[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6584-6585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IN DEFENSE OF LIFE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Mooney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about 
an issue that I care deeply about: protecting unborn babies.
  Later today, this body will vote on H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn 
Child Protection Act. This legislation should not be controversial. It 
simply protects unborn babies that a preponderance of scientific 
evidence has proven can feel pain. We are talking about the sixth month 
of pregnancy.
  This bill is an important step in protecting the unborn. I am a proud 
cosponsor. I look forward to casting my vote in favor of the 
legislation later today.
  Recently, a group of students at West Virginia University made news 
for courageously speaking out in defense of life at an abortion clinic 
near Morgantown. I know firsthand that it is not always politically 
correct to stand for your values, but we should never back down from 
protecting the unborn.
  I applaud these brave WVU students for their actions. Their 
willingness to stand for life reminds me of my days at Dartmouth 
College, when I served as the president of the Dartmouth Coalition for 
Life. I remember standing in the cafeteria and handing out educational 
materials about protecting the unborn and the development of life. 
While I may not have won any popularity contest by standing up for my 
beliefs that life is precious and abortion is wrong, I sure got my 
fellow students thinking about the pro-life issue.
  My pro-life commitment was cemented even further when I became a 
father. I have three children. And actually today, my youngest daughter 
turns 7 months old.
  I am pleased to represent the State of West Virginia, where the pro-
life movement is thriving, and the rights of the unborn are being 
restored. In fact, just this past February, our West Virginia State 
Legislature passed our own Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act by wide 
bipartisan margins.
  In the State Senate of West Virginia, the exact same bill banning 
abortion after 20 weeks passed the State Senate of West Virginia by a 
vote of 29-5, with 11 of 16 Democrat State senators in my State--that 
is 68 percent of the Democrats--voting for the bill. In the West 
Virginia State House of Delegates, the vote was 88-12; again, with two-
thirds of State house members that are Democrats voting for the bill. 
This is a bipartisan issue.
  I am hopeful today that a strong bipartisan majority in this Chamber 
will follow the example of my home State of West Virginia and pass the 
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act so

[[Page 6585]]

these protections are extended to unborn babies in every State in the 
United States.
  I am honored to also be the lead cosponsor of the Life at Conception 
Act, which simply clarifies that human life begins at conception.
  There is no question that we, in the pro-life community, have our 
work cut out for us. President Obama and most Democrats in Congress 
refuse to protect life at any stage.
  One of the best examples of how out of touch the other side on this 
abortion issue came just a few weeks ago across the aisle in the 
Senate, where Democrats were willing to block a bill aimed at 
protecting victims of human trafficking simply because it included a 
provision that prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion. They are the 
extremists on this issue.
  Look at President Obama, himself. In 2008, when he was running for 
President and he was in a debate against John McCain in the Saddleback 
Church forum moderated by Rick Warren, the moderator asked President 
Obama when life began, and the President's response was: ``Whether 
you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific 
perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is 
above my pay grade.''
  The President of the United States said it is above his pay grade to 
say when human life begins. That is a shame.
  When I ran for Congress, I made the commitment to the people of the 
Second District of West Virginia that I would do everything in my power 
to defend the unborn. I continue to be guided by my faith, my values, 
my education, and my constituents on this issue. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to defend the innocent and give a voice to 
the voiceless unborn babies.

                          ____________________