Nancy Pelosi

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran], a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Edwards], a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Kennelly].

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bentsen]. (Mr. BENTSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. McGovern], a member of the freshman class.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds in order to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Greenwood] for his very comprehensive statement, indeed a definitive statement, on what is at stake here on the floor today. It is about family planning, it is about the individual lives of poor women and children and families throughout the world, it is about population and our environment, it is about the economies of the world, and I commend the gentleman for his courageous leadership and on his clear presentation for us. I wanted to make a couple comments about what I have heard--is my time up? Mr. Chairman, I will have to seek more time, but first I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Olver], a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] who is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to make some points of clarification because I think there is some confusion among Members about certain points. Let me make it clear the President's resolution does not subsidize, promote, allow, perform, or in any way condone abortion. Second of all, there is no more money in the Smith resolution. The money is the same in the Smith resolution as it is in the President's proposal. The money is the same. Third of all, I once again want to call to our colleagues' attention that all I have said first about this resolution not promoting or having anything to do with abortion is a matter of U.S. law according to the Helms amendment. I have the provisions for our colleagues to see, blown up on a bulletin board or in handouts, on the very statutes; and also I have for them the safeguards to prove and demonstrate how this law is implemented. In closing I want to say one thing, and I say this with the greatest respect for the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Callahan], the chair of our subcommittee on which I am ranking. The President has acted in good faith on this issue. He entered into an agreement, he entered into an agreement which called for less money, delayed the funding, in order to be able to have this House vote at this time up or down, to accept his certification that this delay in funding, et cetera, was a hindrance to promoting our international family planning goals. In further proof of the President's good faith, I call to our attention a statement by the President in May 1996 where he accepted the Congress' request to strike from legislation, provisions that would have allowed the President to go forth with this spending with his own certification and without a vote of Congress. Congress said, we put that in by mistake; the President said, okay, I will take it out and then we will proceed. So I urge our colleagues to look carefully at these provisions which safeguard any ideals that they have about abortion, but also uphold our principle of promoting family planning internationally. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remainder of our time to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall], whose credentials are unsurpassed in the area of child survival. He truly lives and acts by the words of the gospel of Matthew, rendering to the least of our brethren as if he were rendering to God. (Mr. HALL of Ohio asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, could I inquire, do we have any more time left?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey], a member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations and, more importantly, a leader in our country on international family planning issues. (Mrs. LOWEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis]. (Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt]. (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall] for his leadership and for his fine statement from the heart and from the head to our colleagues. I want to thank Members on both sides of the aisle for what I believe is the fine tenor of the debate today. International family planning is an issue of grave importance, and once again I appeal to our colleagues not to hold the poor children of the world hostage to the politics of the House of Representatives. Let us take a step forward and vote ``yes'' on the privileged resolution and approve the President's findings regarding international family planning.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bill.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bill but with the highest respect for the maker of the legislation. I want to reiterate what I said earlier on the debate on the privileged resolution, that I have the highest regard for the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith], and he is quite correct. He takes a back seat to no one on child survival issues in this Congress. In fact he and the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall] have been the champions for poor children throughout the world. On this issue, though, of whether the Mexico City language should apply to international family planning, I respectfully disagree with him, and I emphasize the word ``respectfully.'' With that, Mr. Speaker, I will take some time later to make my remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Waters], the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the fact is that Ms. Maxine Waters is a great leader on these international family planning issues.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey].

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Nadler]. (Mr. NADLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Capps], a Member of the freshman class.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson]. (Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Kelly].

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Maloney].

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, to thank our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the issue for this, I think, productive debate this afternoon. All of the participation, the full participation of Members, I think, has been very helpful to us. But I want to use my remaining moments to thank and acknowledge the staff for their hard work on this issue. From the staff of the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey], Matt Traub and Sharon Levin; Lissa Topel from the staff of the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro]; Kara Haas, Judy Borger, Mark Kirk, Terri McCullough, Leslie Patykewich, from my own staff, Carolyn Bartholomew; and from the subcommittee, Mark Murray, Scott Lilley. As always the staff is the great untold story of Congress. They are a tremendous resource to us. They work so hard, and I wanted to give them this recognition on a day when we are debating this very, very important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I just say once again, let us not hold the children, the poor children of the world hostage to congressional politics. Vote ``no'' on the Smith amendment.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Woolsey]. (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time to me. I too want to rise to pay tribute to Ambassador to France Pamela Harriman. As I said earlier today, many of us in this body would love to have been at her funeral service today to give thanksgiving and to celebrate her great life, but duty called and we had to be on the floor for our legislation. Pamela would have understood that, committed to duty as she was. I said in my 1 minute this morning, and I will repeat now, that in this body we have only two portraits. One is of George Washington, the father of our country; the other is of the Marquis de Lafayette, a friend of our independence, demonstrating our closeness to France. It was fitting then that we sent France our finest in the person of Pamela Harriman as our Ambassador. I know it is a source of great pride to her family that she was eulogized by the President of France and given by him the highest honor that country can bestow. I know it was a source of great pride that she was eulogized by the President of the United States and mourned by the First Family. I hope it is a comfort to Pamela's family that many in this body and in our great country mourn their loss, our loss. To Pamela: Adieu, thank you and love.