Mike Levin: “in the late seventies when I was assistant administrator of AID in charge of population programs, I was in charge of the…”

“in the late seventies when I was assistant administrator of AID in charge of population programs, I was in charge of the effort to enforce the Helms amendment, whether the agency liked it or not. We did that. We set up a rigorous procedure to make sure that no U.S. monies were used for abortion-related activities. Now, the argument is that money is fungible, and even if an organization uses a small amount of its own monies, or an affiliate uses its monies, we should make sure that that organization receives no American funding. That carries the fungibility argument to an extreme, period. It is not a rule of reason. I just suggest to those who are carrying this fungibility argument to an extreme, they should not be surprised if it is used against them or others when they try to apply a different principle in terms of domestic programs. This is a bad amendment. It is an extreme amendment. I urge its rejection.”