[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1223-1229]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        ROE V. WADE ANNIVERSARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from 
Indiana, Jim Banks, as our first speaker tonight, a former State 
senator in Indiana. He served since 2010, a new Member of the House. He 
served as chairman of the senate Veterans Affairs and The Military 
Committee with great distinction, and now he has actually joined the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee as well as other committees here in the 
House.
  Mr. BANKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the innocent 
lives lost as a result of Roe v. Wade.
  It has now been 44 years since the Supreme Court made this 
unconstitutional ruling, and over that period of time, more than 58 
million--I repeat, over 58 million--children have had their God-given 
right to life denied. Every single one of these lives was important and 
unique, and we grieve this loss.
  At the same time, we celebrate the fact that, increasingly, our 
culture recognizes the value of human life. A poll released last year 
found that a majority of young Americans support increasing 
restrictions that protect the unborn. Another recent poll found that 61 
percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the 
United States.
  I agree with them, and that is why I support the No Taxpayer Funding 
for Abortion Act that we voted on earlier today. I am pleased that it 
passed the House, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to quickly 
consider this important bill.
  But we must not stop there. We must work to ensure that taxpayer 
dollars do not continue to support the abortion industry, including 
Planned Parenthood, our Nation's largest abortion provider.
  Additionally, we must encourage the new administration to nominate a 
Justice to the Supreme Court who follows the Constitution and respects 
the most basic and fundamental right of every human being born and 
unborn: the right to life.
  As a father of three young daughters, these issues are personal for 
me. During my time in Congress, I will stand up for those who cannot 
stand up for themselves. I will protect and defend human life and 
advance these deep- and long-held values upon which our Nation was 
founded.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for his remarks.
  I now yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Foxx), the chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, who 
has been outspoken for years on behalf of the innocent and inconvenient 
unborn children.
  Ms. FOXX. I thank my colleague from New Jersey for his unflagging 
leadership on the issue of pro-life as well as on other issues related 
to human rights.

[[Page 1224]]

  Mr. Speaker, since 1973, as my colleague before me said, at least 58 
million children's lives have been tragically taken by abortion in the 
United States. Over these last 44 years, science has made the facts 
increasingly clear: the unborn child in his or her mother's womb is a 
member of the human family, fully alive and simply awaiting the right 
conditions before joining the rest of us in the world.
  Our laws should recognize and uphold the dignity of these unborn 
children. And thankfully, we have made significant progress in this 
endeavor since the decision of Roe v. Wade. The Hyde amendment has 
saved over 2 million lives since 1976, and just earlier today, we 
passed H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This 
bipartisan legislation makes the Hyde amendment permanent, ensuring 
that unborn children are better protected and that taxpayers are not 
forced to fund thousands of abortions each year.
  The American people overwhelmingly agree that we should protect 
innocent lives and that taxpayer dollars should not be used to finance 
abortions. This Friday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will pour 
into D.C. from across the country to voice their vision of a world 
where every human life is valued and protected. As we mourn the lives 
already lost to abortion, we should continue to strive for better legal 
protections for the unborn so that one day every unborn child will be 
able to join us in exercising their rights to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness.
  Once again, thanks to Congressman Smith for this Special Order.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I want to thank the distinguished chairwoman 
of the Education and the Workforce Committee for her kind remarks and 
again thank her for her leadership for so many years.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Arizona, Congressman Andy Biggs. 
While a new Member of the House, he is a very experienced lawmaker, 
having served 14 years in the Arizona Legislature.

                              {time}  1745

  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I have a deep sense of gratitude that I 
expressed to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his effort 
in promulgating the bill that we passed today, H.R. 7, and allowing me 
to speak tonight.
  On Sunday, we recognized the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Sadly, 
almost 60 million American babies have lost their lives because of this 
ignominious Supreme Court decision. The tide is turning, though.
  On Friday, I will have the pleasure of participating in the March for 
Life rally to stand with the millions of people who are defending life 
across this country.
  I am immensely proud to live in Arizona, a State that prioritizes the 
protection of the unborn. Since 2009, Arizona has passed 34 provisions 
to restrict or regulate abortions, and Arizona's abortion rate has 
concomitantly decreased 12 percent in those same 4 years. I appreciate 
the efforts of pro-life advocates across my district who have worked 
tirelessly to help countless women choose life for their unborn babies.
  I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration 
on advancing pro-life legislation like H.R. 7, which we passed out of 
the House today, and ensuring pro-life candidates for all Supreme Court 
vacancies and ultimately reversing that ignominious ruling, Roe v. 
Wade.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Arizona for his leadership in the legislature before. As the gentleman 
so aptly pointed out, the numbers of abortion come down when even 
modest restrictions are passed. The law is a great teacher. We are so 
happy to have the gentleman from Arizona here in the House, and I know 
I speak for many of us on the Pro-Life Caucus.
  I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga).
  Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and thank the gentleman from 
New Jersey because nobody has fought longer or harder for the cause of 
life than this man. I am pleased to be up here because I know we both 
believe that we represent and rise on behalf of the hundreds of 
thousands of Americans who are going to come to Washington, D.C., and 
march here this coming Friday because we believe that giving even one 
more life, one more person, the right to change the world is worth it.
  For the last 6 years, I have come to the well of the House with the 
gentleman from New Jersey and my colleagues on the bipartisan Pro-Life 
Caucus to celebrate life and fight for the unborn. On this seventh 
occasion, I rise with a renewed sense of hope and optimism for our 
children's future.
  I commend President Trump for making one of his very first actions 
protecting unborn children around the world by preventing U.S. taxpayer 
dollars being used for foreign aid from being used to fund groups that 
promote abortion under the guise of family planning.
  We can't stop here, however. That is just one step. Now is the time 
for action. When President Bush restored these protections in 2001, he 
wrote:
  ``It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay 
for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or 
abroad.''
  We took step two earlier today when a bipartisan majority of us here 
in the House voted to extend the Hyde amendment across all government 
programs and to ensure that no tax dollars from hardworking Americans 
are used to fund abortions here in the United States.
  Let's take additional steps to fight for the ones who don't have a 
voice. This Congress should protect unborn children from the violence 
of late-term abortion, protect medical professionals from being coerced 
to participate in abortions, and protect women from an industry that 
has put its financial interests first above women's health.
  Mr. Speaker, the government does not give us our rights. No. In fact, 
the government exists to protect our God-given rights that were given 
to us by our Creator and to protect the next generation. All you have 
to do is look at those original founding documents and it is easy to 
see.
  Well, we are here tonight for the same reason: that hundreds of 
thousands will march on Washington this Friday and fight for the rights 
of that next generation. I am pleased and proud to be able to be a part 
of that.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Michigan for his eloquence, for his commitment, his passion, and for 
that steadfastness that will one day yield the result when the unborn 
are protected in our laws against the violence of abortion. I thank the 
gentleman from Michigan for participating, but most importantly for his 
years of service on behalf of his constituents and the unborn.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the privilege to address 
you and the privilege to address the House here, and I thank the 
gentleman from New Jersey for recognizing me to say a few words here.
  This week, when we go down to the Mall to March for Life, we will see 
the tens of thousands of faces, many of them young people, especially 
young ladies that are there to stand up and defend life.
  I hear the debate here on the floor of the House of Representatives, 
and I have listened to the gentleman who spoke on the Democrat side of 
this aisle who lamented that there would be 18 million people pushed 
off of their healthcare if we repeal the Affordable Care Act. If you 
want to use the technical term, it is named the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act, and it is not the right name for it.
  It won't be 18 million. It won't be half of that. But to listen to 
the lament that some people might go without--not health care, that is 
another misnomer--health insurance for a little while, that is their 
concern?
  Well, we are here talking about more than 58 million little babies--
little babies that are created in God's image and formed in the womb, 
as we heard Tim Walberg speak a little earlier. They are the love of 
our lives. I have never known anyone who had a baby in

[[Page 1225]]

their arms and felt that little baby--that little baby is forming, that 
little baby cooing, that special little baby smell, to witness the 
miracle of that little baby, I have never known a mother or a father 
that said: I wish this child had never been born. But that is what has 
happened to more than 58 million little miracles.
  We are here; we are a moral standard. People say you can't legislate 
morality. Well, a reflection of morality is in the Federal code, and it 
is in the State laws all across this land.
  The question that doesn't seem to be answered generally by people on 
the other side of the aisle--and I am grateful for the pro-life 
Democrats that we have who have joined us year after year.
  I would pose the question to those who oppose the pro-life movement: 
Do you believe that human life is sacred in all of its forms? Is there 
anybody over there that would deny that, that human life is sacred in 
all of its forms? Not one of you. Not one of you will stand up and wave 
your arm and say: let me yield to you and say why that is not true.
  It is true. We know. Human life is sacred in all of its forms. Once 
we understand that--now, you can stipulate that. You have by your 
silence--that human life is sacred in all of its forms, there is only 
one other question: Since we have to protect human life in all of its 
forms then at what moment does life begin? At what moment, ladies and 
gentlemen?
  Well, we know that we can only identify a single moment. As much as 
we know about biology--and we know plenty--one single moment is the 
moment of conception. From that moment, it is a unique life with the 
chromosomes matched up and the DNA that will never change for a 
lifetime, that unique individual.
  Did you ever think that God's creation of us--there are over 7 
billion human beings on the planet. Each one of us is created in his 
image, each one of us is unique. Think of 7 billion faces and no two of 
them are alike. Every face on the planet is distinct and unique, and it 
matches up with none of the faces that are in the grave today. And 
nobody's face matches up with any of the faces that will be born in 
future years or millennia.
  Each face of God's creation is unique. What is the best way we can 
tell each other apart? Look at the visage of our faces. It is a 
uniqueness that God created within us that is part of how we interact 
with each other. It is how we should love each other and appreciate 
each other and draw those distinctions so that we can respect everyone 
as having their own unique life.
  So you have stipulated that human life is sacred in all of its forms. 
So the next question I have to ask you is: Well, at what moment does 
life begin? What moment, what instant does life begin?
  If you can pose another instant, another moment, other than 
conception, I would listen to that. But I am not seeing anybody who 
wants to step down and say that there is a distinct moment that life 
begins, other than conception.
  So I will make this case again: human life is sacred in all of its 
forms; you stipulated that. The second is that it begins at the moment 
of conception. Your silence has stipulated that.
  So we have the whole argument wrapped up here, packaged in this 
today. We need to defend human life in all of its forms. It is God's 
gift to his creation. It is our obligation to defend it, and we can 
defend it. We can defend it through legislation as we did today.
  We should honor and respect the life of Henry Hyde, who contributed a 
great deal to this Congress in his lifetime. We are working on the 
foundation that he has laid down for us, and Representative Chris Smith 
has assumed much of the role that Henry Hyde played here in this 
Congress. We each had the privilege to serve with Henry Hyde. His 
legacy remains, and we have the unique privilege and opportunity to 
build on it. I suggest we continue to do so in every piece of 
legislation that we can pass.
  We anticipate appointments to the Supreme Court that will honor life 
and recognize, also, as our Founding Fathers did when they drafted the 
Declaration of Independence, that we have a right to life, to liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. Don't try to package that up as three 
equal values. They are not. They are prioritized rights. The right to 
life supercedes the right to liberty, and the right to liberty 
supersedes the right to the pursuit of happiness. No one in the pursuit 
of their happiness can trample on someone's liberties. And no one can 
claim they have the liberty to take the life of a baby because life is 
paramount. That is the package. That is the argument that is here. We 
need young people to grow up with that understanding and those values.
  As we stand here tonight, Mr. Speaker, and as we work together in the 
coming days and months--and I pray it is not years--one day we will see 
this Nation that respects life from the moment of conception until 
natural death.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from 
Iowa's leadership, which has been over many decades. I want to thank 
him for his eloquence and his steadfastness. The day will come when the 
unborn are protected, and he will be a major part of that.
  I would also concur with the gentleman from Iowa fully in how much we 
miss the great Henry Hyde. He was extraordinary. He was irreplaceable. 
And the fact that his amendment has saved 2 million lives, at least--
some estimates put it even higher--is a testimony to his vision, which 
we now carry on with.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert). I again thank him 
for his outspokenness on behalf of the weakest and most vulnerable.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful that Representative Chris 
Smith is a Member of the United States Congress because of his 
leadership, because of his enormous heart, and his enormous caring.
  It is amazing--those of us who believe in God--the way our lives 
develop. I was a guy that grew up; I never liked to hug anybody. But 
when we had three beautiful incredible girls added to my wife's and my 
life, I became a hugger. Fox has a show named ``Outnumbered,'' but that 
has been my life for years now.
  I know there are so many people that say you are a man and you have 
no right to speak about this. I guess, when I was a judge, there were 
those who thought, since I was not a person that had been on both sides 
of a civil lawsuit or had been a defendant in a case, maybe I should 
not be able to say anything about or pass sentence. But we have laws, 
and laws are there to protect people.
  I do believe, as our Founders did, in nature's God, that we have a 
Creator who provided us inalienable rights. But in this world, you have 
to fight for any inheritance, including your inalienable rights.
  It does appear that nature gave a greater percentage of women a 
nurturing greater sense of loving and caring than most men. That gets 
changed for some of us when you have a house full of girls.

                              {time}  1800

  But I could identify with the doctor who had performed, I think he 
said, over 1,000 abortions, who came before our Judiciary Committee and 
testified about how it was just a procedure, how it was nothing to him, 
and how he would go into the uterus.
  Of course, the pregnant mom was not dilated and not going to be able 
to deliver a baby that had begun forming, had a heartbeat. But that is 
why he would go in with his instrument, feel around with his clamps for 
something that felt long, and when he found it, he knew that it was 
either a leg or an arm, and he would grab it and pull it out from the 
baby's body, and continue till he did that four times, and then reach 
in and find something that felt bulbous, and he would--he knew the head 
could not come out in a bulbous form, and so he would crush it and pull 
out the baby's head. And that was the way he went about beginning the 
abortion of a child that had begun developing like that.

[[Page 1226]]

  He never thought a thing about it until his daughter died, and then 
he became nauseated, and he was never able to do another abortion like 
that, and it became such a burden that he had done what he had done.
  I know from my years on the bench as a judge, I know from my years as 
an attorney helping people, if something is built on a lie, the chances 
are that the outcome will not be good for a majority of people. I also 
know that if someone encourages and perpetuates a lie within some other 
person's life, they are not that person's friend.
  So I would like to quickly reference an article published by WND 
called ``The Real `Jane Roe''' and just hit some of the highlights 
about the real Jane Roe, the woman.
  I was talking with my friend, Chris Smith, about Norma McCorvey. He 
is quite familiar with her, and I believe he said he had talked to her 
and had come to know her. Being the Christian that Chris Smith is, he 
cares deeply about people, and that included Norma McCorvey.
  But this article says: ``At the age of 21, McCorvey was pregnant with 
her third child. She had given her other two children up for adoption 
and McCorvey did not want to say good-bye to her offspring a third 
time. So she decided to have an illegal abortion, but the Dallas clinic 
she went to had been recently raided and shut down. So McCorvey made up 
a story--she had been raped, she told her doctor and two lawyers. She 
signed an affidavit on condition of anonymity, and the lawsuit began.''
  And she told WorldNetDaily: ```I considered abortion and, because of 
this, I was put in touch with two attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda 
Coffee. They had just recently graduated from law school and were 
interested in challenging the Texas abortion statute.'''
  She says: ```Plain and simple, I was used.''' This is Norma McCorvey. 
```I was a nobody to them. They only needed a pregnant woman to use for 
their case, and that's it. They cared, not about me, but only about 
legalizing abortion. Even after the case, I was never respected--
probably because I was not an ivy-league educated, liberal feminist 
like they were.'''
  But she goes on and says--well, this was from a New York Times 
interview: ``McCorvey describes her meeting the two young attorneys. . 
. .
  ```Sarah Weddington sat right across the table from me at Columbo's 
pizza parlor, and I didn't know then that she had had an abortion 
herself. When I told her then how desperately I needed one, she could 
have told me where to go for it. But she wouldn't because she needed me 
to be pregnant for her case. I set Sarah Weddington up on a pedestal 
like a rose petal. But when it came to my turn, well, Sarah saw these 
cuts on my wrists, my swollen eyes from crying, the miserable person 
sitting across from her, and she knew she had a patsy. She knew I 
wouldn't go outside of the realm of her and Linda. I was too scared. It 
was one of the most hideous times of my life.'''
  She says: ```My experience with pro-abortion leaders is that they are 
snobs. They claim they care about women and their rights but, in my 
experience, they care for nothing, not even themselves in a way,''' 
McCorvey said.
  ``McCorvey said in a 1990 New York Times interview that the rape lie 
caused her to be `terribly depressed.'''
  ```I was brought up not to lie and, because of this story, I had to 
lie all the time. And the depression periods got deeper and longer 
until the night I cut my wrists.'''
  Well, it is one of the difficulties that attorneys have: when you 
represent someone and you are sworn to do the best job you can, it 
should be more than simply about getting the legal result that a lawyer 
wants. It ought to be about helping the client. You can't always do 
that.
  But it is rather tragic that Jane Roe, Norma McCorvey, now looks back 
on that as the most hideous time of her life, and that she was taken 
advantage of by people that didn't care about her. They had an agenda.
  I heard someone here on the floor talking about the Women's March and 
how that was for all women, except the hypocrisy of that march was it 
was not about all women because there were pro-life women that tried to 
march. It was about women that think exactly like they do, and nobody 
else gets to participate.
  It is the same kind of mentality that would--when in the majority 
here in this body say: We want everybody to participate in debate, 
except we are going to have a record-setting number of closed rules so 
nobody can debate. We don't want your input on ObamaCare. We don't care 
that you support what we do on preexisting conditions and on kids 
living with their parents.
  Heck, some of us said 30 would be a better number than 26. They 
didn't care. They could pass it without our votes. They didn't want our 
input.
  So then to hear people who treated us like that say we care about 
open debate, knowing that some of those same people came down here and 
grabbed microphones and, for the first time we can find in 
congressional hearing, prevented the majority from starting into 
session; and then they want to lecture us on openness and kindness and 
open debate? Really?
  Let's go back to the Norma McCorveys of the world. Let's minister to 
them individually, as my church, as a number of ministries with which I 
am greatly familiar do. Let's help the real person. Let's help that 
child so that that little boy or that little girl doesn't have its arms 
and legs jerked out of the uterus. Let's help that child have a life 
that will be so full they will never think about slitting their wrists, 
as Norma McCorvey did. Let's vote for life.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman for his very 
passionate and incisive remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), 
a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure, the Agriculture, and 
the Natural Resources Committees. I thank the gentleman for his 
leadership.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith), my colleague, for his continued leadership on this very 
important topic, a moral one, I think, that reflects truly an important 
part of the fiber of our country.
  Which way are we going to go on this? What are our values going to 
be?
  The gentleman has been a consistent leader way before my time during 
Congress as well.
  As we reflect on this week, landmark legislation again passed 
tonight, H.R. 7, that would prohibit funding for abortion in this 
country, on the heels of the Mexico City solution that President Trump 
just signed today as well.
  We are seeing that hearts are turning in this country on this issue. 
And when you look at it in the categories of people across the country, 
about half and half, rough numbers. Half the country might label itself 
pro-life, and the other half that favors Roe v. Wade being the law of 
the land, that might label themselves as pro-choice or pro-abortion.
  When we get down to H.R. 7, we find that the half that is pro-life 
can be joined by many additional people on the other side of that 
argument that don't think it is appropriate to have government funding, 
their taxpayer dollars, used for abortion as a birth control tool in a 
lot of cases.
  So this shows that we do have the tide going in this direction on 
that, as people become more and more informed on this and understand 
and don't listen to the rhetoric and don't listen to misinformation on 
what this really is. This is a baby you are talking about. It doesn't 
form into something else. Each pregnancy will result in a human baby.
  So when we fight this battle, we find it is those that would speak on 
this side of the issue come under a lot of persecution. Many, many 
people will be joining together in this town later this week in the 
March for Life. You will be persecuted to some extent or another. You 
will be called things. But, you know, we know from the Bible that those 
that speak the truth are often persecuted as well, and we all need to 
be strong and firm in that.
  God is watching what we do here. God will be watching later this week 
and at all times on those that are marching for life. So be strong.

[[Page 1227]]

  Also, put your arms around those folks that might be strongly 
opposed, because there are a lot of people hurting on that. We 
understand. People that have had to make a difficult abortion choice 
and chosen to do so, they need healing as well. They need understanding 
and compassion on that. If we can show them that, and if we can show 
that those that are contemplating abortion, there are alternatives out 
there. There are many alternatives. If we can just come alongside them 
and show them that there is more than one way to do this, and there are 
people willing to help and willing to counsel you in that, because that 
is really what it comes down to.
  When you talk about a choice, show that woman in crisis, in that 
situation that she has many choices, informed choices to make; and, by 
and large, maybe she will make the right one. In a lot of cases I 
believe she will.
  So God bless those that are going to come for this march later this 
week and stand for this, put up with the level of persecution that 
comes with any of these types of issues, including the one on being 
pro-life.
  Again, God bless you, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, for being a consistent 
leader on this.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman so very much for his 
kind remarks, but also his very eloquent concern for post-abortive 
women and those who may be contemplating abortion. You know, the 
Pregnancy Care Network, 4,000 strong throughout the United States, is 
there as a front line to say: We love you both, mother and baby.
  So I thank the gentleman for bringing attention to that as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. 
Hice), a member of the Oversight and Government Reform, and the Natural 
Resources Committees.
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my 
good friend, Chris Smith, for his leadership for so many years on this 
issue of life. He is deeply loved and appreciated, and I am grateful to 
be able to share this time with him as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I am sure it has been said this evening already many 
times over that since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, we have lost 
over 50 million lives. That is such a staggering number, but within 
that number, of course, are mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, all of 
them lost to abortion.
  This decision of Roe v. Wade, at the crux of the matter, is one that 
has the question: When does life begin?
  And with that question, I was reminded of the opinion of the Supreme 
Court Justice Blackmun. During that period of time when Roe v. Wade 
came into law, Blackmun made the decision and wrote in his opinion. He 
said: ``We, the Court, need not resolve the difficult question of when 
life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of 
medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any 
consensus, the judiciary,'' he said, ``at this point in the development 
of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the 
answer.''
  What a startling statement that was made. But here we are at this 
time, this body, at this point of our Nation's history, we have no need 
as to speculate on this question any longer. There is clear science 
that, without question, tells us when life begins. And life begins at 
conception. There is no question about this.
  We know inside the womb is a human life. And we know with that life, 
based on what we know of God and what we in our own country know from 
our own Declaration of Independence, the very first inalienable right 
protected is that of life.

                              {time}  1815

  So I just believe it is time that we correct this wrongheaded 
decision that was made by the Court some 44 years ago. Even just 
recently, a couple of days ago, I introduced H.R. 586, the Sanctity of 
Human Life Act, which makes clear that life begins at conception. I 
certainly would ask my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this bill.
  I just dream of the time, 44 years from now, that we could be 
celebrating the right to life rather than 44 years from now looking 
back and mourning over yet another 50 million American babies who have 
been lost to the horrible stain of abortion. So, again, I thank you for 
your leadership, and I deeply appreciate the opportunity to join you in 
this Special Order.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you very much for your eloquence and 
reminding us all that the Supreme Court itself said that we need not 
resolve the difficult question of when human life begins; then they 
went on to say that any child, at any point until birth, could be 
killed by way of an abortion. They resolved it, but they resolved it in 
the negative without science, without the information. Ultrasound 
certainly has shattered that myth, and I thank you for reminding all of 
us about that.
  I also would remind my colleagues that Jean Garton--a great leader--
ran Lutherans for Life for years. She was preparing a presentation on 
abortion that included some actual pictures of aborted babies. It was 
late at night, but her young child walked in while she was doing this 
and said: Mommy, who broke the baby?
  So even a small child could recognize--and did recognize--that 
abortion destroys the life of a baby. Sadly, the Court has not been 
able to. With all of their much-vaunted intelligence capacity, they 
missed it by a mile. So thank you for reminding us of that.
  Mr. Speaker, how much time remains.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Marshall). The gentleman has 21 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, ex-President Barack Obama, the abortion President, has 
done serious harm. No human rights abuse, however, need be forever. 
Today, we have an extraordinary opportunity. We have, I would submit, a 
duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable and to reassert 
protections that have been sadly lacking for the last 44 years. 
Protecting unborn children and their mothers is the most important 
human rights cause on Earth. And this week, on Friday, thousands are 
expected to march for life, to march for this fundamental human right--
the right to live.
  Now, as never before, we must work, pray, and fast for that day when 
every life is cherished as a gift; every life loved, despite one's 
disability, race, sex, color, religion, or condition of dependency; and 
every life welcomed, no matter the inconvenience. Earlier in this 
Special Order, Steve King talked about caring for people at every stage 
of development--every stage--including the unborn. Birth is an event 
that happens to each and every one of us. It is not the beginning of 
life.
  Again, ultrasound imaging of the unborn child has just opened up 
everyone's eyes to the little child--twins if there are two--that 
resides within.
  He also talked about, and I would agree with him, children with 
disabilities need to be welcomed. A prenatal diagnosis of disability 
should mean empathy and concern for the child, not exclusion or a death 
sentence, because every life is a gift.
  Mr. Speaker, it is very encouraging as to how many young people are 
stepping up to protect and lead in this human rights cause. 
Increasingly, the young people on college campuses, Students for Life, 
and so many young people in their 20s, the millennials--and the polling 
shows the millennials are pro-life--are stepping up.
  Tom Brokaw often talked about the Greatest Generation. They are 
stepping up as the next Greatest Generation who by their compassion, 
faith, and determination will transform America into a culture of life.
  All of us in the pro-life movement are especially thankful for the 
growing number of courageous women who are silent no more. Some of the 
groups are called the Silent No More Awareness campaign. For example, 
women, all of whom have had abortions, have suffered psychological and 
emotional harm, and yet they, thank God, have found reconciliation and 
peace, often through faith. But now they blaze a

[[Page 1228]]

hope-filled path for other post-abortive women to find healing, 
reconciliation, and inner peace. They admonish society not to offer the 
false solution of killing an unborn child.
  There are two victims in every abortion: the baby, the most obvious, 
but equally the mother. Women deserve better than the false solution of 
dismembering or chemically poisoning unborn children. The other side of 
the issue seldom talks about the child, if ever, don't even use the 
word abortion much anymore, just choice or reproductive rights, and 
just refuses to accept or to acknowledge or to debate what the deed 
actually does.
  Children have their arms and legs torn off their bodies by the 
abortionist as well as decapitation. Chemicals literally starve the 
child to death. RU-486 is euphemistically called medical abortion like 
the other pills that are provided. First, the child starves in the 
womb, and then another chemical brings on labor.
  For the pro-life movement, we all acknowledge that the way forward is 
fraught with obstacles that must be overcome. The promotion of human 
rights is never easy. The promotion of human rights is never obstacle 
free. If past is prologue, the history of the pro-life movement, 
however, shows that we will never quit.
  Earlier today, the House voted on the No Taxpayer Funding for 
Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, H.R. 7, to end 
taxpayer complicity and funding of abortion. I especially want to thank 
our very principled leadership, great people like the Speaker, Paul 
Ryan; Kevin McCarthy, our majority leader; Steve Scalise, our whip; and 
Cathy McMorris Rodgers; and so many others who take a principled stand 
for the unborn and equally for their mothers.
  No matter what The Washington Post or The New York Times might say, 
they are willing to stand into the wind rather than to go along with it 
because the sanctity of life--the preciousness of those children and 
equally of their mothers--demands it. I want to thank them for their 
extraordinary leadership. As we all know, the bill passed 238-183.
  The extraordinary news is about the Hyde amendment and its 
consequences. It has saved the lives of over 2 million children, and 
that is a conservative estimate. There may be many more. Other funding 
bans at State levels, as well as our funding bans in our Federal 
policies, including the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, have 
also saved lives because the money was not there to facilitate the 
demise--the violent demise--of those children.
  Even the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned 
Parenthood, acknowledges that about 25 percent of the Medicaid 
abortions that otherwise would have occurred do not occur. Those 
children go on to be born, and that is where the 2 million figure, 
about 60,000 per year--children who evade the scalpel or the chemical 
poisoning of abortion.
  Forty years ago, Congress enacted the Hyde amendment. It has been 
continued every year, and now it will be made permanent if this bill 
were to become law. We know, as was said during the debate by my 
friends on the other side of this issue, that they are determined to 
eviscerate the Hyde amendment, and those 2 million children, had they 
had their way over the last 40 years, would have been killed.
  We also want to take abortion out of ObamaCare. The President stood 
right at that podium, Mr. Speaker, in September of 2009, and said: 
``Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions. . 
. . ''
  We know that is absolutely untrue. He also signed an executive order 
where he said that the Hyde amendment would be applied to the plans in 
the exchanges. So we went to the Government Accountability Office and 
asked for a study. It took about a year, and they came back and said 
that 1,036 insurance plans across the country paid for abortion on 
demand with taxpayer funding. H.R. 7, title II, would end that 
complicity of the taxpayer with the procurement of abortion.
  Let me also say that we hope to bring up in this House a bill that 
was sponsored last Congress and is again today by Trent Franks of 
Arizona, a great champion of life. It is called the Pain-Capable Unborn 
Child Protection Act to legally protect most babies at 20 weeks 
postfertilization. Of course, many of those kids die of dismemberment. 
Again, we need a national debate on abortion because the methods have 
been hidden by the facade of the abortion industry. They have been very 
good at cloaking, concealing, and diminishing any focus on what happens 
to the baby. Even when abortion is through ultrasound-guided abortions 
and the mother is there, semi-sedated, they turn the screen away from 
her so she doesn't see the dismemberment of the child, because, 
obviously, as Dr. Nathanson, the founder of NARAL and an abortionist, 
once said--he came to the conclusion after having killed 60,000 
children and then became a pro-lifer--he said that if wombs had 
windows, if everyone, including the woman, could see the child, she 
would run out of that abortion mill.
  So, again, I want to say thank you to Trent Franks. I know he is 
here, and I hope that he will join us tonight. He has led on born-alive 
legislation, which is also transformative.
  Imagine that the former President of the United States, Barack Obama, 
said that he would veto a bill that would provide a standard of care, 
including a right to private action, when the child is born alive from 
a later term abortion. We can't even help that child? Yet Obama, the 
abortion President, said: No, we can't. Trent Franks, again, has been 
the leader on that as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus) 
who is a good friend and colleague, and then to close, Congressman 
Trent Franks.
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New Jersey, for more than three 
decades, has raised these issues in this very Chamber, speaking for 
those who are defenseless and voiceless. He speaks because he speaks 
truth and is motivated by his conscience to discuss these truths.
  Every year since 1973, we have had a March for Life here in 
Washington. This year, we have the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It 
is one of the gravest examples of judicial activism in our Nation's 
history. Seven black-robed Justices decided that the lives of unborn 
children are not protected under the Constitution in what Justice White 
referred to as an exercise in raw judicial power. In the last 44 years, 
60 million children have died in abortion.
  The March for Life draws thousands of people, young and old, Democrat 
and Republican, from across the Nation year after year from near and 
far, on buses, on planes, in cars, on trains, in snow, in rain, in 
sunshine, and overcast skies. Why? Why do they continue to come?
  They come because they are motivated by the transcendent truth that 
was captured in our Declaration of Independence that everyone is 
endowed by a Creator with an inalienable right to life--a right that no 
one can take away.

                              {time}  1830

  Everyone in this Chamber has that right. Everybody listening to this 
Special Order debate has that right. You have it today, you had it 
yesterday, you had it before you were born. No one has the right to 
take that right away.
  The right does not depend on your ability to see, your ability to 
hear, your ability to walk, your ability to talk. That right exists 
because you are human. It is as simple as that. No one can take away 
that right.
  Those coming to the March for Life this year are coming to share that 
witness, but they have also been witnessing back home the countless 
acts of service they do for women in crisis pregnancies and to continue 
with the help that they provide.
  It is a good thing for them to come to Washington. I look forward to 
welcoming my constituents from western Pennsylvania, and I encourage 
them to come and stand and continue to witness until one day we 
recognize the right to life for everyone in our country.

[[Page 1229]]


  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman so much for his 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I came to this building some 30 
years ago. Christopher Smith was here fighting the battle for these 
little babies, as he is tonight. I hold him to be a grand hero of 
humanity. Words fail me to express to him the honor, the respect, and 
the affection that is due him for his relentless, faithful commitment 
to these little babies that could never vote for him.
  All I can say to Mr. Smith is that one day he will step over the 
threshold of eternity and God will say: Welcome home, Chris. You did a 
good job. You protected those who couldn't protect themselves.
  I can't think of anything that I think points to a greater manhood, a 
greater honor, a greater stewardship of life than protecting those who 
cannot protect themselves. I just want to express that in the deepest 
way possible.
  Certainly, Keith Rothfus, I love him. He is a wonderful man. We have 
so many here. But Chris has been here forever and he has stayed with 
it. He is getting to be an old guy, but he is not quitting. I am so 
honored just to be in the same room with him.
  Mr. Speaker, as I often do around the 22nd of January to commemorate 
and to remember the tragic Roe v. Wade decision, I come with a sunset 
memorial because another legislative day has come and gone in 
Washington, D.C., and sunset approaches fast. So I stand here in this 
House with what I call a sunset memorial.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, before the sun sets today in America, over 
3,000 more unborn children will be killed by abortion on demand in the 
land of the free and the home of the brave. That is more than the 
number of innocent lives lost on September 11th in this country. It 
happens every day.
  As much hope as there is in the day in which we stand in this place, 
in this new moment in American history, for these 3,000, hope will 
never come in time. I mourn that, Mr. Speaker, because it wasn't 
necessary.
  It has now been 44 years since the tragedy called Roe v. Wade was 
first handed down. Since then, the very foundation of this Nation has 
been stained by the blood of almost 60 million of our own unborn 
children. So many of them, Mr. Speaker, cried and screamed as they 
died, but because it was amniotic fluid going over the vocal cords 
instead of air, we couldn't hear them.
  All of them had at least four things in common, Mr. Speaker. First, 
they were just little babies who had done nothing wrong to anyone. Each 
one of them died a nameless and lonely death and each one of their 
mothers was wounded. Whether she realizes it or not, she will never 
quite be the same.
  All the gifts that these children might have brought to humanity are 
now lost forever, Mr. Speaker, and that is worth mourning. Yet, even 
the glare of such tragedy brings a ray of hope because this generation, 
even though it still clings sometimes to a blind, invincible ignorance 
while history repeats itself over and over again, there is, again, a 
new beacon of hope breaking over the horizon.
  Mr. Speaker, not so long ago I heard Barack Obama speak some very 
noble but poignant words that, whether he realizes it or not, applies 
so profoundly to this subject. So I am going to quote some excerpted 
portions of his comments.
  Let me just say at the outset that I agreed with the words that he 
spoke. I am going to say that upfront. No one was a greater critic of 
the policies of Barack Obama than myself because I thought he missed 
the moment. I thought he missed his moment in history. He could have 
been a great and powerful friend to the helpless, yet he chose to be 
the one to oppose their chance to walk in the light of life.
  He said: ``This is our first task--caring for our children. It's our 
first job. If we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. 
That's how, as a society, we will be judged.''
  I agree, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Obama asked: ``Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless 
in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we 
prepared to say that such violence that is visited on our children year 
after year after year is somehow the price of freedom?''
  The President also said: ``Our journey is not complete until all our 
children . . .'' are ``cared for and cherished and always safe from 
harm.''
  ``That is our generation's task,'' he said, ``to make these words, 
these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness real for every American.''
  Mr. Speaker, never have I so deeply agreed with any words ever spoken 
by President Barack Obama as those I have just quoted. Yet, when he was 
President, in the most merciless distortion of logic and reason and 
humanity itself, he refused to apply his incontrovertible words to the 
helpless unborn babies in this Nation.
  How I wish, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. Obama could have somehow opened his 
heart and his ears to his own words and asked himself in the core of 
his own soul why his words that should apply to all children could not 
have included the most helpless and vulnerable of all children. Nine 
million American unborn children died under the policies that Mr. Obama 
relentlessly supported.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, that moment when President Barack Obama could have 
heard and responded to the silent cries of these little forgotten souls 
has passed forever. Mr. Obama takes his place as the undisputed 
abortion President.
  While I mourn that reality, Mr. Speaker, I take great hope in a new 
reality that Donald Trump is now President of the United States and 
that the winds of change are beginning to blow. I believe Mr. Trump 
will be a protector of these little babies that have waited so very 
long for someone to come along and help them.
  So now I pray that the Members of this body and those in the United 
States Senate will remember the words of Thomas Jefferson when he said: 
``The care of human life and its happiness, and not its destruction, is 
the chief and only object of good government.''
  That phrase in the 14th Amendment that capsulizes our entire 
Constitution says: ``No State shall deprive any person of life, 
liberty, or property without due process of law.''
  Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of all Americans and their 
constitutional rights is why we are all here.
  Mr. Speaker, there is hope now. We wait for that new day that has 
come to manifest and the sun to break through the clouds and shine once 
again on the faces of these little babies.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.

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