On the recordJanuary 18, 2018
Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleagues from Oklahoma and Missouri, and we will be joined shortly by the Senator from Montana as well. I am rising today to discuss the importance of protecting and celebrating life. As I travel across the State of Iowa, I have had the opportunity to hear directly from families whose lives have been changed by the innovative, life-affirming services offered by their local pregnancy resource center. There are so many more stories of vulnerable lives saved all across the country, not just in Iowa but all across the country. I would like to begin by recognizing the critical, on-the-ground actions of these pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies across the country that are changing and saving lives. I want to thank them for all they do. Since coming to Washington, I have tried to hold Congress accountable to do its part to protect the most vulnerable in our society. The Senator from Missouri has mentioned that we can measure a society, and ours is a great society, but we can do more to protect those who are vulnerable. For example, last January, I introduced legislation to defund Planned Parenthood while protecting women's healthcare centers. As I have stated time and again, taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for roughly half a billion dollars annually for an organization like Planned Parenthood that exhibits such disrespect for human life.…





