Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, it is a brand-new year, but you wouldn't know it if you look…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, it is a brand-new year, but you wouldn't know it if you look at what we will be voting on this week. Across the investigations of three separate committees in this body, eight States, and four Federal court cases, not a single shred of evidence has been found indicating that Planned Parenthood has broken any laws. In fact, the Oversight and Government Reform chairman, Jason Chaffetz, has admitted that he found no evidence that Planned Parenthood did anything wrong. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to ignore the facts here. Planned Parenthood is a healthcare organization serving 3 million Americans each year. In the course of their lifetime, one in five Americans will receive care from Planned Parenthood. Despite arguments to the contrary, there are simply not enough health centers to fill the gap. If we defund Planned Parenthood, we will be denying care to millions of families. We will be taking away options from underserved communities across the country--rural, urban, and otherwise. We will be saying to women, once again, that how and when they get health care is not their choice; it is the choice of a body overwhelmingly run by men. When I got to Congress last January, I thought I would be voting on legislation that would improve the lives of my constituents, Mr. Speaker, giving them better wages, jobs, stronger education, and an economy that started at a level playing field.…”