I appreciate that. Let me reiterate for the record, I do not question--and I mean this with all sincerity--I do not question the sincerity of the Senator from Illinois. I know because many on his side have voted against his amendment who…

I would just suggest to the Senator from Illinois, having read this, having read the reference--not criminal but civil penalties could apply--it still leaves viability, No. 1, undefined; and, No. 2, solely at the discretion of the…

Reclaiming my time, you ask: Are you prepared to stand behind the fact this is a viable fetus? Yet your amendment does not say that. Your amendment does not say the second physician has to certify to viability. What your amendment says is…

the fact is, Viki Wilson testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in November of 1995. Viki Wilson, as the Senator from Illinois said, was in her ninth month of pregnancy when she received an abortion. According to Mrs. Wilson's…

I have not asked for someone's opinion on what ought to be or what could be. What I have asked for is an example. I wanted a fact circumstance to be provided as to where this would be the best, this would be appropriate, this would be…

I pay tribute to the Senator from Ohio who was in the Chamber until about this hour last night laying out very clearly, very succinctly, the legal, moral, ethical, and medical evidence as to why this procedure should be banned and why this…

Excuse me, there need not be an exception, but you are arguing these compelling cases and they are compelling because they are talking about women going through very difficult decisions, but there is no medical reason to do this procedure…

Look, this procedure is not done in hospitals. So all I suggest is there are other safer, peer-reviewed procedures that can and are used on a routine basis by a physician----

The Senator from Illinois just said the statute does not apply if the physician certifies it is not viable. So the statute does not apply if the license is not on the line. But your statute does not say that. You may want to say that, but…

One, you make it sound like the doctor who diagnosed the fetal abnormality was the one who performed the abortion. In fact-- I am reading her story--the diagnosis was made by a perinatologist and the abortion was performed by an…

Second, I have another letter with an analysis done by Dr. Curtis Cook, Maternal Fetal Medicine, Michigan State College of Human Medicine, on the case of Coreen Costello. I will discuss both of these in detail later. But I ask unanimous…

--which is a standard D&E, which is the most common late-term abortion performed at hospitals, taught in medical school, and peer reviewed. This is not Rick Santorum talking. This is not the Senator from Tennessee talking. This is a…

The fact that a child in utero is going through a crisis does not equate that the mother is going through a health crisis. There are lots of mothers of babies with multiple defects who carry that child to term or do things to try to help…

we are working in good faith. I thank the Democratic whip for his willingness to try to work through these amendments. We are reviewing, on our side, the Murray amendment. There may be some concerns about it. We are hopeful to get a…

I certainly respect the desire of the Senator from Nevada to get votes on these amendments, and we may well be able to accommodate that in a clean fashion directly, but I do not know the answer to that. I am still waiting to hear from the…

As the Senator from Illinois knows, this is the fourth Congress in which this legislation has been considered. It has gone through committee in previous Congresses. As I mentioned before, there are some changes to this legislation, but the…

I do not have the answer, but I will get that, No. 1. No. 2, this is different than the Nebraska statute. In fact, it was drafted in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Carhart v. Stenberg case. To the other question, have there…

So the Senator believes something that has 70 percent support among the American people is extreme. OK, I am interested in hearing that.

we are now on a piece of legislation known as the partial-birth abortion bill. It is a bill we have debated in the Senate in two previous Congresses on four different occasions. We debated it the first time and passed it. It was vetoed by…

This legislation has been around 7 years. This has been written about, described in detail in the national press, and I do not think we do the American public a great service by suggesting they cannot read and understand very clearly what…

I think you did. You reiterated your position you believe this is an extreme piece of legislation even though 70 percent of the American people support it.

This is a banned medical procedure that affects the reproductive system of a woman. I argue that you can make the case and you will ban things you agree with, but you do not want to ban things you do not agree with. That does not mean the…

I remember sitting there, and Fred Rogers was talking about how important it is to be a positive influence in one child's life. Now, we all talk about mentoring and the importance of mentoring. It is sort of a new and current thing to talk…

We have lots of wonderful neighborhoods. And like Minnesota, we have a lot of old, wonderful, ethnic neighborhoods. I think Mr. Rogers reflected that spirit in a lot of those communities-- the close-knit, caring spirit, looking after your…

Given that he is qualified on all of those grounds, one is left with the possibility that he may be objected to because of his ideological position. Has any comment been made or any evidence been produced by any Senator that his ideology…