[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11815-11822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ALL LIVES MATTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Allen). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, for 30 years, Planned Parenthood has worked 
to dehumanize the babies that they have aborted, claiming that these 
little babies were just clumps of cells, just clumps of tissue; but 
through the recent videos that have come out, they have, in essence, 
admitted what we have known all along--that these are actually little 
humans. These are little babies, and their organs are being harvested 
for profit: little baby heads and

[[Page 11816]]

little baby livers, little baby hearts and little baby lungs--little 
baby lungs that will never have an opportunity to cry, little baby 
lungs that will never be used to learn how to speak, and little baby 
lungs that will never learn to sing because they have been killed in 
the womb.
  These are little babies that are so well developed that they can 
survive outside the womb. These little babies feel pain in the 
abortion. These are little ones who, again, don't have lobbyists in 
this town that work for them. They are voiceless, they are defenseless, 
and so often they are powerless.
  But this House is coming together tonight in extraordinary form to 
make sure that these little ones are not forgotten, because we are 
standing up for them to make sure that their lives matter because in 
America we believe that all lives matter, whether you are born or 
unborn. So I am proud to be part of this Special Order tonight. I am 
proud that we have so many Members who want to come down and speak on 
this important topic.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), 
who has been such a leader in the pro-life movement.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Duffy. Thank you for yielding 
to me and for your leadership on this extremely important human rights 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2011, an undercover videotape sting operation by Live 
Action exposed several Planned Parenthood affiliates who are eager, 
ready, and willing to facilitate secret abortions for child sex 
trafficking victims--some as young or younger than 14--to get them on 
the streets again.
  As the prime author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000, the landmark law that seeks to protect victims, mostly women and 
children, I found the on-the-record willingness of Planned Parenthood 
personnel to exploit young girls and partner with sex traffickers to be 
absolutely appalling. Watch the video yourself on liveaction.org.
  In 2012, Live Action released another sting operation video, part of 
a series called ``Gendercide: Sex Selection in America,'' showing 
Planned Parenthood staff advising undercover female investigators how 
to procure sex selection abortions. Caught on tape, Planned Parenthood 
tells the investigator to wait until the baby is 5 months along to get 
an ultrasound that will reveal the sex of the child, then, if it is a 
girl, kill it.
  Planned Parenthood is okay with terminating the girl child in its 
huge network of clinics simply because she is a girl. What a dangerous 
place for little girls.
  Now we have learned that Planned Parenthood is trafficking in baby 
body parts and intact organs like livers and hearts, charging up to 
$100 or more per body part. Not only has Planned Parenthood killed over 
7 million innocent babies in their chain of abortion mills, about 
330,000 children per year, but now shocking new undercover videos by 
the Center for Medical Progress show high-ranking Planned Parenthood 
officials explaining how they market and profit from the sale of the 
organs of their victims and how doctors maneuver deadly abortion tools 
to ensure--they call them graspers--intact organs.
  In one clip, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, senior director of Planned 
Parenthood Federation of America's medical services and a late-term 
abortionist herself, explained:

       We have been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, 
     because we know that, so 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.

  Dr. Nucatola says on camera:

       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.

  In other words, crush the baby to death, but do it in a way that 
preserves certain organs and body parts for sale.
  Dr. Nucatola even suggests and is caught on tape talking about 
creating a menu.
  Today, another new devastating video by the same organization shows a 
Planned Parenthood Federation top doctor, Dr. Mary Gatter, offering to 
use a ``less crunchy technique'' to get more intact organs and baby 
body parts.
  Less crunchy? Like Dr. Nucatola, Dr. Gatter is nonchalantly talking 
about crunching--that is, crushing--babies to death in ways that are 
more likely to preserve body parts and intact organs. This is 
unconscionable, it is inhumane, and it must stop. I am glad that the 
House Republican leadership has called for full investigations into 
this dehumanizing practice.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Hensarling), the chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership 
tonight especially, of all times.
  Mr. Speaker, it is our highest ideal as Americans that every human 
life is endowed with dignity and has value. As Americans, we have a 
shared responsibility to protect the innocent and defend the rights of 
those who are unable to defend themselves. But rather than protecting 
and defending this dignity, Planned Parenthood is seemingly attempting 
to cash in on it.
  Recently, shocking and appalling videos have come to light exposing 
senior employees at Planned Parenthood casually discussing both the 
harvesting and selling of organs of aborted children. These videos 
portray a chilling transactional approach to ending human life.
  Mr. Speaker, as a matter of morality, history, science, reason, and, 
most importantly, my personal faith, I can come to no other conclusion 
but that every human life begins at conception and every human life is 
worthy of protection.
  Psalm 139:13 says:

       For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my 
     mother's womb.

  What God has knit together, apparently Planned Parenthood wishes to 
crush. But that is not my word, Mr. Speaker; that is their word. You 
have heard it spoken on this House floor as Senior Director of Medical 
Services at Planned Parenthood said:

       We have been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, 
     because we know that, so I am not going to crush that part.

  I am not sure I have ever repeated such vile and cruel words on this 
House floor before, Mr. Speaker; and whether one considers themselves 
pro-life or pro-choice, I would hope that every American believes that 
harvesting and trafficking baby organs violates the sanctity to which 
every child created in the very image of God is entitled to.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I add my voice thanking our leadership of this 
Congress for calling on investigations of these horrific acts, and I 
call on the Obama administration to denounce them and find a way to 
stop these gruesome practices.
  Almost every day, Mr. Speaker, we hear somebody utter words on the 
House floor, ``We must do something for the least of these.'' Truly 
unborn life is the least of these. So let's start tonight and hold life 
precious.
  Mr. DUFFY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, many of us have seen it, a recently 
surfaced, horrifying video that provides evidence that Planned 
Parenthood employees participate in the harvesting of fetal body parts.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in absolute disgust. Not only is Planned 
Parenthood profiting from abortions, but this video shows a top Planned 
Parenthood executive discussing how best to procure and sell specific 
organs from these defenseless, aborted babies' bodies.
  As a father and a grandfather, I find these acts unconscionable and 
barbaric. We have a moral responsibility to ensure that these acts are 
fully investigated and that Planned Parenthood is held accountable for 
their actions.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Fred Upton of the Energy and 
Commerce Committee and Chairman Bob Goodlatte of the Judiciary 
Committee for taking immediate action and announcing their respective 
investigations into this horrific practice.

[[Page 11817]]

  Mr. Speaker, I cannot fathom why taxpayers' hard-earned dollars are 
provided to organizations that actively allow such gruesome practices 
to occur.
  In 2013, abortions made up 94 percent of Planned Parenthood's so-
called pregnancy services--94 percent. Prenatal care and adoptive 
referrals accounted for only 5 percent and half, or 0.5 percent, 
respectively. Yet taxpayer funding accounts for 41 percent of Planned 
Parenthood's overall revenue.
  We must act now to prevent even a single dime from going to 
organizations such as Planned Parenthood that flaunt such blatant 
disregard for human life, and we need colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to step up and join us in this effort.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to one of the leaders on this 
issue, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).

                              {time}  1945

  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend, 
Congressman Duffy, for leading this effort and leading this Special 
Order today.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my continued outrage at, now, 
two abhorrent videos that have been released in the last week in which 
two Planned Parenthood senior doctors describe the process by which 
they and their coworkers kill unborn children and harvest their organs 
for sale.
  Like many Americans, I was shocked not only by what I learned about 
Planned Parenthood's standard practices, but by the cold, callous 
indifference in which its medical leadership detailed the barbaric 
murder of society's most vulnerable children.
  In the United States, we provide protections for the least among us 
in numerous ways from medical research, to welfare programs, to 
healthcare assistance; yet here, we stand on the floor of the United 
States House of Representatives to discuss whether the sale of human 
body parts harvested from aborted children violates basic human dignity 
and perhaps even the law.
  Mr. Speaker, the question that strikes me today is not whether this 
practice is immoral or illegal--for surely no Member of Congress or of 
humanity can, in good conscience, claim that we support these heinous 
activities--instead, I am left considering what could we have done or 
perhaps what should we have done to protect women and innocent children 
from this outrageous practice. I am left to think what kind of Nation 
allows these heinous acts to continue.
  We are the United States of America, a country founded on the belief 
that each individual holds dignity and worth in the eyes of our 
creator. If Planned Parenthood is discovered to have been altering 
abortion procedures so as to sell human baby hearts, livers, lungs, 
brains, and other organs, then they have violated their own guidelines 
as well as Federal laws from partial-birth abortion to the sale of 
human organs. It will be up to Congress to intervene on behalf of the 
thousands of unborn children.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear to me that there is a prevailing attitude 
inside Planned Parenthood that is so disgusting, so horrifying, and so 
disturbing that it warrants a congressional investigation and action.
  I thank House leadership and our chairman for opening up this 
investigation and for following our request into this unconscionable 
activity now.
  I want to thank the Members of the Missouri State legislature, my own 
home State of Missouri, who have committed to investigating Planned 
Parenthood in the State of Missouri, assuring Missourians that our laws 
prohibit these unthinkable acts, and hold Planned Parenthood 
accountable for any wrongdoing.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a duty as elected Representatives to the United 
States to stand up for the most vulnerable among us, to lend a voice to 
the voiceless, and stand up for injustice. I will continue to fight for 
the day when abortions and the atrocities associated with it are not 
only illegal, but unthinkable.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's powerful 
comments. She is right, we do need an investigation: Federal, State, 
FBI, and DOJ.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. 
Black).
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, Planned Parenthood has blood on its hands. Over the last 
week, we have seen multiple videos showing its employees brazenly 
discussing the harvesting of aborted babies' tissues and organs, but 
the truth is Planned Parenthood's culture of depravity runs much deeper 
than these couple of videos.
  In my home State of Tennessee, Planned Parenthood, the supposed 
champion of safe abortions, sued to overturn our State's informed 
consent and mandatory licensing laws, measures that were put in place 
to protect women's health and safety.
  When I authored an amendment to our State constitution allowing 
legislators to reinstate these protections, Planned Parenthood ran an 
ill-fated smear campaign attempting to confuse the facts and turn 
Tennesseans against the measure.
  You see, Planned Parenthood doesn't empower women; it deceives them 
at their most difficult and vulnerable moments. It values convenience 
over truth and profit over life. As a nurse, I have seen the big 
abortion industry's shameful tactics with my own eyes. That is why, for 
2 years now, I have sponsored the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition 
Act to address one of Planned Parenthood's largest government revenue 
streams. I continue to urge passage of this legislation, but in light 
of these videos, we must take the fight a step further.
  For these reasons, I have just introduced the Defund Planned 
Parenthood Act of 2015, legislation that would enact an immediate 
moratorium on all Federal funding for Planned Parenthood while Congress 
carries out a full investigation.
  I eagerly await the findings of this forthcoming investigation, but 
do you know what, Mr. Speaker, no matter what it reveals, here is the 
truth: Planned Parenthood has made a business out of destroying that 
which God has created. It performs over 327,000 abortions a year, all 
while receiving roughly $500 million in annual funding from the 
taxpayer dollar.
  The one-sided relationship between Planned Parenthood's ever-growing 
bank account and American taxpayers must be severed.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments and 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Foxx), one of our House leadership team Members.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Wisconsin for 
yielding time and leading this Special Order.
  I rise today to join my colleagues in bringing attention to 
allegations of serious misconduct by the country's largest abortion 
provider, Planned Parenthood.
  There are no words to properly convey my grief and deep disgust at 
the cavalier way in which Dr. Deborah Nucatola details how she 
strategically crushes the tiny bodies of innocent, unborn children in 
order to harvest and sell their organs.
  Perhaps most disturbing is what Dr. Nucatola doesn't say. While she 
arbitrarily assigns monetary values to the hearts, lungs, and livers of 
these children, she recognizes no value in the lives of those being 
aborted.
  Mr. Speaker, I recently received a letter from a nurse who has 
assisted with abortions and witnessed firsthand the horrific nature of 
what that procedure entails. She told me that most women have no idea 
that they are subjecting their unborn children to such ghastly methods.
  Many of our colleagues in this House find it uncomfortable to talk 
about the issue of abortion, and I agree that it is difficult to 
consider and discuss these horrific practices, but the heinous nature 
of the methods used by Planned Parenthood is precisely why we, as a 
Nation and as a Congress, must confront it.
  These revelations merit a serious look at the practices of Planned 
Parenthood, and I support fully the robust

[[Page 11818]]

oversight and investigations being pursued by the House Judiciary and 
Energy and Commerce Committees. It is my hope that their investigations 
will shed much-needed light on the organization's gruesome methods and 
will lead to important reforms that end these practices and stop the 
flow of taxpayer resources that support them.
  Few things demean the sanctity of human life more than elective 
abortion. One day, I hope that a culture of life will take hold in the 
United States and that all children will be protected under the law. 
However, until that day comes, it remains my solemn duty to stand up 
for life. Regardless of the length of this journey, I will continue to 
speak for those who cannot.
  Mr. DUFFY. We appreciate your voice being lent to the unborn.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. 
Herrera Beutler).
  Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
  It is with a very heavy heart that I take to the floor today to speak 
out against what really I think anybody who saw it or witnessed the 
video or read the transcripts felt, which is outrage. For those of you 
who were able to stomach watching these videos, you were left with many 
shocking questions about an organization that appears to callously 
commodify human baby body parts.
  The first video showed a senior Planned Parenthood official 
describing how to place medical forceps on a baby during an abortion in 
order to best harvest specific organs. She bartered over prices for 
these little human parts. She did it over a casual lunch.
  Sadly, there are voices that defend Planned Parenthood and its 
practices. They minimize this as an isolated innocent by one individual 
and sought to move on as quickly as possible; but then came, today, a 
second video, and we can only guess that there are more to come.
  The likelihood that these are two isolated incidents with two 
individuals that don't represent Planned Parenthood's values, but 
approach the business of selling body parts seemingly without feeling 
in the exact same way, I am not buying it.
  I believe this body has a duty to investigate, regardless of where 
you stand on pro-life or pro-choice. Given the history of Federal 
funding to Planned Parenthood, we have to ask these questions: Is 
Planned Parenthood profiting from the sale of human baby body parts? 
Are the clinics' patients being asked if they are willing to donate? Do 
they know that the doctor who is performing their abortion could be 
profiting? Do they know whether or not this increases pain for their 
unborn baby during an abortion? Are these facilities abiding by State 
laws with regard to late-term and partial-birth abortions?
  Gosh, I ask this because it sure seems like they want babies in the 
later second and third trimesters because anybody who has been a mom or 
has followed this journey knows that that is when organ development 
really strengthens and grows.
  If you are just trying to profit, you want the organ that is best 
going to function, whether it is for research or whatever. I think we 
need to find out what they are even using this for. I want to know who 
is buying these baby parts. That is the other piece that this body 
needs to investigate and find out.
  Planned Parenthood has always purported to provide a necessary 
service for women's health; but I ask: Is this even safe? How long does 
this prolong a procedure? Is it really the motivation for their 
practices? Not if you follow the money--one of the doctors who was 
describing this, basically a harvesting doctor, joked she wants a 
Lamborghini.
  Like a lot of things, following the money does lead to answers, and 
this body is going to find out. Clearly, Planned Parenthood doctors are 
receiving and filling requests for hearts, lungs, lower extremities, 
and livers, a request that is unfortunately and apparently common.
  I have never taken to the floor of this House to express outrage over 
this issue, but today, I do, and it is time for answers.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I think America, with these videos, feels 
that very same outrage.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Mrs. Roby).
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and I thank all of our 
colleagues that are here to talk on this extraordinary issue that has 
stunned us all.
  Last week, in the wake of the first video, Planned Parenthood 
responded by forcefully and categorically denying that the organization 
sells body parts of aborted babies for profit. The tone of Dr. Deborah 
Nucatola describing the way in which babies' organs are harvested and 
sold was unfortunate, they said, but there is nothing to see here.
  Well, just this afternoon, as I was sitting on the plane to come back 
to Washington, I watched the second video that has been released, 
showing a different senior official at Planned Parenthood discussing 
the same thing.
  Dr. Mary Gatter, president of Planned Parenthood's Federation of 
Medical Directors' Council is shown negotiating prices for the tissue 
and even joking about her poor negotiation abilities, but that she 
wanted to settle on the prices soon because she wants a Lamborghini.
  Once again, the candid words of top Planned Parenthood officials 
believe the public spin on their PR teams--they felt like this was 
necessary to get what they wanted in order to make a profit. What we 
haven't heard from Planned Parenthood is a response to perhaps the 
biggest revelation, that its providers alter abortion procedures in 
order to gain access, as my colleagues have already discussed in great 
detail.
  What I found really stunning about Dr. Mary Gatter's comments that 
she made today is she discusses deliberately breaking the rules in 
order to obtain intact organs. She considers out loud on this video how 
to alter the abortion process to get intact baby organs. She said, We 
need a less crunchy option--this is sick to hear those words come from 
my mouth, that we need a less crunchy option when we are talking about 
a baby; this violates their rules--she says, as long as we do it in a 
way that doesn't cause more pain.
  These doctors sure sound like they know that there is a competitive 
black market at play and are willing to engage in illegal activity to 
tap into it. This is sickening, and it will not go unaddressed.

                              {time}  2000

  I said last week to my colleague--and I will say it again--that I do 
not care how much weight Planned Parenthood throws around this town. 
They are not above the law.
  If Planned Parenthood really has nothing to hide, then these 
officials will have no problem with a complete investigation. It is our 
responsibility to protect those who cannot defend themselves and to 
stop illegal activity when we see it.
  That certainly seems to be what is happening here, and I thank all of 
my colleagues for standing up for the unborn.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is a good point to make that there should be 
a set cost for these body parts. There should be costs of storing and 
transporting, but there should be no extra cost, and there should be no 
negotiation.
  Yet, if there is a black market and if markets are demanding certain 
prices because they are making a profit off of it, you are going to 
maybe have $30 for one and $100 for another based on the black market.
  I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker).
  Mr. WALKER. I thank Representative Duffy for his leadership on this 
matter.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight I join my colleagues in speaking out against the 
barbaric and heinous actions we all witnessed in an undercover video in 
which Planned Parenthood was caught selling the body parts of aborted 
children.
  In 2013, Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions and received 
over a half billion dollars--$500 million--in taxpayer funding.
  Ironically, it was in 2013 that President Obama became the only 
sitting

[[Page 11819]]

President to ever address this organization. May I remind you that it 
was at this address that the President made the decision to invoke 
God's blessings on these hideous activities.
  The mask is now coming off an organization that barters the very 
parts of a baby in a manner that most Americans find appalling.
  So many of us here are parents. We have watched in awe at the 
ultrasound images of our children. We have seen their little hearts 
beat and have marveled at God's creation in how fearfully and 
wonderfully they are made.
  How can we stand idly and not speak out for these lives, the very 
least of these? That is why I have taken immediate action by joining in 
a letter with several of my colleagues, speaking out against Planned 
Parenthood's evil and depraved actions, and fully support a 
congressional investigation into this organization.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Congresswoman Black's bill, 
the Title X Abortion Provider Act. We must stop now these organizations 
from receiving a single taxpayer dollar through the Title X program.
  I urge the Senate to act quickly to pass the House's legislation that 
ensures no taxpayer dollars are used for abortions, H.R. 7, the No 
Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure 
Act of 2015.
  May God give us continued courage to seek justice, to love mercy, and 
to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.
  Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee 
(Mrs. Blackburn), one of the most powerful voices in the House, 
specifically on the life issue.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman. And I thank the gentleman for 
his leadership in organizing this hour.
  Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor tonight as mothers and grandmothers 
and dads and granddads, and we come with such heavy hearts and with 
such a burden for what we have found out, for what we have seen, and 
for what has been made public about Planned Parenthood.
  I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I thought it was very interesting 
that the head of Planned Parenthood came out this week and said, ``Oh, 
we think there are more videos to come.''
  That is because they know they have been caught, and they know they 
are guilty, and they know what they have done; but no amount of trying 
to go out and push it to the side is going to push this to the side.
  That is why our committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 
is taking up an investigation. We are already working on this.
  We are pushing forward to get the witnesses before us and to exercise 
the appropriate oversight that is there for us to do.
  Planned Parenthood does get Federal taxpayer dollars. The problem is 
money is fungible. And when you see what has been carried out in these 
videos--in their own words what they describe--you know how destructive 
that process is.
  As Mr. Walker just said, Planned Parenthood conducts over 300,000 
abortions a year. They are the Nation's largest abortion provider. 
Their focus is no longer family planning or women's health. It is 
abortion.
  What we have found out is that, through this sector of their business 
that is focused on abortion, they have now moved even further away, and 
they are into selling body parts--harvesting and selling body parts.
  We have heard the Members speak so eloquently to this, and I know, 
Mr. Speaker, people can hear the emotion in our voices and in our 
hearts, because this is a subject you don't think about discussing on 
the House floor, but it is one that has been left for us to oversee.
  They talk about procuring these body parts. In their own words, they 
talk about setting the price, negotiating, dealing with the tissue 
brokers. These are the most abhorrent and inhumane statements and words 
and conduct.
  The conduct and the demeanor of these individuals on those videotapes 
cannot be denied and the casual nature with which they discussed this, 
as if it is routine. It is an expected part of their business. That is 
why we are moving forward to investigate them. That is why we feel 
funding should be restricted.
  Over 65 percent of the American people, Mr. Speaker, are against the 
use of taxpayer funds for abortion, and it is time for us to deal with, 
to hold accountable, to restrict, and to put some barriers around what 
has been happening with Planned Parenthood. It is an investigation we 
will pursue until we know the truth and have every element of truth.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's wonderful comments.
  When you talk about the casual nature, you talk about doing 
procedures that are less crunchy. What are we talking about, less 
crunchy? We are crunching human bones. That is what they are actually 
saying in that videotape.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. We are talking about setting the price for this.
  Mr. DUFFY. For crunching bones.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. It is just their routine nature. This was not the 
first time they had done this. In listening to them, that is made very 
apparent.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Speaker, I am now proud to yield to the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers), one of my good friends.
  Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin 
for holding this very important Special Order.
  I want to thank my colleagues who are here today talking about this 
very important issue.
  It is not the first time that we have come together to talk about the 
importance of protecting life, the lives of those who are yet to be 
born.
  I can't even begin to tell you how disgusted I am, how nauseous I am 
right now, that we are having this discussion about the sale of baby 
body parts and that Planned Parenthood so values the organs of the 
unborn and, yet, so devalues the life of the unborn.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart in sharing these 
concerns with my fellow colleagues. We now know about the two videos 
that have been released, the first video showing the senior director of 
the medical services at Planned Parenthood, who was bragging in 
gruesome detail of how this group harvests and sells fetal organs.
  She described how they take particular care of the baby's organs. If 
only this group were just as devout in showing so much care, time, and 
attention to the life of the baby.
  In the second video are details of how the health of the mother is 
purposefully put in jeopardy to yield pristine, viable organs.
  Mr. Speaker, this is sickening. This is all for a price, a price 
which is being negotiated. Regardless of whether you are a pro-life 
individual or a pro-choice individual, you have to be absolutely 
appalled at this.
  As a nurse, a mother, and one who believes that the life of the yet 
to be born should be protected, I can't begin to understand how someone 
can recount these appalling details in such a nonchalant manner unless 
this has become routine.
  As Representatives, it is our job to protect the rights of women. It 
is our job to protect the rights of the unborn. This horrific 
revelation warrants a response from Congress, and I am proud to be on 
the Energy and Commerce Committee to begin this investigation.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments, and I look 
forward to an aggressive investigation by the Energy and Commerce 
Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).
  Mr. GIBBS. I thank the gentleman for holding this Special Order 
tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, last week millions of Americans saw the horrific video 
in which a top Planned Parenthood doctor detailed the gruesome nature 
of abortion procedures. Dr. Deborah Nucatola's casual conversation 
about crushing the body of an unborn child is nothing short of 
barbaric. What is worse is the negotiation of the price of the remains 
of the unborn child.
  In a second video, which was released today, Dr. Mary Gatter 
negotiates the price of fetal remains, discusses a ``less

[[Page 11820]]

crunchy'' procedure to preserve body parts, and jokes about needing to 
purchase a Lamborghini from the profits of those organ sales.
  But this is not a joke. Profiting from the sale of human organs is 
illegal and so is changing a procedure specifically for organ 
harvesting.
  This is a terrible reminder of what an abortion really is, ending the 
life of a child. If harvested organs are so valuable, how valuable is 
the child? Is the value of a child's life not greater than the sum of 
his or her parts? How long will we, as a Nation, continue to allow such 
heinous, despicable acts?
  May these revelations on video serve as an opportunity for all 
Americans to reflect on the precious nature of life and how we treat 
the unborn, who are truly the most vulnerable and innocent among us.
  I thank Speaker Boehner and the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce 
Committees for opening investigations to determine what, if any, 
Federal laws were broken as a result of these awful practices.
  The House must not provide any Federal funds to Planned Parenthood 
when they condone and profit from these actions.
  I call on the President to denounce these practices, and I urge my 
colleagues in the House to support the elimination of Federal funding 
for Planned Parenthood.
  Mr. DUFFY. I couldn't agree more with the gentleman from Ohio in 
regard to taxpayer funding being used for abortion.
  I think so many Americans are outraged by Planned Parenthood and the 
abortions, but, now, specifically by these videos that have come to 
light. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).
  Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his continued 
leadership on this critical matter of life.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today sickened and angered by yet another report 
showing what Planned Parenthood's limitless disregard for the unborn 
child is.
  Watching senior Planned Parenthood executives discuss the sale of 
aborted babies' body parts while they casually dine is beyond 
revolting. This callous barbarism should have no place in civilized 
society.
  I am also troubled to have discovered that some of these abhorrent 
transactions may have taken place in my home State of Colorado.
  Reports surfaced last week revealing that Colorado State University 
appears to have violated State law by purchasing aborted baby body 
parts from a California affiliate of Planned Parenthood.
  If true, these actions would appear to violate a law that was created 
by a bill that I introduced and that became law during my time in the 
Colorado State Senate, a bill prohibiting the purchase of fetal tissue 
from an abortion.
  I have sent a letter to the university and have demanded an 
explanation. Further, I have provided a copy of the letter to Colorado 
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, and I have urged her office to launch 
a full investigation.
  These troubling revelations exposing the monetization of fetal organs 
further demonstrate the need to fully defund Planned Parenthood.
  It is unacceptable that we continue to force taxpayers to subsidize 
this corrupt organization that disregards the dignity of human life 
while seeking to extract monetary gain from its destruction.

                              {time}  2015

  Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), one 
of my colleagues on Financial Services, one of our chairmen who has 
been doing fantastic work and a champion for life.
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. I, too, thank my friend and colleague from 
Wisconsin for his leadership on this and so many others.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wish the American people could be here on this 
floor right now and feel the passion, the frustration--honestly, the 
anger. I especially want to address my female colleagues who have been 
here and have had the courage to come and take a stand. That isn't 
always done.
  I think it was especially hard a little earlier as we were doing 1-
minutes seeing a colleague, watching a 1-minute address from an 
apologist of Planned Parenthood calling these horrors trumped up--
trumped up--disgusting, frankly. It is just amazing. This is one of the 
reasons why I voted, along with a number of my other colleagues, the 
vast majority of my colleagues on the Republican side, to defund 
Planned Parenthood. Forty-one percent of their total revenue is 
taxpayer dollars, $1.5 billion in 2011 to 2012.
  We must never forget that we are not just talking about numbers on a 
spreadsheet. We are talking about unborn children, not lab specimens. 
We are talking about human lives. We must continue to fight for every 
unborn child here just because of their intrinsic worth, not because of 
a spreadsheet or some sort of price list that Planned Parenthood or any 
other organization has put together.
  We must continue that fight, and especially when there are so many 
other options, that adoption option that is out there. When you see the 
work being done by crisis pregnancy centers like in my area, the 
Lakeshore Pregnancy Center, or the right-to-life organizations or any 
of those others that are out there in the trenches praying for, working 
for not just those children but, frankly, the parents that may be 
making a bad decision.
  We must continue to fight for the unborn here in Congress. I know I 
pledge to do that; I know so many of my other colleagues do, too. We 
must promote that culture of life and strong families in west Michigan, 
in this Nation, and around the world.
  I would just like to again thank my colleagues for calling attention 
to this horrific, horrific act that has been going on.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentleman's comments. This debate has 
been going on for some time. Not long ago there was a debate between 
Rick Santorum and now Senator Boxer, and during that debate Senator 
Boxer was talking about life beginning when you take your baby home 
from the hospital. I mean, some of the viewpoints on the other side are 
absolutely outrageous. It just shows there is a lot of work to do.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler) to talk 
about this important issue.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. I thank my colleague from Wisconsin for his leadership 
and hosting this Special Order tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, it is vital that we have this extremely important 
conversation concerning the unborn. While this topic is very difficult 
to discuss, it is something we must talk about and recognize in order 
to stop the unspeakable horrors currently taking place.
  Last week and this morning, new videos were released detailing how 
Planned Parenthood harvests and sells the body parts of aborted 
children. For decades, Planned Parenthood employees have tried to 
diminish the humanity of the unborn by belittling them to blobs of 
tissue. However, this video is evidence that Planned Parenthood knows 
that these are not simply blobs of tissue, but actual human beings that 
have tiny lungs, livers, and beating hearts.
  We need to get our priorities straight. In the video the Planned 
Parenthood doctor callously describes altering abortion procedures by 
crushing a baby's body in order to preserve certain organs for 
harvesting. She says: I am going to basically crush below; I am going 
to crush above.
  This is human life we are talking about. We cannot stand by while 
aborted baby parts are being sold for profit. This morning's video 
shows another Planned Parenthood doctor shamelessly haggling over the 
price of aborted baby body parts. She discusses how the price could 
change based on the volume and developmental stage of the aborted 
babies.
  While I am pleased that there are Federal and State investigations 
underway, I believe more needs to be done. Planned Parenthood has 
received over $200 million in Federal funds since

[[Page 11821]]

2012. It is clear that Planned Parenthood places profit--not women's 
health and safety--ahead of all else, and they must be stopped.
  I urge support for Congresswoman Black's legislation that prohibits 
all Federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Federal dollars cannot 
continue to flow to any entity that has such a blatant and heartless 
disregard for human life.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's powerful words.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).
  Mr. WEBER of Texas. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, before I begin my prepared remarks, I want to say 
something to my mom, Jeanne Weber, in Pearland, Texas.
  Mom, thanks for being pro-life. Thanks for cradling even the very 
thought of me in your heart and mind before I was conceived; and, Mom, 
thanks for cradling me in your womb and then later in your bosom and 
then in your lap, and all my young years. I love you, Mom. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you how deeply disturbed I am by these 
videos that have been unearthed showing employees of Planned Parenthood 
selling body parts of aborted babies.
  It has long been my mission to fight against any organization that 
will not protect the unborn. As a member of the Texas statehouse, I 
voted alongside other Texas House conservatives to defund the Planned 
Parenthood in Texas to ensure that taxpayer money would not be used on 
these ghastly abortion procedures.
  Now, as a Member of Congress, Mr. Speaker, I have fought alongside my 
colleagues to protect the unborn and the sanctity of life. On May 13, 
the House voted in strong support of my good friend Representative 
Trent Franks of Arizona's legislation, H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn 
Child Protection Act, a crucial piece of pro-life legislation that bans 
the murder of babies who are at least 5 months old in the womb and can, 
indeed, feel the excruciating pain of dismemberment and a ghastly death 
that Planned Parenthood would perpetrate on them.
  In 2013, we saw the horror of Dr. Gosnell, and now we see the real 
disturbing practices of Planned Parenthood and their black market sale 
of body parts of aborted babies.
  Mr. Speaker, I only ask this: How can organizations put a price on 
tissues, limbs, and livers, and then not acknowledge that there is life 
at the time of conception? No price can be placed upon the worth of 
seeing a child born and take its first breath.
  And, Dad, before I go, thank you for standing alongside Mom and being 
pro-life. I love you both.
  Mr. DUFFY. The gentleman's remarks were well said. Aren't we all 
grateful that our parents were pro-life? It gives us a chance to be on 
this floor and express our views.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers), 
the chair of our Conference but, more importantly, a mother.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to join in expressing 
appreciation to Congressman Duffy, the gentleman from Wisconsin, for 
bringing us all together tonight on this very important issue and what 
has recently been uncovered through the videos featuring senior level 
Planned Parenthood officials admitting to unethical, potentially 
illegal procedures.
  It is really unthinkable to most of us. It is unthinkable not just 
because of their cold, nonchalant attitude toward ``crunchy 
procedures,'' but because these videos highlight that we have allowed 
the debate on women's health to get horribly skewed. Anyone watching 
these videos can say the American people must have answers.
  This isn't women's health. This is an agenda. It is an agenda that is 
driven by monetary gain, not the best interests of women. Abortion 
providers should not get to hide behind the foil of health care to get 
away with unspeakable acts.
  The practices described in these videos are despicable, and Planned 
Parenthood must be held accountable. If a hospital were even allegedly 
involved in any kind of illegal activity, we wouldn't hesitate for a 
second to haul them before a committee. Abortion providers should be no 
different.
  Policymakers who are serious about protecting women and families 
should be invested in getting to the bottom of these statements made by 
Planned Parenthood. I applaud our committees for launching inquiries 
into Planned Parenthood practices and procedures. The American people 
must have answers.
  Mr. DUFFY. Absolutely. I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments.
  I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice).
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. I thank the gentleman and appreciate his 
leadership in this Special Order.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand with my colleagues here tonight in 
mutual condemnation of Planned Parenthood and their horrific practices. 
Like so many others, I likewise have just been horrified, deeply 
disturbed by the flippant comments made by an executive at Planned 
Parenthood.
  It is bad enough knowing that this organization performs over 300,000 
abortions every year, but it is another whole matter to come to the 
realization that they are also engaged in trafficking human baby parts. 
It is absolutely unconscionable.
  I believe that all life is sacred and needs to be protected. I 
commend my colleagues for stepping up and calling for a congressional 
investigation against Planned Parenthood. I also say a huge thank you 
to Governor Deal from my own State for, likewise, calling for an 
investigation of Georgia to see that infant organs are not for sale in 
that State.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. It is time that Planned Parenthood be 
held accountable for these despicable acts.
  I again just say thank you, and I am honored to stand with my 
colleagues here this evening as we stand for life; and at the same time 
that we try to prevent these abysmal practices from marring our 
collective consciences, I plan to continue to champion life. It is just 
abhorrent that there would be any organization trying to make a profit, 
an industry for profit out of the sale and trafficking of baby human 
parts.
  Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Texas, Dr. Babin.
  Mr. BABIN. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my outrage over the recent disclosures 
of Planned Parenthood's deliberate efforts to harvest tissue from 
aborted babies. The practices described by Planned Parenthood officials 
on these videos are simply despicable, unspeakable, and barbaric. The 
lighthearted tone of Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the Senior Director of 
Medical Services for Planned Parenthood, as she talked about how much 
fetal tissue parts were worth while eating salad and drinking wine only 
adds words of insult to this atrocity.
  A video released just today shows Dr. Mary Gatter, another high-
ranking Planned Parenthood official, again discussing fetal tissue 
payments. Gatter describes using a less crunchy technique to yield as 
much and many body parts as possible for more money to buy herself a 
Lamborghini. This is inhumane. As a health provider myself, I condemn 
it in the strongest terms. I hope the relevant medical licensing boards 
in their States disqualify her and Dr. Nucatola from ever practicing 
medicine again.
  It is a national disgrace that taxpayer dollars account for 41 
percent of Planned Parenthood's revenue and that over the past 3 years 
the organization has received $1.2 billion in funding from Medicaid. 
All of this for an organization that performs more than 300,000 
abortions a year. American families should not be forced to pay the 
operating costs and salaries for abortion businesses, much less one 
that engages in fetal tissue trafficking.

                              {time}  2030

  As an original cosponsor of Representative Black's Defund Planned 
Parenthood Act, we are working to prohibit Federal funds from going to 
Planned Parenthood or any entity that performs abortions. I call upon 
the House and the Senate leaders to allow for its immediate 
consideration and attach it to any must-pass bill.

[[Page 11822]]

  I would like to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin and all of my 
colleagues who are here tonight to speak on this important issue--and 
the millions of Americans who are leading this effort in all 50 States. 
May God bless all of you.
  Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) for a 
few comments on this important issue of life.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to insist Congress stop the 
immoral and monstrous action being taken by Planned Parenthood in any 
way possible, and that includes making sure no more Federal dollars go 
to this organization.
  Today, we learned about a second video from yet another Planned 
Parenthood senior official who was recorded haggling over the price of 
body parts from murdered children and bumping up the price while joking 
she needed a new Lamborghini. It is disgusting.
  The first video, leaked on July 14, showed Planned Parenthood's 
practice of aborting babies and selling their organs. This behavior 
violates every moral and ethical code that I can think of.
  I was disgusted by the video showing a senior official enjoy lunch 
while discussing how easy it is to kill a child by crushing their heads 
in order to harvest the fetal organs.
  We must do more to create a culture that embraces life. If you are 
pregnant and seeking family planning services from Planned Parenthood, 
you are 42 times more likely to receive an abortion than prenatal care 
or an adoption referral.
  This isn't about women's health. It is about feeding an abortion 
mill. To me, it is unbelievable that taxpayer dollars continue to 
support this evil organization. Planned Parenthood's entire business 
model is centered around providing abortions, not giving quality 
medical care to women who need it.
  According to the Susan B. Anthony List, Planned Parenthood Clinic 
Director Abby Johnson has written that she was given an ``abortion 
quota'' and was even told by her superiors to double the number of 
abortions to bring in more revenue.
  It is not just abortions that are offensive about this organization. 
Planned Parenthood has also fought against mandatory reporting when 
they discover children are being sexually abused. Employees have 
acknowledged aiding and abetting human sex trafficking of young girls 
under the age of 14.
  It is time we give those who need it better access to real women's 
health care. We must defund Planned Parenthood now and use that funding 
to assist women who need real health care.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been talking about this too long. It is time to 
stop supporting a group who callously murders innocent and helpless 
children and sells their organs and calls it reproductive health care.
  Mr. DUFFY. As we are about to close this hour, we have had a chance 
to hear from so many members of the House Conference who have spoken 
out on behalf of the unborn, those little babies that don't have a 
voice to speak for themselves, and I know in the next half hour we are 
going to have Mr. Franks from Arizona continue this conversation with 
so many more of our members who want to be heard on this important 
topic.
  I just want to close with this. The Democrats talk so often about 
what big hearts they have. They talk about how compassionate they are 
for their brothers and sisters and their neighborhoods. The bottom line 
is, when you watch these videos and you see the harvesting of organs, 
the pain of little babies, I call on my friends across the aisle to 
show that compassion for the unborn and those voiceless little ones who 
need a voice to stand up for them and defend them at this very 
important time.
  There has been a time in our past, Mr. Speaker, where powerful people 
determined that there was a class that was less than human, and it is a 
black spot on our history.
  Today, there is a group in this House that has advocated that there 
is a class in this country that is less than human. Yes, they may not 
have a voice, but that does not make them less than human. And I am so 
proud of our team for standing up today to make sure that we fight for 
those people because they are not less than human. They deserve the 
right to life, and they deserve to have a defense.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________