Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable achievement--the 125th anniversary of Boulter Industrial Contractors located in Webster, New York. Founded in 1892 by Thomas Boulter, the company started by delivering coal and ice by horse drawn wagons and is now Western New York's premier mover of heavy machinery for manufacturing and infrastructure projects. Even though decades have passed since those starting days, the company still displays their original wagons in remarkable condition as a reminder of how far they have come. The growth of Boulter Industrial Contractors as a family-run business is a true success story in American entrepreneurship. Under the leadership of President and CEO William S. Boulter, a fifth-generation member of the Boulter family, and their hard-working employees the company is proudly carrying on Thomas Boulter's legacy. Congress should never lose sight of companies like this. That's why a flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol flies over Boulter today. I congratulate the Boulter family and its employees, several of which are veterans.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Edgar Ballestas, an extraordinary local photographer and winner of my 2017 cover photo challenge. Edgar's image of the sun setting over the Rochester skyline is remarkable, and a testament to our city's great beauty. Edgar is an English as a Second Language (ESOL) teacher for our local school district; and in his free time captures images throughout Rochester and Monroe County. His work often highlights our region's proudest attractions--the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, the Upper Falls in Letchworth State Park and much, much more. His pictures have even been hung in galleries like Image City Photography in Rochester. We should never lose sight of the districts and the constituents we fight for every day. Edgar's photograph is a tribute and a reminder of why I come to Congress and work so hard for Rochester and Monroe County. I congratulate Edgar on his work and his achievement and thank him for his tremendous submission.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, 44 years ago, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Roe v. Wade decision. It reaffirmed the constitutionally protected right of every woman to safe and legal healthcare, including the right to choose. When life puts a woman in even the toughest of circumstances, the highest court in the land said the decision that she makes should be hers, free from any interference from the government. Roe v. Wade is a firewall that women rely on, but with every passing year and every new session of Congress, politicians have tried to chip away at it brick by brick, hoping it will crumble away. Most politicians are not medical professionals. We shouldn't be meddling in healthcare decisions that should be made between a woman, her doctor, her family, and anyone else that she chooses to include. The American people are tired of politicians who are not doctors, often playing one on television with this medical decision. This is the only medical procedure that Congress has made an attempt to regulate, the only one, and it says quite plainly: We can't trust women to make a decision; we have to do it for them. The majority tries to direct this over and over again. The medical professionals whom we should be listening to all oppose this ban. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists call it a part of a legislative agenda that is ``not based on sound science'' and that ``attempt to prescribe how physicians should care for their patients.'' That certainly speaks it loudly. The American Medical Association said that it ``strongly condemns any interference by the government or other third parties that causes a physician to compromise his or her medical judgment as to what information or treatment is in the best interest of the patient.'' Conservative political groups have also been pushing the bill to try to use it to run up the score in the next election. Why do they do it? Well, the main sponsor of this bill has admitted--and I hope everybody hears this; this is a Congressman from Arizona who sponsors this bill, who admitted the abortion bans are, in his words, good politics--``it will cost some people the election, but it will cost more Democrats the election than it will Republicans. I am convinced that in very few districts in America someone will lose because they voted'' for this ban. ``And if that is the case, maybe they need a different district anyway,'' whatever that means. That makes it as plain as day, as far as I am concerned, as to why, year after year, for 40 years, we have been confronted with this. It is abhorrent to me, and it should be to everyone here, that matters of personal conscience are being reduced to who is up and who is down in the polls. This bill is dangerous, and it is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court established in Roe v. Wade, and reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that a woman has the unequivocal right to choose abortion care. This is the Constitution of the United States that we all justly revere. Meanwhile, every Federal court that has reached a decision on bans like this in States has blocked it every time. This includes rulings striking down bans in States like Arizona, Idaho, Arkansas, North Dakota. Mr. Speaker, this bill before us is nothing more than the latest attempt by the majority to pass off political posturing as proven science. Now, after birth, strangely, this body exhibits scarce attention to the well-being of the child, and that is proven by the fact that you cut back on food stamps; Women, Infants, and Children care; daycare; Head Start; one after the other, the same group that couldn't find it in their hearts last Friday to extend the Children's Health Insurance Program before it expired, along with community health services, which again helps children. More than 9 million children in America get their health insurance through the program that expired. The majority did absolutely nothing after 20 children, 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds, were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 5 years ago. And funding, as I said, for both food stamps and the school lunch program is routinely cut. I don't know anything else to call that but pure hypocrisy: We love it until it is born, and then it is somebody else's problem. A 3-year-old girl in my district was recently killed by the adults she believed were supposed to take care of her. They abused her so violently that she was bruised from head to toe and was internally hurt. There were adults around, but not a single one helped her. The Child Protective Services of Monroe County got two reports about abuse and neglect, but the agency was too overworked and stretched too thin to act in time, which is another hypocrisy: We are not going to fund those programs enough so that little children would live. Three years old, and nobody lifted a finger to help this child. They did nothing to save her life. This is just some of the reality that children face today. All too often, this Congress does absolutely nothing to address it. To truly care about children is to care for them long after they are born. Now, we have taken up this bill before, and it was a one-house bill, never able to pass the Senate, and I sincerely hope this bill sees that same fate. When the American people went to the ballot box, they were electing politicians, not somebody to meddle around with their medical needs. It is simply appalling. Just remind yourself that the only procedure that we deal with is the fact of a woman's right to choose, which is protected by the Constitution of the United States. Enough already. Mr. Speaker, the majority acts like a group of elected physicians. It has some. They are quiet. It is shameful. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Mr. Michigan (Mr. Kildee).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 20 seconds. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what my colleague is saying, but there is no scientific evidence or proof that an unborn fetus feels the pain. That is one of the reasons we are not discussing it over here. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz), a doctor.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 3440, the Dream Act, which deals with children as well. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would help thousands of young people, children, who are Americans in every way except on paper. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto), to discuss our proposal.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the majority keeps trying to take the women's personal decision and put it in someone else's hands. Over the years, they have tried to allow bosses to make the healthcare decisions for their employees. They pushed a bill that would allow women to die if an emergency room employee coming to her aid had a ``conscientious objection'' to performing an abortion that would save her life. Today, they are trying to pass an abortion ban that would put up even more obstacles and prevent women from receiving safe and legal abortion, which is protected by the Constitution. The bill before us today strikes at the heart of Roe v. Wade. Opponents of the Supreme Court decision have been clear and outspoken that that is precisely their goal. The ban on abortions after 20 weeks does not contain reasonable exceptions for victims of rape and incest. The legislation flies in the face of what the American people--women and men--want us to be doing. The majority must have quickly forgotten the national Women's March that took place in January. Millions of persons across the country and around the globe marched in the largest day of protest in our Nation's history. More than half a million people took to the streets right here in the Nation's Capital. They sent a message to the majority to respect their rights, including their right to choose. If people sometimes ask women why we are still marching and calling and writing about the four decades after the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which it has since upheld, it is because of bills like this. We constantly have to refight the battles our mothers and grandmothers won for us. This legislation, again, is proof of that. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question to the rule and the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, extending the Federal Aviation Administration's authority is traditionally something that gets bipartisan support. That hasn't been the case this time, as we saw on Monday when a prior version of this bill failed on suspension. It contained several extraneous provisions, but it didn't include some of the most important priorities that we face. September 30 is nearly upon us. That is the deadline to reauthorize programs that the American people depend on. That includes things like the Perkins student loan program, which helps low-income students to finance their education. There are 500,000 students across the country, including nearly 50,000 from New York, relying on it right now, but the Perkins Loan Program isn't anywhere in this bill. The bill also does nothing to extend the Children's Health Insurance Program created in 1997 with broad bipartisan support. More than 9 million children get their health insurance through this program. Without continued Federal funding, States are going to begin running out of money to take care of some of the most vulnerable kids, and they can't wait until the end of the year for us to act. Community health centers have also been left out of the bill, and they have told us that they will have problems from day one. If we don't extend their funding, an estimated 9 million people would lose access to healthcare. These are essential bipartisan programs, Mr. Speaker, and what does it say about the majority's leadership if they are not extended by the deadline? It does not bode well for our ability to fund the government later this year, to raise the debt ceiling, extend the Flood Insurance Program, or reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This bill is an incredibly important one. No one in this Chamber or anywhere that I know of in the world wants the FAA program stopped and their employees furloughed or airport projects brought to a halt. We should work together and get it right. This package, however, has not been negotiated on a bipartisan basis. It didn't go through regular order. Committees have been shut out of the process, and Democrats, who represent half the population in the United States, didn't get a say. We are all glad to see provisions included here to provide some tax relief for victims of the recent hurricanes. With regular order and a more open process, this could be a more comprehensive package of extenders that provide more tax relief for victims to recover and to rebuild. After all, the Democrats did suggest 21 bipartisan tax provisions which were included in previous relief legislation after previous disasters. But none of those, except five, I think, are included in this bill. That is a shame. We have said it before. This is, I think, the 44th closed rule this session, and that is just about all the bills we have done. This bill could either have been bipartisan extending the FAA authorization, or a comprehensive package of extenders that provided the tax relief necessary for hurricane victims to recover and rebuild. The bill before us is neither. I doubt many of us have had time to review the changes that were made last night. I have often said that a bad process leads to a bad product, and, Mr. Speaker, I am afraid that is what we see with this bill. Another opportunity for bipartisanship has been turned into another political fight. I, regretfully, reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 3440, the Dream Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would help thousands of young people who are Americans in every way except on paper. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez).