August 1, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5623 

come together to do what’s right for 

the American people. 

Mr. Speaker, here’s what I would say 

in closing. Millionaires and billionaires 

are really doing simply what ordinary 

citizens can’t do anymore. They’ve got 

all the strings. I can understand, Mr. 

Speaker, that there are people at home 

who just really aren’t sure where they 

fit in this system. They’re not sure 

what it means for their elected officials to be responsive to them because 

they believe that there’s somebody out 

there who has more money and, as a result, more power and, as a result, more 

influence than they do at home. 

I’ve traveled all across this country, 

and I have to tell you that it doesn’t 

matter whether you’re in Maine or 

Montana, or you’re all the way down 

through the South of this country and 

all across this great landscape, people 

really want to feel that they have some 

power, that they have some influence. 

Mr. Speaker, they just don’t have that 

right now. 

I just don’t even know another way 

to say that there’s a ‘‘for sale’’ sign on 

the doors. I see poor old Uncle Sam 

here. He’s looking mighty sad, Mr. 

Speaker. I’ve never seen a more sad 

looking Uncle Sam. Part of the reason 

is because he’s shackled. He’s shackled 

by $100 million from Priorities USA Action. Uncle Sam is shackled by $300 

million from Karl Rove and American 

Crossroads. Uncle Sam is shackled by 

$61 million from only 26 billionaires. 

Uncle Sam is shackled by $39 million 

from who knows who else. And poor 

Uncle Sam, sad with his hand out, is 

shackled by $400 million from the Koch 

Brothers, shackled by $100 million from 

Sheldon Adelson. 

We could put a lot more up there, Mr. 

Speaker, but it’s time for the United 

States Congress to remove the shackles 

of money from Uncle Sam so that we 

don’t continue to sell our democracy. 

It’s time for us to remove the shackles. 

It’s time for us to say to the millionaires and billionaires, You’ve got to 

play just like the person who gives $5 

or $1. Not a lot of people give money to 

political campaigns. I can certainly understand that. 

Mr. Speaker, I would close by urging 

us to use the 16 legislative days that 

are left to restore democracy, to restore sanity, by acting for the American people to restore the campaign finance system. 

With that, I yield back the balance of 

my time. 

f 

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRIESTS 

FOR LIFE 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under 

the Speaker’s announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from 

Minnesota (Mrs. BACHMANN) is recognized for 35 minutes as the designee of 

the majority leader. 

GENERAL LEAVE

Mrs. BACHMANN. 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 material on the subject of my Special Order. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Minnesota? 

There was no objection. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. Today, Mr. Speaker, we mark the 20th anniversary of 

Priests for Life, and I’m pleased to 

yield 1 minute to my colleague, JEAN

SCHMIDT, of Ohio. 

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Thank you for giving 

me 1 minute. 

I do want to celebrate the 20th anniversary, and I want to celebrate three 

pro-life advocates in my own hometown. The first is Archbishop Dennis 

Schnurr, who has been unequivocally 

in the forefront of this movement. I 

have stood with Archbishop Schnurr in 

front of Planned Parenthood of Greater 

Cincinnati praying the rosary. I have 

walked with him in the Cross the 

Bridge for Life. I’ve watched him get 

on a bus with schoolchildren and come 

up here to Washington for the March 

for Life. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph 

Binzer is another pro-life advocate who 

has walked the walk and talked the 

talk. And most importantly, my own 

parish priest, Father Michael Cordier, 

who again has come up here to Washington with a group of students from 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Andrew to March for Life, but most importantly in his own personal life has 

witnessed his brother and his sister-inlaw with a very challenged girl, Sophia 

Cordier, who not only exemplified what 

the meaning of life is, but as she passed 

into her eternal reward earlier this 

year, has become an emblematic portion of the right-to-life movement in 

greater Cincinnati. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I 

now yield 3 minutes to Mr. WALBERG of 

Michigan. 

Mr. WALBERG. I thank the gentlelady. I thank you for commanding this 

time to call attention to people, heroes 

of life like Father Frank Pavone. 

Congressman RON PAUL, one of our 

colleagues, shared a poem with me on 

the floor one day. It caught my attention. It’s called ‘‘The Anvil’’: 

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith door, 

and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime; 

Looking in, I saw upon the floor old hammers, worn with beating years of time. 

‘How many anvils have you had,’ said I, ‘To 

wear and batter all these hammers so?’ 

‘Just one,’ said he, and then with twinkling eye, ‘The anvil wears the hammers out, 

you know.’ 

And so, thought I, the anvil called the 

master’s Word, for ages skeptic blows have 

beat upon; 

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was 

heard, The anvil is unharmed, and the hammers gone. 

Father Pavone and others who command the interest in life understand 

the power of truth, the truth that 

comes with the Creator, a Creator who 

has designed life itself for good and for 

the best interests of all. 

In our great document, the Declaration of Independence, it said: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, 

that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain 

unalienable, God given rights, among them, 

the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of 

happiness. 

b 2130 

And so, Mr. Speaker, I would just 

refer back to the truth. Tonight, as we 

think about life and honor and organizations like Priests for Life and others 

who understand the truth that are contained in words like this, ‘‘Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of 

the womb is a reward’’; of the prophet 

Jeremiah, of whom it was said, ‘‘Before 

I formed you in the womb, I knew you. 

Before you were born, I set you apart,’’ 

that’s life before even the womb was 

open. 

And then that beautiful psalm, 

Psalm 139, says: 

For You formed my inward parts. You 

wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give 

thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, 

and my soul knows it very well. My frame 

was not hidden from You when I was made in 

secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of 

the Earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed 

substance. And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when 

as yet there was not one of them. 

Father Frank, we thank you for your 

work and the Priests for Life. We 

thank all of those who stand for life. 

Mr. Speaker, I thank this body for 

the opportunity to speak for the principle that God created life for a purpose, and we must adore it and continue it on. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I 

now yield to Representative CHRIS

SMITH of New Jersey, the leading voice 

for the pro-life cause and for the unborn across the United States. 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank 

my good friend for yielding and thank 

her for calling this very important Special Order. 

For two decades, I, along with countless others, have been moved, inspired, 

and motivated to defend the weakest 

and most vulnerable among us by the 

remarkable life and pro-life witness of 

Father Frank Pavone. Ordained to the 

Roman Catholic priesthood by Cardinal 

John O’Connor in 1988, Father Pavone 

celebrates 20 years since the founding 

of Priests for Life, the organization he 

so effectively leads. 

A prolific writer and gifted speaker, 

Father Pavone takes the gospel message of love, forgiveness, truth, and 

reconciliation both to friendly audiences who draw encouragement from 

his messages and to those—especially 

post-abortive women—who suffer and 

are in deep pain. 

I have heard Father Pavone challenge priests to more robustly defend 

the sanctity of life, especially in their 

homilies. In promoting the gospel of 

life, he insists no venue should be forsaken or ignored. Whether it be from 

the pulpit or in the public square, Father Pavone couldn’t be more clear: 

Speak out with candor, clarity and 


smartinez on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE
H5624 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE August 1, 2012 

compassion—silence is not an option. 

Silence, I’ve heard him say, does a 

woman contemplating abortion no 

favor whatsoever. She needs pro-life 

options, real alternatives presented in 

a meaningful way. She needs understanding and genuine support. And others who might help her need to know 

that their willingness to assist might 

be the difference between life and 

death. 

In like matter, Father Pavone and 

Executive Director Janet Morana are 

unceasing in their efforts to tangibly 

aid post-abortive women who often suffer not only physical damage from 

abortion but lifelong negative emotional, psychological, and spiritual 

consequences. The Silent No More 

Awareness Campaign provides a safe 

place for women who have had abortions to grieve and find peace. 

Amazingly, Father Pavone also 

steadfastly reaches out to the actual 

purveyors of death in the abortion industry. This good priest sees not just 

the abortionist and their enablers committing violence against women and 

babies, but what might be if we genuinely care about their souls. Father 

Pavone reminds us that we are to pray 

for them, care for them, all while tenaciously opposing the deeds that they 

do. 

Abby Johnson, a woman who ran a 

Planned Parenthood abortion clinic for 

8 years in Texas, said of Father 

Pavone: 

Father Frank Pavone has been a staple in 

my house for many years, even during my 

Planned Parenthood years. Every week, I 

would record and watch Defending Life on 

EWTN. I enjoyed watching him, even if I disagreed. I loved how outspoken he was and 

how he didn’t seem to live in the gray. You 

know, everything seemed black-and-white 

for him. Right and wrong was clear. 

I remember watching him during the Terri 

Schiavo tragedy. I was drawn to his gentle 

spirit. I had seen two sides to him—or was it? 

One side was so unabashedly, 

unapologetically, and passionately against 

abortion. The other was a man who had an 

incredibly compassionate heart and a kind 

spirit. This was the man who was helping a 

family grieve the loss of their daughter. But 

now I see they are the same. Father Frank is 

for life, all life. His compassion for life fuels 

his passion. 

Mr. Speaker, Priests for Life turns 

20, doing best what it has done so faithfully, defending the least of these as if 

it were the Lord, Himself. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. I thank you, Mr. 

SMITH, for your important pro-life 

voice, and thank you for the years of 

steadfastness on this issue. And we do 

thank Father Pavone and also Priests 

for Life. 

Now I would like to yield to a wonderful Member from Nebraska, Mr. 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, an important prolife voice here in the United States 

Congress. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the 

gentlelady from Minnesota for yielding, and thank you for your stalwart 

and courageous stand for life tonight. 

Women deserve better than abortion, 

and of course celebrating an extraordinary organization such as Priests for 

Life who have tried to heal the wounded and protect those who are most vulnerable is, of course, an extraordinary 

cause. 

Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues and I 

gather on the floor, I am going to turn 

the subject to another matter because 

we are marking what could possibly be 

considered one of the most significant 

turning points in the history of our Nation. But it is not a cause for celebration. 

In America, where we have a legacy 

of principle that undergirds our Nation 

and makes it possible to create prosperity—not just material means, but a 

flourishing of the potential of each person—where does that principle come 

from? Well, we’ve all heard the line 

from the earliest of our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, which goes like this: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, 

that all men are created equal, that they are 

endowed by their Creator with certain 

unalienable rights, that among these are life, 

liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

This is the operative philosophical 

paradigm of our culture, so much so we 

don’t even think about it—that our 

rights are not conferred by a king or a 

government. They are inherent, based 

upon the dignity of each person. 

And as we worked this out in the 

early stages of our development of our 

country, we wrote a Constitution 

which basically did one thing: It defined power, and it defined power as 

coming from the consent of the government, consistent with our operative 

philosophical paradigm of the inherent 

dignity and rights and responsibilities 

of each individual person. 

Beyond that, the consent of the governed turns that power over to representatives who then make prudential 

judgments about what is in the common good. We make the law and are 

held accountable by the people in elections. 

We then spread that power out. We 

developed three branches of government: the Congress makes the law; the 

President enforces the law; and the judiciary interprets the law in order that 

we have even more balance of power to 

ensure that it is not abused. 

But then we took it a step further. 

There were still concerns that we had 

defined where power is coming from— 

from the natural inherent dignity of 

the person—but we also wanted to define what government must not do, and 

so we wrote the Bill of Rights, the first 

10 amendments to the Constitution. 

And the First Amendment starts with 

these words: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an 

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of 

the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, the threats to religious liberty in our country are often 

more subtle than in other parts of the 

world. But as a legislator, what has 

grieved me deeply is that, for the first 

time in the history of health care in 

the United States, Americans are being 

forced to choose to either obey the government or violate their personal convictions. Buried in the President’s 2010 

health care law was a provision empowering the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to 

issue rules on preventative services. 

b 2140 

Who could have predicted that she 

would use her authority, sanctioned by 

President Obama, to force everyone to 

purchase drugs and procedures—including abortion-inducing drugs—that violate the fundamental ethical sensibilities of many Americans. 

No American should be forced to 

choose between their conscience and 

their livelihood. No American should 

be forced to stand for their deeply held, 

reasoned beliefs, or stand convicted by 

government coercion. No American 

should be forced to choose between 

their faith and their job. This is wrong. 

It is a false choice. It is unjust. It is 

unnecessary. It is un-American, and it 

is an affront to the very purpose of our 

government derived from the consent 

of the governed. 

America owes its unique character 

and strength to empowering, protecting, and upholding the inalienable 

rights of her citizens. Health care 

should be about the common good, caring for the sick, and healing the 

wounded. Health care policy should not 

be a vehicle to drive divisive ideology, 

forcing Americans to violate deeply 

held beliefs. The Health and Human 

Services mandate violates the fundamental principle of religious liberty 

and the rights of conscience so dear to 

this country. America owes its unique 

character and strength to empowering, 

protecting, and upholding those rights 

of her citizens. 

Mr. Speaker, Karen McGivenyLlechtl, one of my constituents, sent 

me this email: 

As a woman’s health practitioner and a 

Catholic, I need the ability to stay within 

my faith boundaries. I would be unable to 

work if I was required to provide the services 

this mandate has imposed. 

Indeed, it is sad that the Health and 

Human Services ruling seems most perniciously targeted at faith-based providers who are the backstop of compassionate care for our most vulnerable. 

Throughout our history, the U.S. 

health care service has in large measure owed its success to the doctors, 

nurses, and health care providers staffing faith-based institutions. These institutions, including hospitals and university clinics and nonprofit health institutions, serve the common good of 

all Americans. The government should 

celebrate the contribution of these 

faith-based entities, which fulfill the 

mission of helping the sick and serving 

the poor. Without them, we will see reduced access to high-quality care, especially for vulnerable persons who have 


smartinez on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE
August 1, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5625 

traditionally relied on these benevolent organizations of civil society. Several health care practitioners have told 

me personally that they would choose 

to leave their professions rather than 

compromise their beliefs. But undoubtedly, some will not obey the government. And our government has effectively condemned them. 

Another man who was condemned for 

his beliefs had this to say: 

I submit that an individual that breaks a 

law that conscience tells him is unjust, and 

willingly accepts the penalty by staying in 

jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is, in reality, expressing the very highest respect for the law. 

So wrote Dr. Martin Luther King 

from the Birmingham jail. 

The purpose of our government is to 

create just structures for societal 

order, empowering liberty, beginning 

with the affirmation of the natural 

rights of the person, including the 

most basic right of conscience. In my 

office, there is a copy of a draft of the 

Bill of Rights. The rights of conscience 

were initially included in that draft. 

But by the final version, that right was 

formalized by the concept of religious 

freedom, perhaps given that the rights 

of conscience were such an ordinarily 

understood concept that its fullness did 

not need provision. James Madison, the 

architect of the Constitution, wrote 

that ‘‘conscience is the most sacred of 

all property,’’ linking conscience rights 

to the foundation of religious liberty. 

In 1809, Thomas Jefferson stated 

that: 

No provision in our Constitution ought to 

be dearer to man than that which protects 

the rights of conscience against the enterprises of civil authority. 

The Health and Human Services 

mandate violates the fundamental 

principle of religious liberty and rights 

of conscience so dear to our country. 

No American should be forced to 

choose between violating their conscience in order to serve the public. 

From the faith-based hospital to the 

business person providing health care 

coverage in their insurance plan to 

their employees, to the school established for children with special needs, 

no American should be forced to choose 

between their faith and their job. 

This is why so many people of goodwill, regardless of their religious traditions or their political affiliation, consider the Health and Human Services 

mandate to be a gross affront to the 

very essence of what it means to be an 

American. And all of us must choose 

our response. This is not simply a religious issue. It’s not a Catholic issue. 

It’s not an Evangelical issue. It’s an 

American issue. We all have a responsibility to decide, informed by our faith, 

what our country means to us, and 

what it demands of us in this moment. 

Last Friday, there was a Federal 

judge who ruled in a court case in this 

regard, and I think Federal Judge John 

Kane in Hercules v. Sebelius got it 

right. He had this to say: 

The government’s interests are countered, 

and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion. 

I thank the gentlelady from Minnesota for her leadership on this important issue, and so many others. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. I thank you, Mr. 

FORTENBERRY, a father of five. And I’m 

a mother of five, and so I thank you. 

Mr. Speaker, I will give just a few remarks on Priests for Life and on their 

20th anniversary. Tonight is a very important night because, as we know, it 

has been 40 years since the infamous 

Roe v. Wade decision removed legal 

protection for those who are unborn, 

the youngest members of our society, 

those who still remain in the womb of 

their mother. 

And since that time, numerous 

groups have risen up to restore that 

protection to the unborn and to educate the public about the issue that we 

all know as abortion, and to provide 

compassionate service, both to those 

who need alternatives to abortion and 

those who need healing after abortion. 

I stand here today with my colleagues in the United States Congress 

to honor one extremely important institution known as Priests for Life as 

they celebrate 20 years of advocacy and 

service to the unborn. As many people 

across America know, Priests for Life 

is led by Father Frank Pavone. He is 

one of the strongest voices for the unborn throughout the world, as well as 

for children in America, and he stands 

strong because as we know, contrary to 

what its name might suggest, Priests 

for Life isn’t just for priests, and it’s 

not just for Catholics. 

The work of Priests for Life has enabled Americans of every walk of life, 

every ethnicity, every faith background, every political affiliation, to 

awaken their consciences about the life 

issue, to speak up for the unborn. And 

here’s just a few of the outreach efforts, Mr. Speaker, that Priests for Life 

have been involved in. 

Every year, Priests for Life holds 

nearly 1,000 retreats across America for 

men and women who have lost a child 

to abortion. Priests for Life also runs 

the very important Silent No More 

awareness campaign to mobilize men 

and women who have lost a child to 

abortion but who have gone on to experience healing through God and who 

now want to share their testimony. 

One of the full-time members of 

Priests for Life is a very important 

voice in the United States, Dr. Alveda 

King. I was just with her this last 

weekend. Americans know her as the 

niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Alveda heads up the effort to reach the 

black community with the truth of 

abortion and how it disproportionately 

impacts unborn black children in the 

United States. 

Priests for Life also sponsors a nonpartisan voter registration drive, focused on saving innocent human life 

and helping to heal the hurt of men 

and women as they are post-abortive. 

Through churches, they distribute 

voter guides. They train clergy on 

what they can do within the limits of 

the law to foster political responsibility. 

Now, it is very difficult to find any 

national initiative to the pro-life 

movement that either Father Frank 

Pavone or Priests for Life are somehow 

not deeply involved in. For example, in 

February of this year, 2012, Priests for 

Life launched a lawsuit against the 

Health and Human Services mandate, 

which we have heard much about this 

evening, that requires job creators to 

offer health insurance coverage for 

morally objectionable practices. 

b 2150 

This mandate is an enormous affront 

to our First Amendment religious liberty rights in the United States and it 

needs to be stopped, because never before has this government, Mr. Speaker, 

required a job creator to provide insurance that includes contraception, abortion-causing pills and sterilization. No 

organization, no American, Mr. Speaker, should have to violate their religious beliefs because of this President’s 

health care dictates. I am a mom to 28 

kids, five natural born children, 23 foster children. I believe with every fiber 

in my being that every child matters 

and that we should have a right to life 

for every American, because every life 

is precious, every life is sacred, and 

every life is made in the image and 

likeness of a holy God. Every life matters. 

I’m extremely proud to be a part of 

the pro-life movement that is truly a 

voice for the voiceless and to have been 

affiliated with Priests for Life and Father Frank Pavone. As we take note of 

the 20th anniversary of one of the leading pro-life organizations in our Nation, I wish to thank this evening 

Priests for Life for everything they 

continue to do to protect and defend 

the sanctity of every human life. 

I would now like to yield to one of 

the strongest pro-life voices in the 

State of Texas, well-known and beloved 

to Americans all across this Nation, 

Representative LOUIE GOHMERT. 

Mr. GOHMERT. I thank my friend 

from Minnesota, my very, very dear 

friend. 

This is an important day, Priests for 

Life marking 20 years. As a Christian, 

as a Southern Baptist, it is an honor to 

pay tribute to the Catholic priests who 

have stood strong, stood for life, that 

precious one of the trilogy that was set 

out in the Declaration of Independence. 

But first life. Only if you have life can 

you then go to liberty and have a 

chance at a pursuit of happiness. 

For those of us who believe the scripture written in the Old Testament, as 

did our founders, most all of them—in 

fact a third of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, over a third, 

were ordained Christian ministers—but 

certainly George Washington and even 

Ben Franklin, even though some history teachers mislead their students 

these days. They all believed in those 

scriptures. 

When you look at the fall of the 

northern kingdom of Israel, it’s a little 

scary, because, as I’ve read, one of the 


smartinez on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE
H5626 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE August 1, 2012 

things that God was angry over was 

that people had fallen into such incredible idol worship that they were willing 

to sacrifice their own children. That is 

so abominable. How could anybody love 

such idols and idol worship such that 

they would sacrifice their own child 

and allow the taking of their own 

child’s life? 

And then I thought about abortion in 

this country, and we have no room to 

talk. For 20 years, Priests for Life have 

known that, and they have stood firm 

that the most essential right of our 

Creator is life, and you can’t get to liberty until you start with life. 

And then the irony of all ironies, 

today, the first day that the Catholic 

church and really all of us who are 

Christians, all of us who believe in freedom of religion, all of us that in fact 

actually believe the Constitution 

means what it says have been slapped 

down by this administration. Regardless of what the Supreme Court says, 

the First Amendment makes clear, as 

my friend from Nebraska (Mr. FORTENBERRY) says: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an 

establishment of religion or prohibiting the 

free exercise thereof. 

Or prohibiting the free exercise 

thereof. 

And we have friends, Christian 

friends, who believe with all their 

heart it is a right to practice their religion, and they have these religious beliefs, and this administration has demeaned them to the point that it 

would release a quote as was pointed 

out by Amy Payne with the Heritage 

Foundation today, when quoting the 

Health and Human Services Department: 

The Obama administration will continue 

to work with all employers to give them the 

flexibility and resources they need to implement the health care law in a way that protects women’s health while making commonsense accommodations for values like religious liberty. 

Values nothing. It’s a constitutional 

right that this administration is 

trodding on and trampling and stomping on. And if it will take this right, 

what’s next? Can Jews not worship on 

the Sabbath because it’s inconvenient? 

But maybe this administration will 

help try to accommodate that value. 

Or how about communion? Maybe 

this administration will find at some 

point it’s really not healthy, and so 

they’ll try to accommodate the religious conviction, the freedom of religion, as a value. They’ll try to work 

with people who believe this to the 

core of their hearts. 

You go back to the founding. We 

didn’t even have a Constitution. Ben 

Franklin sat for 5 weeks, virtually, listening to all the rancor back and forth. 

He finally rises, 80 years old, gout, 

trouble getting up, overweight, a couple of years or so from meeting his 

Judge, and he points out, We’ve been 

going for nearly 5 weeks. We’ve got 

more noes than ayes on virtually everything, and he asks: 

How has it happened, sir, that we’ve not 

once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning contest with 

Great Britain when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room. Our 

prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. 

Now that’s not a deist, and it’s someone who does not believe in the accommodation of a religious value. He believed in religious freedom. Not only 

that, he believed in the power of prayer 

because in that same speech that we 

know is his speech, because he wrote it 

out in his own hand, he says: 

I have lived, sir, a long time, and the 

longer I live the more convincing proofs I see 

of this truth: God governs in the affairs of 

men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the 

ground without His notice, is it possible that 

an empire could rise without His aid? 

Ben Franklin said: 

We have been assured, sir, in the sacred 

writing— 

Not that we’re accommodating, but 

that we believe in— 

We’ve been assured in the sacred writing 

that unless the Lord build it, they labor in 

vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also 

believe without His, God’s, concurring aid, 

we will succeed in our political building no 

better than the builders of Babel. 

Now, here we are over 200 years later 

trying to accommodate what Ben 

Franklin said that stirred the hearts of 

those and even stirred Randolph to say, 

You know what: Let’s take a break. 

Let’s go listen to a preacher preach the 

word all together as a constitutional 

convention and then come back. And 

they did and they came back with a 

new spirit and they gave us a Constitution that this administration is now 

trodding and trampling upon. 

God, the God of which Ben Franklin 

spoke, without whom we will succeed 

in our political building no better than 

the builders of Babel, is now being told 

by this administration that they’ll accommodate as best they can, but make 

no mistake, they’re trampling on the 

rights that Priests for Life have been 

preaching about for 20 years. 

I thank my friend for yielding. 

Mrs. BACHMANN. I thank our friend 

from Texas. 

I just want to say, we’ve had so many 

Members of Congress that wanted to be 

down here on the floor this evening and 

there was only so much time. 

I would like to thank also Congresswoman BLACK of Tennessee, Congressman HUELSKAMP of Kansas, Congressman LANKFORD of Oklahoma, Congresswoman BLACKBURN of Tennessee. Also, 

I want to thank Congressman TRENT

FRANKS of Arizona. We had many in addition to the Members that we have 

heard from this evening: Congressman 

FORTENBERRY of Nebraska, Congressman WALBERG of Michigan, and Congresswoman SCHMIDT of Ohio, in addition to Congressman SMITH of New Jersey. I want to thank them, Congressman GOHMERT of Texas, and so many 

other pro-life Members of Congress. 

This is an important night. We thank 

Priests for Life for 20 years of standing 

firm for the cause of the unborn. We 

will get there yet. Thank you, Father 

Frank. 

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance 

of my time. 

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today the 

Obama Administration is following through on 

their HHS mandate that violates religious freedom as today begins the date where the rule 

goes into effect. 24 separate lawsuits across 

the country have been filed representing 76 

plaintiffs. 

On Friday, a Carter-appointed judge in Denver provided a preliminary injunction against 

the HHS mandate to the Newland family, the 

Catholic owners of a HVAC company in Colorado. This case, led by Alliance Defending 

Freedom, is a welcomed initial victory for religious freedom. We will need the courts or the 

Congress to reverse this tragic disregard for 

American’s First Amendment right to freedom 

of religion without government interference. 

Protecting the First Amendment has to be 

our First priority. The first words of the First 

Amendment read: ‘‘Congress shall make no 

law respecting an establishment of religion, or 

prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . .’’ 

What happened to the promise that ‘‘if you 

like the health care you have you can keep 

it?’’ 

The radical mandate makes it so religiousbased institutions are forced to defy a Higher 

Order at the will of a Goverment Order. Religious liberty is a sacred and fundamental 

right. It’s central to who we are as a country, 

a country founded by people who fled Europe 

for their religious beliefs. 

If President Obama does not reverse his administration’s attack on religious freedom, 

Congress, led by the People’s House, will do 

it for him. 

People who go to church on Sunday and 

who put money in an offering plate shouldn’t 

have to worry that their donations will go to 

pay for things that they don’t believe in their 

hearts to be good. 

The House is going to address this matter 

fairly and deliberately, through the appropriate 

legislative channels in the House Energy & 

Commerce Committee. 

The rule announced by the Obama Administration’s Department of Health & Human Services would require faith-based employers—including Catholic charities, schools, universities, and hospitals—to provide services they 

consider immoral. Those services include sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, 

and contraception (FDA approved items). 

The effect is government crowding out religious-based institutions. Government is using 

raw political force to impose a government 

view on society where religious institutions are 

not welcome to serve or practice their faith 

freely. It is government forcing private and religious institutions off the public square. They’re 

forcing resources off the table that serve the 

public good. Since when was that a good 

idea? 

f 

PUBLICATION OF BUDGETARY 

MATERIAL 

REVISIONS TO THE AGGREGATES AND ALLOCATIONS OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2012 AND 2013 BUDGET RESOLUTIONS

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 404 of H. Con. Res 34, the 

House-passed budget resolution for fiscal year 

2012, deemed to be in force by H. Res. 287, 

and sections 503 of H. Con. Res. 112, the 

House-passed budget resolution for fiscal year 


smartinez on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE