John Conyers: “this conference report is a shocking disappointment for two reasons: First of all it unjustly strips away well-deserved…”

“this conference report is a shocking disappointment for two reasons: First of all it unjustly strips away well-deserved rights from a small group of Haitians in the United States. The Senate bill included relief for 40,000 Haitians who had arrived in the United States by the end of 1995 by granting them the right to apply for legal permanent residency. These Haitians were paroled in upon the invitation of the attorney general. Due to bipartisan, bicameral support the House receded to the other body. Now a small minority here in Congress wants to kill this issue. This is totally unacceptable. Second of all, this conference report deletes the Lowey language which requires that Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans cover prescription contraception, just as they cover other kinds of prescriptions. The Lowey Amendment was approved by the full Appropriations Committee, twice by the House, once by the Senate unanimously by voice vote, and was included in the conference report. The problem is that the vast majority of FEHB plans fail to cover the full range of prescription contraceptives which prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion. In fact, 81% of FEHB plans do not cover all five leading reversible methods of contraception and 10% have no coverage of contraceptives at all.”