Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1009, I call up the bill (H.R. 6945) to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to clarify the authority of States to use funds for pregnancy centers, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act led by Representative Fischbach.

What this bill does is really pretty simple. It ensures States will be able to continue to use TANF funds for pregnancy resource centers and the maternal care they provide to pregnant women and moms. That is it, Mr. Speaker.

Pregnancy resource centers offered material support and care to over 2 million women at more than 2,700 locations in 2024 alone, including diapers, prenatal vitamins, parenting classes, and transportation, just to name a few of the many services provided to these mothers.

These services meet the core purposes of TANF. Yet, the Biden administration proposed a regulation to discriminate against the pro- life mission of pregnancy resource centers by forbidding States from using TANF funds for these centers. It was a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law to achieve a partisan political agenda. Nothing, Mr. Speaker, in the TANF statute gave the Biden administration or any other future administration the ability to target pregnancy resource centers.

Think of what would have happened to maternal care in this country. One of the few places women can get care and support would have been closed.

In my home State of Missouri, $3 out of every $4 the State gives to pregnancy resource centers comes from TANF, and it is not just Missouri. Women in other States would have had fewer choices for their own care.

That is why we are passing this bill, to give pregnant women and moms a choice about where they receive maternal care and to stop any future administration from taking the same action as the Biden White House.

Democrats will talk until they are blue in the face, Mr. Speaker, about a woman's right to choose, but they oppose this bill, which is all about empowering women to make their own choices.

Why is that, Mr. Speaker? Simply because it doesn't align with their political agenda. The hypocrisy is absolutely stunning, Mr. Speaker. Democrats only believe in choice when it is the choice that their party would make.

Republicans are on the side of pregnant women, moms, and children who choose to get the help they need at one of these centers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding and for his leadership. I especially want to thank Michelle Fischbach for her leadership and compassion by offering and authoring this legislation to protect pregnancy care centers from discrimination and to ensure that they can continue their important work of assisting families in need.

Mr. Speaker, I was at a New Jersey pregnancy center dinner a few years ago when two women through tears of joy expressed their deep and abiding gratitude for the incredible love, respect, and care that persuaded them to reverse their decision to abort their babies.

They spoke of how desperate, even hopeless, they were. They spoke about the pressure that they were under to abort until they met the director of the pregnancy resource center who reached out to both of them at different times but within about a month in a gentle and nonjudgmental way.

They chose life and thanked God, the director, and the pregnancy resource center for helping them avert the loss of their precious babies' lives.

Then, Mr. Speaker, two teenaged girls took to the podium and spoke about their lives: schools, sports, friends, and their reverence for the sanctity of human life.

Near the end of their remarks, they turned toward the director of the center and thanked her for being there for their moms through those very difficult times and said: If you weren't there for them, we would be dead.

This is coming from two girls standing at the podium, and that has been replicated many, many times throughout the country. There are more than 55 pregnancy care centers in my district. I have been to many of them. They are filled with the most loving, compassionate, and honest people I have ever met.

So I find all the smear that we always hear so objectionable. They are an amazing group of women. They are almost all women, who run these pregnancy care centers.

Consider the story of Jean Marie Davis, a mother and a survivor of human trafficking.

I know a little about human trafficking. I have written five laws on trafficking, including the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. There is a big, heavy, trauma-informed emphasis on victims, and we have one now pending to further that effort.

This woman, Jean Marie Davis, is a survivor of trafficking who says that her life was saved by a pregnancy care center.

She said: ``I was trafficked in 33 States.''

She went on: ``Even though I was losing weight from the drugs, my belly kept growing, and I soon discovered the pregnancy that would ultimately save my life.''

Fighting despair and with only $1.38 to her name, she had almost no place to turn. She was connected with a woman named Phyllis at a local pregnancy care center.

She says:

The pregnancy center provided me with free resources and support, and then when the child was born to take care of my son. I was able to realize and pursue dreams I had never imagined.

That is because these people have such compassion, not the smear we hear from the other side. They have compassion, and I am just amazed at that, that the other side says these things about these wonderful people.

Years later she applied, and now she is the executive director of the Branches Pregnancy Resource Center in Vermont. She is giving back. She was given so much by these individuals, and now she is giving back.

Across the U.S., there are more than 2,700 pregnancy centers offering mothers and their precious children an oasis of love, compassion, and care.

One report found that in 2024, $452 million in free medical care was provided. I have been to these. There are so many nurses at these pregnancy care centers. They do ultrasounds.

Frankly, when the woman does see the baby, it is transformational. Mr. Speaker, you don't get that in a Planned Parenthood clinic at all. They talk about the child being a nonentity and not a human being.

Recognizing the extraordinary care provided at these centers, some States--there are at least six of them, including the distinguished chairman's from Missouri--do provide TANF funding. Biden was in the process of promulgating a rule that would have precluded that.

We can't allow that to happen now or ever. This important legislation--again, I can't thank Michelle enough for it--would ensure that pregnancy centers cannot be excluded or restricted from receiving TANF funding as a result of discrimination and the smear campaign that they suffer.

Hopefully, the Supreme Court will soon render its decision on a very important case coming out of my State, and I do think it will be favorable. These are amazing centers, and we ought to be supporting them, not smearing them.

Mrs. BIGGS of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, the proudest title that I carry is one that was given to me some 26 years ago from my son: Mama. I have also been a nurse for more than 30 years. Not only do I have my doctorate in family practice but also in psychiatric mental health.

I have spent my entire life caring for others, especially women and families in crisis. I have listened to their fears, and I have worked to make sure that they weren't facing those moments alone. That is why I rise today in support of H.R. 6945, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act.

As thousands gather in Washington for the March for Life, we are reminded that the pro-life cause isn't just about protecting the unborn, but it is about honoring life at every single stage. That means showing up with real help, not just during the pregnancy, but as families begin the journey of nurturing a child.

Under the Biden administration, there were efforts to block States from partnering with pregnancy centers. This bill pushes back. It protects a State's ability to work with trusted local organizations, centers that offer prenatal care, parenting classes, counseling, and everyday necessities like diapers, formula, and baby clothes.

I have visited centers like this in my own district and seen the compassion that they offer firsthand. These are places where women are met with dignity, not judgment, and where families are supported not just through pregnancy, but long after.

This bill reflects what we believe: that every single life is a gift from God, every mother deserves compassion, and every child deserves a chance because, as Scripture reminds us: ``I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.''

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, Democrats are fear-mongering today. The majority of pregnancy resource centers have voluntarily signed on to industry standards, a call to commitment of care and competence created by Heartbeat International. These standards set an ethical code where they agree to adopt a transparent and honest service model.

According to a recent report that surveyed 2,750 different pregnancy centers in 2025, there were 4,779 licensed medical professionals on staff, and 5,396 licensed medical professional volunteers.

I include in the Record a copy of Heartbeat International's ``Our Commitment of Care and Competence.'' Our Commitment of Care & Competence

Clients are served without regard to age, race, income, nationality, religious affiliation, disability or other arbitrary circumstances.

Clients are treated with kindness and compassion, in a caring manner.

Clients always receive honest and open answers.

Client information is kept securely and confidentially and only released with the client's signed authorization or as required by law.

Clients receive accurate information about pregnancy, fetal development, lifestyle issues, and related concerns.

We do not offer, recommend, or refer for abortions or abortifacients, or contraceptives. We are committed to offering accurate information about related risks and procedures.

All of our advertising and communications are truthful and honest, and accurately describe the services we offer.

We provide a safe environment by screening and equipping all staff and volunteers interacting with clients.

We are governed by a Board of Directors and operate in accordance with our articles of incorporation, bylaws, and stated purpose and mission.

We comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements regarding employment, fundraising, financial management, taxation, and public disclosure including the filing of all applicable government reports in a timely manner.

All services are provided in accordance with pertinent and applicable laws. Medical services are provided in accordance with medical standards, under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician (or advanced clinical provider as permitted by law).

All of our staff and volunteers receive appropriate training to uphold these standards.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, holy cow. The things that you hear from the other side in this body could not be so--not truthful-- false.

They paint with a broad brush and say the most ridiculous items, saying that pregnancy resource centers do not help anyone. Give me a break. Where I come from, whenever someone says something useless, we call it hogwash. They are swimming in hogwash on that side of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats will make all kinds of wild and ridiculous claims about pregnancy resource centers. They have tried to twist giving diapers and ultrasounds to moms into some sort of nefarious activity, giving diapers to moms.

The millions of women who have sought and received care at a pregnancy resource center know the truth. I hope every American is watching this debate today on this floor.

Democrats distract and fearmonger because they can't admit that pregnancy resource centers fulfill the purposes of TANF. These centers provide material support and assistance to women in need and reduce dependence on government assistance. They are eligible for State TANF funds, period.

I thank Representative Fischbach for her very hard work on this bill. She has been a champion--a champion for women, mothers, and children her entire career. I am glad she once again led the effort this Congress to preserve funding for pregnancy resource centers.

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