On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
I'll bet the American people are really surprised tonight because we are debating a continuing resolution when they are facing tremendous challenges. We should be thinking about them and about the challenges they face. We should be talking, as my colleague has said, about how to save money and about how to create jobs. Instead, we are debating an amendment that will do neither. It will undermine women's health. This amendment denies women access to reproductive care, and it attacks the health providers that they rely on in their communities. These are health providers that are serving the underserved, and we are spending the evening attacking them. Planned Parenthood plays a critical role in our Nation's health care system. We know that. These clinics help over 3 million Americans every year. More than 90 percent of the care they provide is preventative. ``Preventative.'' What does that mean? We have many physicians here. What does that mean, ``preventative care''? ``Preventative care'' means that men and women do not have to go through more costly procedures and even that their lives can be saved. One in five American women has been to a Planned Parenthood health center for services like breast cancer screenings and cervical cancer screenings. I cannot let San Diego families lose these valuable services.
