Marsha Blackburn: “We have heard a lot of charges and accusations that were made by some of my colleagues as they have chosen to describe…”

“We have heard a lot of charges and accusations that were made by some of my colleagues as they have chosen to describe the bill before us today, H.R. 7, so I want to be clear about what the bill before us does do and does accomplish. This bill follows a longstanding principle, as my colleague said, going back to 1976, the principle that the American people and Members from both sides of the aisle in both Chambers of Congress have supported for decades, and that is taxpayer dollars should not be spent on abortions and abortion coverage. The vast majority of my colleagues voted for this exact same principle in countless appropriations bills, including a bill that we passed out of this Chamber last month. Yet today, some Members are fighting the widely shared belief that taxpayer dollars should not be used to take an innocent life. The bill before us today also provides much-needed transparency regarding which health plans on the exchange pay for abortions. The Obama administration promised to provide Congress and the American people a list of plans in ObamaCare that covered abortion, yet they refused to live up to that promise. They forced Congress to act. And, indeed, the GAO has informed us that 1,036 plans include abortion coverage. There is no excuse--no excuse--to hide information about abortion coverage from the American people.…”