Possibility of Overturning Roe V. Wade

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, the left has officially gone off the deep end, invading church services, going to the homes of judges, throwing Molotov cocktails into office buildings.

What has them all riled up? What has predicated the nationwide spate of violence, trespassing, threats, and other intimidating tactics?

Are they protesting skyrocketing inflation, the price of gasoline for their cars, empty store shelves making it hard for American mothers to feed their babies?

No, Madam Speaker, they are not. Here is what has the left all riled up. Last week, we learned of a draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that the Court may be prepared to finally, finally, overturn Roe v. Wade. That is right. Of all the very real problems in our country that could have sent them over the edge, this is the one that has them animated in the streets and causing chaos everywhere.

It turns out that the possibility that individual States may again be allowed to restrain the killing of unborn children is, of course, what has sent the left into a tailspin.

On our side, Madam Speaker, we understand the grave nature of the Supreme Court leak, and we pray that the Justices will remain resolute in their convictions in this pressure campaign.

But make no mistake, it bears noting that what spurs our Democrat friends into furious action is not record inflation, not soaring illegal immigration, not empty store shelves, not Americans just trying to make ends meet, but abortion.

Just this afternoon, our House Democrat colleagues made time to march over to the Senate to rally support for their bill allowing for abortion on demand until the moment of birth. If they think abortion on demand through all 9 months of pregnancy is the key to rallying the American people back to their side, I am afraid they are in for a rude awakening.

I am grateful to my many colleagues for joining us tonight to discuss the myriad crises facing our country that are taking a backseat to the Democrats' abortion agenda.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), my good friend.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the doctor for his conviction and consistency that he has always displayed, we appreciate that so much.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Grothman. They have an insatiable appetite for spending.

Did you know the American people are just as upset as we are?

A CNN poll just came out and only 23 percent of Americans rate our economy as somewhat good. That is a shocking decline of 14 points just since December. A Fox News poll says 67 percent of Americans disapprove of President Biden's economic job performance.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the former top gun Navy pilot who did a great job describing our economy as in a nosedive. If only we had a former fire chief that could describe the five-alarm fire that is America right now--oh, we do--he also happens to be a former mayor of Miami.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gimenez).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the chief for that clear message. He is right. We heard from former Border Patrol officials this morning, and they told us that for an absolute certainty we have lost operational control of the border. We really have no border security at all, and if you don't have border security, Madam Speaker, you don't have safety in your country, and, ultimately, you don't have sovereignty either.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. My friend has spoken so well.

Madam Speaker, the sanctity of human life is something that we must stand for. Thankfully, it looks like the States and the people will be able to decide that issue again very soon.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy).

Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, for the first time in this Nation's history, the United States has surpassed over 100,000 drug overdoses. In fact, the CDC just estimated that 107,000 Americans died. 2021 was a record year, in fact, a 15 percent increase over the year prior, disproportionately affecting African Americans and other minorities.

As a physician for more than 30 years, it is a tragedy to see President Biden's war on America that is fueling the opioid crisis that is killing Americans every day. Fentanyl is more than 100 times more potent than morphine, and in just a short period of time, fentanyl overdoses have become the leading cause of death for adults age 18 to 45.

Let us think about that for just a minute. The leading cause of death for these Americans is not COVID-19, not car accidents, not cancer, and not heart disease. It is illicit fentanyl coming across our southern border, a border that we no longer control.

Let us be clear: this is a national security threat. We do not have operational control of the United States-Mexico border. Biden's war on America has invaded every town in this country, and his policies are actively making it worse.

Madam Speaker, this is a real and definite dereliction of duty by the President of the United States of America. He could fix this deadly nightmare overnight by simply reinstituting President Trump's commonsense border policies. This is negligence--pure, unadulterated negligence. The American people are suffering and dying because of this President's willful negligence.

How could he possibly believe this is the right thing to do?

Madam Speaker, Joe Biden is ultimately responsible for the massive increase of these fentanyl-induced deaths across America. He has done this for political motivation, and he should not be taken seriously because of this. He is being willfully ignorant, or he simply does not care about the American people.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, Dr. Murphy is exactly right. The other tragedy is, of course, the cartels are making billions of dollars on all this flooding it into our country and killing innocent Americans.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for that reminder of history.

President Biden was a whole lot more pro-life. Back in the seventies and eighties he opposed Roe v. Wade. He said that it went too far. In 1982 he wanted a constitutional amendment--voted for it--for the States to overturn that Supreme Court ruling.

But do you know what he did this week, Madam Speaker?

He issued a brazen statement calling on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade. What a tragedy. What a tragedy.

Madam Speaker, I yield to gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. It is a critical issue that we all believe to our core. That is for certain.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. All glory to God. Thank you, my friend, for that strong word.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I think we are going to get that opportunity after this next election cycle, and we cannot wait. It cannot get here soon enough.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman, my dear friend from Illinois (Mrs. Miller).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. It has been amazing to see the turnabout in those who are advocating for us to defund the police. They recognize the great results of that, and now they are on our side, aren't they?

They are proclaiming that we need to fund more police, and they are certainly right now. Unfortunately, we have to live with the results of those policy choices, as with all of these.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. From one energy State resident to another, we know and can say clearly that energy security is national security.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. This White House just doesn't get it. Thank you so much for reminding us of that.

Madam Speaker, I am truly grateful again to my many colleagues who were here tonight from all across the country to join us as we discuss the importance of the battle for the sanctity of every single human life and the myriad number of crises facing our country because of these Democrat policies that are plaguing every arena, every area of the economy, every part of the country, and every single policy issue.

Madam Speaker, we cannot wait for an end to this and a change in the levers of power in Washington, and we do expect that that will happen in a big red wave in November. Hopefully, the country can survive until then.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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