On the recordJanuary 17, 2019
I appreciate my friend, Congressman Smith, for his efforts in this regard. Madam Speaker, I have talked before about my wife's and my first child being born prematurely. We didn't know if we were going to get to keep her. My wife had to stay in the hospital in Tyler. They took our precious daughter many weeks early to Shreveport. The doctor there said: Her eyes are not working properly. She can't see, but she knows your voice. She has heard it for a number of months now. It will give her comfort. So caress her, let her know you are here, and talk to her. Let her feel your presence. Let her hear your presence. They said: You can stay a maximum of 2 hours before you have to take a break. While I was touching her little hand, she took my finger and held it. The doctor came along in an hour or so and said: Have you looked at the monitors? That erratic breathing is now much smoother. Still very shallow, the heart rate still very fast, but it is not erratic. She is drawing life, and she is drawing strength, through you. I am telling you, these children, unborn and born prematurely and born full-term, they want to live. They want a shot at life. I know there is so much out there: Oh, but a woman has a right to choose. But we should speak up for the most vulnerable who can't speak for themselves. That is what Ramona Trevino did, former director of the Sherman Planned Parenthood. She said what finally drove her out of Planned Parenthood were the monthly statistics.…
