Barbara Lee: “I thank Madam Chair for her leadership and for yielding time. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which would…”

“I thank Madam Chair for her leadership and for yielding time. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which would strike the provision in the bill that increases funding for international family planning and reproductive health programs. Women around the world deserve access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, and the Fiscal Year 2020 State and Foreign Operations bill will help to ensure that. USAID provides vitally needed family planning funds to overseas health centers. Evidence has shown that USAID family planning programs have had important, real-world effects on the health of women and families worldwide, resulting in fewer unintended births, abortions, and miscarriages. Funding for our international family planning programs has also helped reduce maternal and infant deaths, a goal that has strong bipartisan support. Mr. Chair, I have been around the world, to Africa and to other countries and continents, and have talked with families in villages, women and their spouses with maybe five, six, seven children. I have visited these villages with Republicans. And their first request to us is to help them with family planning. They know that it is so important in terms of planning the births of their children and in terms of just the stability of the family and the empowerment of women that family planning services be available. Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.”