All Lives Matter

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman. And I thank the gentleman for his leadership in organizing this hour.

Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor tonight as mothers and grandmothers and dads and granddads, and we come with such heavy hearts and with such a burden for what we have found out, for what we have seen, and for what has been made public about Planned Parenthood.

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I thought it was very interesting that the head of Planned Parenthood came out this week and said, ``Oh, we think there are more videos to come.''

That is because they know they have been caught, and they know they are guilty, and they know what they have done; but no amount of trying to go out and push it to the side is going to push this to the side.

That is why our committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is taking up an investigation. We are already working on this.

We are pushing forward to get the witnesses before us and to exercise the appropriate oversight that is there for us to do.

Planned Parenthood does get Federal taxpayer dollars. The problem is money is fungible. And when you see what has been carried out in these videos--in their own words what they describe--you know how destructive that process is.

As Mr. Walker just said, Planned Parenthood conducts over 300,000 abortions a year. They are the Nation's largest abortion provider. Their focus is no longer family planning or women's health. It is abortion.

What we have found out is that, through this sector of their business that is focused on abortion, they have now moved even further away, and they are into selling body parts--harvesting and selling body parts.

We have heard the Members speak so eloquently to this, and I know, Mr. Speaker, people can hear the emotion in our voices and in our hearts, because this is a subject you don't think about discussing on the House floor, but it is one that has been left for us to oversee.

They talk about procuring these body parts. In their own words, they talk about setting the price, negotiating, dealing with the tissue brokers. These are the most abhorrent and inhumane statements and words and conduct.

The conduct and the demeanor of these individuals on those videotapes cannot be denied and the casual nature with which they discussed this, as if it is routine. It is an expected part of their business. That is why we are moving forward to investigate them. That is why we feel funding should be restricted.

Over 65 percent of the American people, Mr. Speaker, are against the use of taxpayer funds for abortion, and

it is time for us to deal with, to hold accountable, to restrict, and to put some barriers around what has been happening with Planned Parenthood. It is an investigation we will pursue until we know the truth and have every element of truth.

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