John Kerry: “Mr. President, again, I join with my colleagues in encouraging colleagues to vote for the Hatfield provision. In the…”

“Mr. President, again, I join with my colleagues in encouraging colleagues to vote for the Hatfield provision. In the final days of January, in an effort to avert a third Government shutdown, this body passed by unanimous consent a continuing resolution which included a provision that will decimate international family planning programs. After studying this provision more closely, we now know that the effects will be far greater than was known at the time the Senate acted on the bill. We are currently in the sixth month of the fiscal year. Unfortunately, we are living under an extraordinary reduction in family planning funding. In fact, it has received no funding from any continuing resolution since October 1, 1995. As we know, the January continuing resolution prohibits any funding for family planning until July 1. Beginning in July, the program will be funded at a level reduced 35 percent from the 1995 funding level, to be allocated on a month-by-month basis for the next 15 months. So, in effect, you really have a reduction that is catastrophic. Mr. President, in dollar figures, the family planning program has been cut from $527 million in 1995 to $72 million in 1996, which is an 85-percent cut in 1 year. One can only conclude that that cut is not just a cut to try to reduce overall spending commensurate with the other reductions in the budget; it is punitive, purposeful, and it is wrong.”