Diana DeGette

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Madam Speaker, we hear today this really isn't about denying women and families access to family planning and birth control because States would just simply take that title X money and put it somewhere else. Unfortunately, this seems to be a bit of magical thinking. Even the Congressional Budget Office said that as many as 390,000 women would lose access to care and 650,000 women would have reduced access if legislation like this passed. The fact of the matter is you can't simply shift all of these people from title X family planning centers like Planned Parenthood to community health centers, as the other side asserts. For one thing, 69 percent of the community health centers actually refer patients to family planning providers like Planned Parenthood, and only 19 percent of community health centers report that their largest sites both prescribe and dispense all types of contraceptive methods. Only half of community health centers that received title X funding provide IUDs and other types of long-acting birth control, the most effective type of birth control, so you can't just shift everybody else someplace else. In fact, the National Association of Community Health Centers itself said that they could not treat all of the patients that Planned Parenthood now has if this legislation went through. Let's just call this joint resolution what it is. It is an attempt to take away important family planning resources from the women and families of America. Now, I think if we all support title X when the annual appropriations bill comes up this year, I would ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to please join me and my colleagues in an effort to increase title X funding. In all the years I have been in Congress, I have seen attempt after attempt not only to reduce abortion availability, but also to stop family planning services. I think that is something we could agree with on, and I think we could do that. So in the meantime, let's make sure that the women of America can get access to the family planning they need, and let's continue to give family planning money to all of these interests to do that. Again, I would like to reiterate, we have no family funding for abortions. That is the law. I don't like the law, but that is the law. We are talking about family planning and title X. That needs to be preserved and enhanced. Vote ``no'' on this joint resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions Gary Andres has made to the House of Representatives. Gary most recently served as the Staff Director for the Committee on Energy and Commerce under the leadership of Congressman Fred Upton. In his last term as Chairman, Congressman Upton partnered with me to author the 21st Century Cures Act. I got to know Gary very well over nearly three years as we worked to pass the bill into law. It was a real pleasure working with Gary. Even at the darkest moments, when we couldn't seem to find a way to come to a bipartisan agreement on Cures, Gary's steady leadership and immutable resolve helped to light the way forward. His wise counsel is one of the reasons that bill was enacted into law. Although he is leaving Capitol Hill, the 21st Century Cures Act stands as a testament to his immeasurable contributions to this body. Gary is a person of integrity and an incredibly effective staffer. The American people were lucky to have his service with the House of Representatives.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Madam Speaker, our constituents are looking to this Congress to address the economy, jobs, our crumbling infrastructure, and so many other issues. But despite these pressing needs, the only substantive bill this House is considering this week is a bill restricting a woman's ability to get a full range of healthcare services and a bill, which passed before in this House and that we know is going nowhere in the other body. Its title alone must be part of the majority's new plan to redefine facts. As we heard the other day, we now apparently have in our discourse ``alternative facts.'' This bill takes that to a whole new level, and let me tell you why. The bill is called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. But under current law, under the Hyde amendment--which I hate, which I will do everything to repeal--we have no taxpayer funding for abortion. Taxpayer funds are currently prohibited from use for abortions. Instead, what this bill does is it takes that concept and it uses it to far expand a restriction on a woman's ability to get the full health care that she needs. Let me talk about what this bill does exactly. First of all, it codifies the Hyde amendment into statute, which has never been done in this Nation's history. Secondly, it codifies a ban on abortions in D.C., even when they are done with D.C.'s taxpayer money and not with Federal money. Number three, it codifies the Helms amendment, which denies women abroad access to safe abortion care by severely restricting the use of U.S. funds to pay for healthcare services in developing countries.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself an additional 1 minute. It severely restricts abortion coverage in the ACA's exchanges by forbidding people who have plans where they get subsidies from paying for plans with their own money. This is a far expansion of a restriction on a woman's right to get her own health insurance with her own money. It denies insurance-related tax credits to small businesses that choose plans that offer abortion services. It permanently bans abortion services for Federal employees and it codifies a ban on abortion coverage for women in military services overseas. The fact that we are debating this today, just 1 day after President Trump issued an executive order reinstating the global gag rule, is a slap in the face to the over 3 million women who marched last weekend. Let's vote ``no'' on this bill and let's go to the business that the American public really cares about. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), one of our new Members.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the gentlewoman from Tennessee has attempted to imply that several of our speakers today support the Hyde amendment because they voted for very large omnibus spending bills that included the Hyde amendment. I would like to be really clear that none of the speakers on this side today do support the Hyde amendment, and, in fact, in the last Congress we had a bill, the EACH Woman Act, sponsored by a number of us, 129 cosponsors, which would repeal the Hyde amendment. Sometimes people vote for large pieces of legislation because they do things like keep our government open and build highways and roads. But we will do everything in our power to repeal this poorly thought-out and regressive amendment, and we will do everything we can to defeat this bill today. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The gentlewoman from Tennessee keeps saying over and over that different people voted for H.R. 2029 and, therefore, they must be for the Hyde amendment. I would like to point out that she herself voted against H.R. 2029. I guess maybe that means she is against the Hyde amendment since she voted against that bill. The point I am making is that all of us oppose the Hyde amendment. We are all cosponsoring the EACH Woman Act. Simply because you vote for or against a large omnibus bill does not mean you are necessarily in favor of or against the Hyde amendment. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), another one of our excellent new Members.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining on each side?

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), an activist on this issue. (Mr. NADLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)