Press Releases

Today, Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02), the second-highest ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, managed floor debate for House Democrats on H.R. 3134 and H.R. 3504, calling out House Republicans for their reckless attempt to defund Planned Parenthood and risk another government shutdown. Watch video of Congressman’s floor speech here.

Highlights from Congressman McGovern’s floor speech today:

“Today, the House should be debating a bill to keep the government open before funding runs out at the end of the month. We have just 6 legislative days left before there is a government shutdown. Instead of tackling this, we are once again debating another Republican attack on women’s health.

“In fact, House Republicans were in such a hurry to waste our time with this destructive legislation that the bill from Representative Franks had no hearings and no mark-up. This is the first time we’re seeing this bill. What ever happened to regular order?

“With one bill after another, Republicans have repeatedly hurt our country’s most vulnerable families and these bills today are just the latest chapter. And I find it ironic that after leaving a luncheon to support the prevention of cancer, I am now here with my colleagues to debate legislation that will actually result in fewer people having access to life-saving cancer screenings.

“And in this Republican Congress, facts don’t matter. They don’t talk about facts. They’re inconvenient and they’re a nuisance – especially when they get in the way of their extreme political agenda.

“We should be focused on growing our economy, creating jobs, protecting access to health care, increasing college affordability, and building a better future. Instead, 30 conservative House Republicans have decided to take government funding hostage. The American people deserve better.”

The full text of Congressman McGovern’s floor speech is below. Full video here.

As Prepared For Delivery:

“I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 3134 and H.R. 3504 and in strong opposition to the underlying rule.

“Today, the House should be debating a bill to keep the government open before funding runs out at the end of the month. We have just 6 legislative days left before there is a government shutdown. Instead of tackling this, we are once again debating another Republican attack on women’s health.

“In fact, House Republicans were in such a hurry to waste our time with this destructive legislation that the bill from Representative Franks had no hearings and no mark-up. This is the first time we’re seeing this bill. What ever happened to regular order?

“Of all the measures that have come before the Rules Committee, more than 75 percent have completely ignored regular order and were rushed to the floor without a legislative hearing and mark-up, denying the people’s elected representatives the opportunity to hear from experts and speak up for their constituents. When you look at the politically-motivated legislation that regularly comes before this body, it’s easy to see why. This is not how the people’s House is supposed to work.

“And late last night, the Republican majority of the Rules Committee took another shortcut through a process called “self-executing” that let them slip an amendment offered by Ms. Ellmers into today’s legislation to redirect funding away from Planned Parenthood facilities. Under regular order, this amendment would have required two waivers from the Committee to be considered on the House floor.  On top of that, the Ellmers amendment would have also violated Section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act, which prohibits the consideration of legislation that exceeds a committee's allocation of budget authority.

“This is just another attempt by the House majority to shut out debate on important issues, and ignore the House rules when it’s convenient for them.  During this Congress alone, 118 waivers have been granted.  115 of those waivers – or 97 percent! – have been for Republicans. Instead of the House Rules Committee, we should be known as the House Break-the-Rules Committee.  The legislative process in this House has become a joke. This is not serious legislating.

“With one bill after another, Republicans have repeatedly hurt our country’s most vulnerable families and these bills today are just the latest chapter. And I find it ironic that after leaving a luncheon to support the prevention of cancer, I am now here with my colleagues to debate legislation that will actually result in fewer people having access to life-saving cancer screenings.

“And this is nothing new. One of the first acts of the Republican House majority in 2011 was to drive us to the brink of a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood. In October 2013, the Republicans did shut down the government by insisting on defunding the Affordable Care Act. Now, two years later, they are right back to threatening a Republican Government Shutdown over Planned Parenthood.

“H. Res. 3134, the so-called Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 is a bad, backward-thinking bill.

“In the 114th Congress, the House has already taken four anti-women’s health votes and today sets the stage for us to take two additional votes to restrict access to women’s health care. Incredibly, this is already twice the number of anti-women’s health votes than at this same point in the 113th and 112th Congresses – and this Congress is not even half over.          

“And in this Republican Congress, facts don’t matter. They don’t talk about facts. They’re inconvenient and they’re a nuisance – especially when they get in the way of their extreme political agenda.

“The fact is that Planned Parenthood plays a critical role in protecting and providing access to critical health services for both women and men. One in five women has relied on a Planned Parenthood health center for care in her lifetime and Planned Parenthood serves 2.7 million patients each year. And one of the most important statistics that my Republican friends like to ignore is that more than 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does nationally is preventive care – including cervical cancer screenings, breast cancer screenings, and family planning – not abortion services.

“Add to this the fact that Planned Parenthood clinics are often one of the few affordable health care options available for many women – nearly 80 percent of women using Planned Parenthood clinics have incomes at or below 150 percent of poverty – and it’s easy to see why a majority of Americans don’t think federal funding should be eliminated. In one recent poll, 63 percent of voters, including 72 percent of independents, do not agree with my Republican friends that federal funding for Planned Parenthood should be eliminated.      

“In fact, we have also heard very little about the consequences that defunding Planned Parenthood would have for families across the country. One of the biggest myths perpetuated by Republicans is the idea that our nation’s community health centers – which I love and adore and respect – could suddenly pick up the slack if Planned Parenthood is defunded.

“For the millions of low-income women who depend on Planned Parenthood clinics, this scenario would mean the loss of affordable and accessible contraceptive services and counseling, as well as breast and cervical cancer screenings. The idea that our community health centers could – overnight – suddenly step in and cover millions of new patients is simply wrong and shows a fundamental misunderstanding by Republicans of how our country’s health care system works.

“In fact, the Guttmacher Institute recently found that in 21 percent of the counties with a Planned Parenthood health center, Planned Parenthood is the only safety-net family planning provider.

“The report also states that “In two-thirds of the 491 counties in which they are located, Planned Parenthood health centers serve at least half of all women obtaining contraceptive care from safety-net health centers. In one-fifth of the counties in which they are located, Planned Parenthood sites are the sole safety-net family planning center.”

“This makes clear just how devastating it would be for these communities if we were to recklessly cut funding for these vital health services for the people who need them most.

“Everyone here in this Congress, with the snap of their fingers, can get healthcare, but with today’s bills, Republicans seem to be saying that for families who are poor or live in rural areas, you’re simply out of luck. Talk about cruel.

“I have a recent article from Health Affairs Blog titled “Planned Parenthood, Community Health Centers, And Women’s Health: Getting the Facts Right.”

‘A claim that community health centers readily can absorb the loss of Planned Parenthood clinics amounts to a gross misrepresentation of what even the best community health centers in the country would be able to do were Planned Parenthood to lose over 40 percent of its operating revenues overnight as the result of a ban on federal funding.’

“Here are some more facts: For every patient served by a community health center today, nearly three residents of low-income communities remain without access to primary health care. By voting for a sudden cutoff in funding, we would create an immediate health care access crisis for millions of women, placing enormous strain on community health centers and other providers. And community health centers offer women’s health services as part of comprehensive primary care programs. They cannot simply put their other responsibilities aside.

“With so many of our nation’s community health servers already struggling to meet the needs of our most vulnerable communities, the last thing we should be doing is making their job harder.

“On top of all this, Senator McConnell has already said that Senate Republicans do not have the votes to pass this bill and it will never reach the President’s desk. So what are we doing here? This is not a rhetorical question. We are literally six legislative days away from another government shutdown and instead of talking about how we are going to keep the doors open, we are wasting time with this politically-driven legislation that does nothing to make the country better.

“The other bill before us, H.R. 3504 is not a simple restatement of the current born-alive law, which I voted FOR when the original bill was considered in this House 15 years ago. 

“No, this bill fundamentally interferes with the sacred doctor-patient relationship. It undermines doctors’ clinical judgement and tells them how to provide medicine. Or else they will face criminal penalties.

“This bill is a solution in search of a problem. We already have strong federal and state laws that protect babies “born-alive”.

“The bottom line is that these anti-women’s health bills would limit women’s access to safe, legal reproductive health care. Congress should be governing responsibly and working to solve the real issues our country faces. We should be focused on growing our economy, creating jobs, protecting access to health care, increasing college affordability, and building a better future. Instead, 30 conservative House Republicans have decided to take government funding hostage. The American people deserve better.

“And finally, let’s be clear and be honest about one thing. The debate we’re having today, really, isn’t about the quality care provided by Planned Parenthood. That’s not what’s at the heart of all this. This is an effort by my friends on the Republican side to pursue their agenda of criminalizing and outlawing abortion in every circumstance.

“Many of my colleagues on the other side have been very vocal about the fact that they want to criminalize abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. They would criminalize the doctors. That’s what this is all about. Trying to force their narrow agenda down the throats of the American people.

“I would say to my colleagues that we ought to reject this and get down to the business of governing this country. This is not what we should be doing here today. This is an insult to women. This is an insult to the good people who work at Planned Parenthood who provide excellent care to millions of people across the country. And frankly, it’s an insult to the American people that with six legislative days left before you shut the government down, this is what you choose to bring to the floor.”

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