Political Quotes

“I have left a hearing to come to the floor to congratulate the gentlewoman from California for coming forward with a bill that does what the great majority of the American people want to see us do today. Is the point here to penalize crimes against pregnant women or to give personhood to the fetus? I think the majority would say it is time this Congress got around to recognizing that when, in fact, a violent crime is committed against a pregnant woman, that is a crime against the family, and we should have done something about it long ago. But what we are doing here with the bill that is on the floor is forcing some Members to vote against the bill, a bill that would otherwise have nearly universal approval in this House. It reminds me of the years it took us to pass the Violence Against Women Act because we nitpicked at it, at this, that, and the other. And it must have been 6 or 7 years before the Violence Against Women Act passed in the face of rising violence against women. We are doing the very same thing with crimes against pregnant women. It is a terrible act to commit a violent crime against a pregnant woman. We should not leave this place unless we come to an agreement on, in fact, dealing with that crime and that crime alone. What the majority is trying to do here I want to say to them I do not think they can constitutionally do anyway. The majority cannot confer personhood on a fetus in the face of Roe v. Wade.”