OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 3081, Department Of State, Foreign Operations, And Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

Date: July 9, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Women Government Budget and Spending Reproduction

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise today in strong support of the rule for the Fiscal Year 2010 State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations bill, H.R. 3081. I sincerely want to thank the chairwoman, NITA LOWEY, and her staff for their diligent work on this appropriations bill and for their efforts and their help in securing an additional $10 million for maternal health in the manager's amendment.

I sincerely thank the gentlelady for her support and for her work and for addressing one of the most serious issues facing women on this planet. The need to act to address the global maternal mortality rate and to save mothers' lives is very clear, and the time to act is now.

The recent words of the First Lady of Sierra Leone are haunting, but all too true for too many women in the world and their families and their communities. She stated, ``We know too well that a pregnant woman in Kigali or Freetown has one foot in the grave,'' which is why many ``say goodbye to our mothers and sisters as they go into labor.''

Mr. Speaker, pregnancy is a time when we should be welcoming life into the world, not saying goodbye. For every woman's death we fail to prevent by boosting investments in critical maternal health programs, we fail newborns who now face an increased risk of dying themselves. We fail the family, including children pulled from schools to support their families and pick up the duties of the now deceased mother, and we fail those communities by undermining economic development and poverty reduction efforts in the wider community.

This investment into maternal health will save lives. We can and must continue to do what we can to reduce the needless suffering of millions of women around the world from childbirth and pregnancy-related complications. Too much is at stake if we fail to deliver for these woman.

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