Motion to Discharge

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAUL. This amendment prohibits Federal funds from going directly to pay for abortion. For 40-some-odd years, this has had some effect on trying to prevent money directly going from the taxpayer to fund abortion.

The reason for this amendment was that many people have profound religious beliefs that their money, their taxpayer dollars, shouldn't go to kill the unborn. This is a big deal, the Hyde Amendment.

Right now, currently, appropriations for the last 40 years have always had Hyde Amendment protections. But now we discover, under duress, the Small Business Administration admits that $100 million has been given to Planned Parenthood without Hyde protections.

So this $100 million, which is essentially about one-third of what they get every year from the Federal Government, has no Hyde prescriptions, no Hyde restrictions, and this money can go directly to those performing abortions. So the abortionist that does thousands of abortions each year is getting money directly from the Federal Government to pay his or her salary. This is a first in 40 years, and it is not a small matter.

This is an extraordinary thing that the Federal Government, for the first time in 40-some-odd years, is directly paying for abortions. This shouldn't happen.

This is worth a debate, and we only discovered this because of holding up a nominee to try to get information. The Small Business Administration has steadfastly hidden this information, tried not to reveal it and is slowly, little by little, giving some, which they gave yesterday a little bit more, but they have been resisting and resisting and resisting.

The Small Business Administration originally ruled that Planned Parenthood was a big business--an extraordinarily big business, a business with 16,000 people. Planned Parenthood themselves calls them ``affiliates.'' They count their income all together. They pool their income and put out documents saying this is how much we have all together.

Thirty-eight of these Planned Parenthoods were sent a notice saying: You have illegally obtained this money. You are not a small business, and you should return it.

Supposedly, these entities then protested and appealed the process.

The Small Business Administration, after months and months and months, still refuses to reveal the appeals process or what the complaints were. We have not gotten those documents, although we asked repeatedly for these documents.

This nomination does directly have to do with this because, whoever is in charge of PPP, you would want someone to be an honest broker who says: By golly, this looks suspicious. How come this information is not being revealed to Congress? How come Congress is not allowed to see this?

The Small Business Administration will say it is confidential. That does not apply to Congress's oversight. That might apply to releasing it to the public, but that doesn't apply to Congress's oversight of the Small Business Administration.

This is an extraordinary thing that has happened--$100 million given directly to pay for people to do abortions. It is outside the scope and contrary to the scope of the Hyde Amendment, and it is something worth having a significant and prolonged and protracted battle until all the documents are revealed.

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