Tina Smith: “let me emphasis that H.R. 1833 includes the life-of-the-mother exception. I know because I put it in there. I wrote it.…”

“let me emphasis that H.R. 1833 includes the life-of-the-mother exception. I know because I put it in there. I wrote it. Senator Dole and I offered it as an amendment, and the Senate approved it by a vote of 98 to 0. Given his consistent portrayal of himself as someone who is a moderate on the abortion issue--Mr. Clinton said in 1992 that he wants abortion to be safe, legal, and rare--then one would think President Clinton would have signed this bill. I thought that the President might well sign it. In fact, after the Senate passed the bill, I twice--on two separate occasions--sent President Clinton personal notes, personal messages. And in those personal messages, Mr. President, I asked the President of the United States for 15 minutes, 15 minutes of his time, 15 minutes of his time to sit down with me anywhere he wished--the Oval Office, library, wherever, in his car, on the way to the airport, anything--he does not usually go to the airport--on the way to the helicopter or whatever, face to face, one on one, no staff, no advisers, no press, and no comment afterward. My pledge: I say nothing about the meeting. You say nothing about the meeting, if you wish. All I want to do is sit down and say to you listen to the facts as I would like to present them to you, not screened by staff, one on one. No response, not even the courtesy of a response from the President of the United States. Even after he vetoed it, no response.…”