On the recordDecember 1, 2016
As a senior member of the Judiciary, and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 933, which would increase funding by $800,000 for the Select Investigative Panel of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which more accurately should be called the ``Planned Parenthood Witchunt.'' The ostensible purpose of this Select Investigative Panel is to investigate and report on all issues related to medical procedures and practices involving fetal tissue donation and procurement; federal funding and support for abortion providers; and late-term abortions. But make no mistake, the Republican majority's real purpose in establishing this panel is (1) to open another front in their ongoing War Against Women, (2) impede women in the exercise of their right to make their own choices when it comes to their reproductive health, and (3) to persecute, smear, and demonize Planned Parenthood. We know this from our experience with the so-called ``Benghazi Committee,'' which the Republican leadership claimed was a nonpartisan inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding the 2012 tragedy in Libya which claimed the lives of four brave and heroic Americans.…
