Jeff Fortenberry: “We have all used this expression: ``I can't do that in good conscience.'' But we really don't think deeply about what it…”

“We have all used this expression: ``I can't do that in good conscience.'' But we really don't think deeply about what it means. So let me take a moment from the debate here and explore that question deeper. Conscience is the sacred space of human dignity. Conscience is the place where, one, a person using the faculty of reason exercises their deeply held sincere beliefs to make a judgment in a particular circumstance about what is right or wrong, what they ought to do or not to do. When the government comes along and robs us of our right to exercise our conscience, the government contradicts the very principle of its existence, of its purpose. The government imposes a dictate and violates that sacred space, the good of the human person, and the good of community. That is unjust. That is not America. That is an exercise in power. That is an imposition of the few with power on the many who deserve protection from their government. Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster).”