Chris Smith: “Mr. Speaker, during the last session of Congress, the House voted six times to restrict aid to foreign organizations…”

“Mr. Speaker, during the last session of Congress, the House voted six times to restrict aid to foreign organizations that perform or promote abortions overseas. We also voted to restrict aid to the U.N. Population Fund unless the UNFPA, the U.N. Population Fund, ended its participation in the forced abortion program in the People's Republic of China. Mr. Speaker, there is evidence, I think, looking at today's vote and talking to a large number of Members, that there still are a large number of Members who are still committed to the sanctity and preciousness of human life and said that they would vote yes--yes. I happen to disagree that that was the way to go, but we now have H.R. 581 on the floor and there is an opportunity to manifest ourselves and put on the record very clearly and unambiguously that we want to release the funds for family planning, we want to release the $385 million that otherwise would wait until July 1, but we want to do it with principle. We want to make sure that the money only goes to those organizations that will erect a wall of separation between family planning, which is preventive, and abortion, which takes the life of a baby. Mr. Speaker, I think more and more Members in the partial birth abortion debate that we had last year began what I truly believe to be an awakening about the gruesomeness of abortion.”