
  So my question comes down to--and if you read ``Rules for Radicals,'' 
the best way to counteract a charge against you is to go after those 
who are attacking you and make them the bad person.
  I don't understand. In America's House, when we want to have a 
debate, when we want everybody in America to look and say that this was 
fair, we are talking about an investigation that, if we are false, if 
the claims are false, it would wipe the slate clean.
  Most people who think they have been wrongly accused of something 
say, ``Bring the facts out. Let everybody see them. Let's have the 
conversation. Let's have the debate. Let's really determine if this is 
really going on.'' Only someone who is afraid it may go against them 
would say, ``No. No. No. You can't do this.''
  I want to tell you, as far as women are concerned and a war on women, 
I am the father of four children, three boys and one girl. But I have 
ten grandchildren, six girls and four boys. There is not one of them 
that, when it comes to how much I love them, it is gender-selective. I 
love them all in the same way.
  In a country that has always stood for human rights, in a country 
that has always stood for others, for the most vulnerable--and I will 
not disguise it and say it is not what I am. I am from conception to 
natural death. I am in favor of life. I will always be in favor of 
life.
  But to have this debate today and to say that you can't possibly do 
this because it is driven, it is a Republican agenda, because it is a 
war on women, if anything, this is a war for women.
  We have got to protect these people. If there is anything that is a 
preemptive strike in the war on women, it is gender-selective abortion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just ask all Members, not as Republicans and not 
as Democrats, but as members of the human race, and for a House that 
just abhors what is going on around the world and saying that this is 
horrible what is going on and we won't ever let this happen in our 
country, why would we be having this debate today?
  If you really want the slate to be clear, if you really want the 
world to see that there is nothing going on here, then let's have an 
open investigation so, at the end of the day--I don't care what 
organizations--they can walk away and say, ``See, we proved that we 
aren't who they say we are.''
  Mr. Speaker, this is just so simple. Why would you argue against it? 
It actually works to their advantage if it is not true. If it is true, 
then why in the world would we use hard-earned American taxpayer money 
to fund illegal and criminal activity? That is just not who we are as 
Americans.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, since a series of deceptive and highly 
edited videos taken at Planned Parenthood facilities were released to 
the public, three separate congressional committees have leapt to 
conclusions, holding hearings and investigations along the way.
  However, on the subcommittee on which I serve as ranking member and 
which has primary jurisdiction over this matter, we did extensive 
research. We found out that Planned Parenthood broke no laws according 
to an extensive memo prepared by the Democratic committee staff.
  So now what are we going to do? We are going to spend millions of 
taxpayer dollars having another sham committee. That is a ridiculous 
waste of money.
  I have a proposal for all of my colleagues. Let's spend our time 
talking on the things that our constituents want their hard-earned 
taxpayer money spent on: reauthorizing the highway bill, addressing the 
looming expiration of our debt ceiling, not to mention an overdue bill 
for funding the Federal Government. That is what they care about.
  I just want to say once again, for the umpteenth time, for the 
Record, there is no public money spent on abortion. There is no Federal 
money spent on abortion. So what we are talking about right here is a 
totally useless and expensive investigation.

                              {time}  1700

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding.
  A sure sign that the Republican Planned Parenthood hearing failed is 
that they are now embracing their default, the much-discredited 
Benghazi Select Committee strategy. But, the Government Reform Planned 
Parenthood hearing left Planned Parenthood as strong as ever. The 
majority is trying to do to the Nation's women what they have done to 
D.C., now deprived of the right to spend even local funds on abortion. 
But no Federal funds go to abortion, so what is left? Women's health 
care.
  All that this witch-hunting select committee will do is highlight the 
new GOP war on women.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We are being told by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
that we should be comforted by the fact that the Democratic committee 
staff did an investigation of Planned Parenthood and found nothing 
wrong. I think I can say very well with tongue in cheek that is truly 
like putting the fox to guard the henhouse.
  Mr. Speaker, in a few moments I will offer an amendment to the 
resolution. The amendment will make several changes to the resolution 
that have been requested by the minority. The amendment will change the 
ratio on the panel to eight Republicans and six Democrats, giving 
Democrats an additional one member on the panel. The amendment will 
also make sure that the select panel's subpoena authority is consistent 
with existing Energy and Commerce Committee rules.
  We have no objection to the requested changes, and we hope this will 
encourage our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to participate 
fully in this important investigation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, if we have heard anything this entire day, it is the 
misuse of public tax money for useless select committees overdoing 
investigations that everybody that has investigated before has already 
said that there is no ``there'' there.
  We don't need to take the word--although I am happy to do it--of Mr. 
Pallone last night saying that the Democratic staff on Energy and 
Commerce had found there was nothing wrong here. Let's take Mr. 
Chaffetz's word for it. He spent 5 hours delving into what Planned 
Parenthood does and does not do, and he said, no, they have not broken 
any law.
  But that is not good enough because everybody is doing so well here 
making political points and attacking a Presidential candidate. That is 
not our job. In fact, I am pretty sure that is against Federal law for 
us to use public money for that kind of action. We did it not once, we 
are going to do it twice, and who knows how many more times before the 
end of this year.
  The big disgrace that is going on is the misuse of tax money of the 
American people in a House and a Congress

[[Page 15857]]

that has no budget, no highway bill, no way out, and people who sit at 
home trying to figure out how they are going to educate their children, 
put food on the table, keep their job, and even drive on roads that are 
unfit to get to work.
  I would really appreciate it if we would stop this select committee 
and stop trying to take health care away from American citizens and get 
to work on their behalf.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the opponents of this resolution would have Americans 
believe that this oversight is unnecessary and political. Nothing is 
further from the truth.
  Oversight into entities' use of Federal funds and compliance with 
Federal law is a fundamental responsibility of Congress and one 
exercised by both parties, frequently on a bipartisan basis.
  It is unfortunate that my colleagues across the aisle are refusing to 
join with us on this particular issue, but charges that it is a 
politically driven investigation are false. The investigation to be 
continued by the select investigative panel at the Energy and Commerce 
Committee is prompted by allegations that abortion providers that 
receive Federal funds are dismembering children to sell their body 
parts, possibly while violating Federal laws.
  The most fundamental right our government was formed to protect is 
life; and when taxpayer dollars are being used by organizations 
flagrantly violating that right, we are morally compelled to 
investigate and respond in accordance with our Constitution.
  The select investigative panel formed by this resolution is 
consistent with precedent, including two panels formed by my colleagues 
across the aisle when they were in the majority. It is laser-focused on 
the issues raised by the videos and subsequent investigation into 
Planned Parenthood of fetal tissue collection, abortion procedures, and 
the Federal laws surrounding those practices. Its existence as a 
separate body will allow it to complete the full investigation these 
allegations deserve without shortchanging the important other issues 
under consideration by the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
full House.
  It is disappointing that some Members do not want the full truth to 
come out. When Federal taxpayers have legitimate concerns that their 
hard-earned dollars are flowing to organizations that sanction the 
dismemberment of unborn children and that our system of laws have 
loopholes allowing these atrocities to continue, we as their elected 
representatives are responsible for ensuring these concerns are heard 
and responded to.
  If we as elected representatives of our great Nation can't shed our 
callousness toward the most vulnerable lives in our society and heed 
the moral cause of this issue, I have a great fear for our Nation's 
future and the cruelties we may someday allow other lives to be 
subjected to. Our freedom rests on the cornerstone right we all have to 
life, and I fear we have lost sight of that.


                     Amendment Offered by Ms. Foxx

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 1, line 7, strike ``five'' and insert ``six''.
       Page 1, line 5, strike ``13'' and insert ``14''.
       Page 3, line 12, insert ``, consistent with the 
     notification, consultation, and reporting requirements of 
     rule 16 of the rules of the Committee on Energy and 
     Commerce,'' after ``select panel''.

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
resolution and expose the truth about these outrages through a thorough 
investigation. We must have the courage to follow the facts wherever 
they lead in order to strengthen our laws to end these barbaric 
practices and ensure that unwanted children are no longer discarded in 
the bins of parts for sale by profit-hungry abortion providers.
  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 
461, legislation to establish a select panel to investigate the matters 
that were brought to the forefront in a series of shocking and 
disturbing videos recently released by the Center for Medical Progress.
  These videos, which show Planned Parenthood officials engaging in the 
sale of aborted baby body parts, must be fully investigated with the 
utmost detail and attention.
  Ten videos so far have been publicized depicting Planned Parenthood 
engaging in fetal tissue trafficking. These actions are despicable, 
unspeakable and barbaric.
  This select committee will also, investigate, the practices of 
businesses involved in the second and third trimester abortions, 
including partial birth abortions and procedures that lead to babies 
being born alive in attempted abortions.
  It's a national disgrace that taxpayer dollars account for 41 percent 
of Planned Parenthood's revenues, which also serves as the nation's 
largest abortion provider.
  The creation of this investigative panel is an important step in 
getting to the truth and holding the recipients of taxpayer dollars 
accountable for what they do.
  It is wrong to take money out of the wallets of hardworking Americans 
and hand it over to organizations like Planned Parenthood.
  This select committee will investigate this issue thoroughly--a 
responsibility that the Obama Administration has refused to do.
  I look forward to the panel's findings.
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong opposition to the 
establishment of the panel to investigate Planned Parenthood. The 
panel's clear partisan aim is to take down Planned Parenthood, an 
organization providing quality, affordable health care to millions of 
Americans.
  Every person has the right to make informed, independent decisions 
about their health, sexual activity and family planning. Yet, women's 
reproductive rights continue to come under constant attack at both the 
state and local levels For all the rhetoric we have heard about how the 
government should not be in the business of providing health care, the 
Majority is all too eager to step in and regulate women's access to 
health services.
  It is unconscionable that the Majority continues funneling taxpayer 
dollars to support purely political agendas. Millions were spent 
defending DOMA after the Justice Department decided it was no longer 
prudent policy. Even more money is being spent suing President Obama 
over the Affordable Care Act, even after the Supreme Court upheld the 
ACA's constitutionality not once, but twice. Most recently, more than 
$4 million has been spent politicizing the terrorist attack in 
Benghazi. The Majority now demands we use even more tax payer dollars 
to attack an organization providing health care to those who need it 
most, ignoring Congressional committees that found no wrong-doing on 
the part of Planned Parenthood.
  Women's access to health care is challenged over and over again, 
despite America's high maternal death rate. Women in the United States 
face a one in 1,800 risk of maternal death, the highest risk of any 
developed country. In 2014, the overall U.S. health care system ranked 
last among industrialized nations for the fifth time and is still the 
most expensive system in the world. The health disparities among our 
nation's racial and ethnic groups are a disgrace. We should focus our 
attention on these issues.
  Let's call this exactly what it is, a partisan attack against a 
single, reputable organization. An attack based on highly edited, 
unsubstantiated statements and videos. This is a waste of time and 
taxpayer funded resources. We must get back to doing the people's work 
and put a stop to the constant attempts to roll back women's rights.
  I strongly oppose this Resolution.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I 
move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution, as 
amended.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to 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 
order of the House today, this 15-minute vote on adoption of House 
Resolution 461, as amended, will be followed by 5-minute votes on the 
motion to recommit on H.R. 3192 and passage of H.R. 3192, if ordered.

[[Page 15858]]

  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 242, 
nays 184, not voting 8, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 538]

                               YEAS--242

     Abraham
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amash
     Amodei
     Babin
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (MI)
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Blum
     Bost
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Brat
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Clawson (FL)
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Comstock
     Conaway
     Cook
     Costello (PA)
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Curbelo (FL)
     Davis, Rodney
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Dold
     Donovan
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers (NC)
     Emmer (MN)
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Garrett
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guinta
     Guthrie
     Hanna
     Hardy
     Harper
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Heck (NV)
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice, Jody B.
     Hill
     Holding
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurd (TX)
     Hurt (VA)
     Issa
     Jenkins (KS)
     Jenkins (WV)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Katko
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kline
     Knight
     Labrador
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latta
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Love
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     MacArthur
     Marchant
     Marino
     Massie
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     McSally
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moolenaar
     Mooney (WV)
     Mullin
     Mulvaney
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Newhouse
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Perry
     Peterson
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Poliquin
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price, Tom
     Ratcliffe
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney (FL)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Rouzer
     Royce
     Russell
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Stefanik
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stutzman
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Trott
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walker
     Walters, Mimi
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IA)
     Young (IN)
     Zeldin
     Zinke

                               NAYS--184

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Ashford
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu, Judy
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Duckworth
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Esty
     Farr
     Fattah
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Graham
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hastings
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Israel
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jolly
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis
     Lieu, Ted
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Moore
     Moulton
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nolan
     Norcross
     O'Rourke
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Polis
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rangel
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Sherman
     Sires
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takai
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tonko
     Torres
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters, Maxine
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Dingell
     Granger
     Hinojosa
     Hudson
     Sinema
     Smith (TX)
     Walorski
     Williams

                              {time}  1735

  Mr. CURBELO of Florida changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 538, I am not recorded as 
voting because of prior commitments in my district. Had I been present, 
I would have voted ``Aye.''

                          ____________________