On the recordMay 4, 2011
I want to thank our ranking member for his leadership and for leading for so many years on so many important issues. Madam Speaker, here we go again. Instead of working on creating jobs and jump-starting the economy, we're debating another cynical and divisive attempt to strip away the rights of women. Republicans continue to perpetrate their war on women while millions of people around the country are desperate for jobs to help provide for their families. Let me be clear. Current law already bans Federal funds from being used for abortions. That is a fact--even though I personally think we should get rid of that ban. What's next? Are we going to block transportation funding because it might be used to build a road to a hospital that provides a road to abortion? Come on. By the logic of this bill, any type of Federal funding, whether it's health related or not, would become abortion money. That is such a cynical ploy on the majority side. This bill specifically attacks low-income women in the District of Columbia by permanently prohibiting the District from spending its purely local funds on abortions for low-income women. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
