On the recordApril 30, 2015
I thank my good friend, because I would like to correct some misstatements from the other side. Mr. Speaker, the former Mayor and the former Attorney General never detailed what their concern was, but just in case, the District passed an amendment that made it clear that insurance and abortion are not covered by this bill. I want to be explicit. {time} 1415 A pro-life organization is not required to hire someone who advocates against abortion. An employee must carry out and must advocate whatever is the mission of the organization. This bill has an exception for organizations' religious and political views. Both must be carried out. The 1973 Home Rule Act has not come to this floor before because only three times in 25 years has it been taken up, and that was mostly because D.C. mistakenly wandered into Federal matters. That is why this Federal authority was retained in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, not to overturn local law whenever the other side simply disagreed with it. I thank my friend from Massachusetts for yielding.
