Date: 2015-10-07
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlewoman from New York. Mr. Speaker. many of us have the memory of the back alley abortions and the many dead young women who cried alone without any help. None of us want that. None of us want women to have to make that choice. But we know the Supreme Court has established as the law of the land Roe v. Wade as a matter of choice. and that this procedure is a medical procedure. Planned Parenthood does not sell body parts. Planned Parenthood has a very infinitesimal amount of fetal research. Planned Parenthood is not the person who ganged up on them and planned these horribly disorderly. if you will. videos and stole the ID of his high school friend to do these horrible videos. Abortions have gone down. And so we come again to another Benghazilike committee where we are ignoring the law. We are allowing unilateral subpoena. even if they are consulting. where we are looking at abortions that are done. but are not done by Federal money. Mr. Speaker. I would ask my colleagues to vote against this bill that is doing nothing. Mr. Speaker. but politicizing a Presidential candidate and attacking womenattacking women. attacking health care. Mr. Speaker. as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee. and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security. I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 461. which would establish a Select Investigative Panel of the Energy and Commerce Committee. The ostensible purpose of this Select Investigative Panel is to investigate and report on all issues related to medical procedures and practices involving fetal tissue donation and procurement. federal funding and support for abortion providers. and lateterm abortions. But make no mistake. the Republican majoritys real purpose in establishing this panel is (1) to open another front in their ongoing War Against Women. (2) impede women in the exercise of their right to make their own choices when it comes to their reproductive health. and (3) to persecute. smear. and demonize Planned Parenthood. We know this from our experience with the socalled "Benghazi Committee." which the Republican leadership claimed was a nonpartisan inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding the 2012 tragedy in Libya which claimed the lives of four brave and heroic Americans. We know now. as confirmed by the Majority Leader and the Speakerapparent. that the Benghazi Committee was in reality part of politically motivated strategy to disparage and damage the former Secretary of State and leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination that has wasted $4.5 million of the taxpayers money. The Chairman of the Benghazi Committee sent to Committee Members an investigative plan that set out monthly hearings with all the different agencies involved in preparing for and responding to the attacks in Benghazi. including the State Department. the Defense Department. and the Intelligence Community. But after the New York Times email story broke on March 2. however. the Chairman completely abandoned this plan and began focusing almost exclusively on Hillary Clinton. Since then. the Committee has not held any of the hearings on his schedule. and his upcoming hearing with Hillary Clinton is the only hearing now scheduled. Abandoned are plans for hearings that were to have been held in April with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary Leon Panetta. The Committee has never held even one public hearing with anyone from the Department of Defense. The only hearing the Committee has held with an intelligence official. was with the CIAs head of Legislative Affairs regarding the status of document production. Mr. Speaker. with so many pressing challenges facing our nation. wasting time and taxpayer money on another partisan witch hunt is a luxury we simply cannot afford. The structure and powers to be given the Select Investigative Panel does not inspire any confidence that it will operate in a fair and impartial manner. For example. the composition of the committee is lopsided in favor of the majority (8 Republican. 5 Democrat). instead of more equally divided as select committees usually are comprised. Second. H. Res. 461 gives the chairman of the select panel subpoena power and deposition authority. including the authority to order the taking of depositions by a member of the select panel or the panels counsel. Third. the resolution authorized the chairman to recognize members to question witness for periods longer than the traditional five minutes and to recognize staff to question witnesses. Taken together. these unusual powers are susceptible to abuse and are valued tools to any party wishing to conduct a fishing expedition as opposed to a dispassionate search for facts. Mr. Speaker. let me save our Republican colleagues some time by pointing out the facts that an objective. fairminded inquiry would reveal. In 2011. approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the U.S.. down from an estimated 1.21 million abortions in 2008. 1.29 million in 2002. 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. Based on available statelevel data. an estimated 984.000 abortions took place in 2013down from an estimated 1.02 million abortions in 2012. Fetal tissue research has been scientifically accepted since the Reagan Administration. In 1988 the Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel (or the Blue Ribbon Commission) sought to separate the question of ethics of abortion from the question ethics of using fetal tissue from legal elective abortions for medical research. The report of this commission laid the foundation for the NIH Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (which passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support). prohibits the payment or receipt of money or any other form of valuable consideration for fetal tissue. regardless of whether the program to which the tissue is being provided is funded or not. The law contains a limited exception that permits reimbursement for actual expenses (e.g. storage. processing. transportation. etc.) of the tissue. These fees generally amount to less than $100. Less than 1% of Planned Parenthood chapters participate in this area of research. Planned Parenthood reports revenue by source (either government or nongovernment) rather than the manner of disbursement (income versus grants and contracts). Payments from Medicaid managed care plans are listed as "Government Health Services Grants and Reimbursements" to reflect the ultimate source of the funds. Planned Parenthood spends about $1.1 billion annually on 11.4 million services. 83% of which is spent on research. client services and education. Client services are divided into six categories: Cancer Prevention and Screenings. STI Testing. Contraception. Abortion Services. Other Womens Health Services & Other Services. According to Planned Parenthood financial statements from 20092014. 86% of Planned Parenthoods Services fall under the categories of Cancer Prevention and Screenings (1216%). STI Testing for men and women (3541%). and Contraception (3235%). Only about 3% of its services fall under the Abortion category nationally. Additionally. Planned Parenthood is already prohibited from spending federal funds on abortion services anyway. Finally. Mr. Speaker. H. Res. 461 is an irresponsible diversion from tackling and addressing the following critical challenges facing this Congress and the American people. and if unresolved pose grave threats to our economy and communities across the country: The Highway & Transit Trust Fund expires on October 29. endangering good paying jobs and critical construction projects throughout America. Treasury Secretary Lew has notified the Congress that the debt limit is expected to be reached on November 5 and action must be taken to raise the limit to protect the full faith & credit of the United States and prevent interest rates for mortgages. student loans. credit cards and car payments soaring. Funding to keep the government open expires on December 11 and Congress must find a way to keep the government open in the face of irresponsible opposition from 151 Republicans who voted to shut down the government rather than allow women access to affordable family planning and lifesaving preventive health care. In addition. American small businesses and manufacturers continue to suffer from Republicans refusal to reauthorize the ExportImport Bank. Mr. Speaker. we have far more important things to do than waste more time and taxpayer money on another partisan attempt to deprive women of their right to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive health that has been recognized as constitutionally guaranteed since 1973 by the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. I oppose H. Res. 461 and urge all Members to join me in voting against this wasteful and irresponsible measure.