Protect Life Act

Floor Speech

Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

At a time when the American people are crying out for action on jobs, we are debating legislation that will instead trample on a woman's fundamental reproductive rights. The fact of the matter is that the Affordable Care Act prohibits any taxpayers' dollars from paying for abortions. That's the law of the land.

The legislation before the House goes far beyond that, restricting, for the first time, how women with private insurance can spend their own private dollars in purchasing insurance. For women, this bill constitutes nothing less than a full-fledged assault on their right to choose.

Madam Speaker, with 8 million people unemployed in this country, with wages going down, poverty is on the rise, and this is all that the Republicans have to offer. This is why people are literally in the streets demanding solutions to the job crisis, seeking greater opportunity and an end to economic inequality.

The American people do not want ideological posturing. They want real solutions that create real jobs. Vote down this legislation.

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