Trent Franks: “thank you. I guess the only way I can describe this, Mr. Chairman, is as they begin to create these surgeries, as they…”

“thank you. I guess the only way I can describe this, Mr. Chairman, is as they begin to create these surgeries, as they begin to pull the child's lip together with a giant hole in the center of his face or her face, it not only seems to pull a face together, it seems to pull a life together. If you understand the significance of going through life with an uncorrected cleft palate or cleft lip, this is to also take the child out of an emotional darkness that is almost impossible to describe. The ultimate impact to these families is one that is emotional beyond words. When you hand the child back to the mother or the father, there is a wailing and a moved feeling that they express that, again, is just beyond my ability to describe. But it does have I think an effect, as I said, of putting a smiling face on the face of freedom, and I just am so grateful that this is something that we can do together as a House and that while we may have differences on a lot of our policies throughout the world, the one thing remains that America is a noble Nation and we are committed to making sure that all of God's children, as it were, have an opportunity to lay hold on this miracle of life and to live as meaningful as they can possibly can, and I appreciate the support that is demonstrated for the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”