21st Century Cures Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CLARKE of New York. Madam Chair, today I rise in support of the Lee-Schakowsky-Clarke amendment, and I thank them for their leadership in advancing this amendment.

H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act, which received unanimous support from members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, demonstrates that Democrats and Republicans can work together in an effort to develop medicines, treatments, and cures that will save lives.

Unfortunately, our bipartisan consensus has been undermined by a last-minute inclusion of an antichoice provision in this bill. This new provision, which is a cynical poison pill and lacks germaneness to the underlying bill, would place restrictions on women's ability to access health services.

It fails to respect the personal dignity of women by limiting their healthcare options. It interferes with the private relationship between a woman and her doctor, and it denies women what I believe is their fundamental right to have control over their own bodies.

I am deeply concerned that this new provision will only serve as confirmation for the skeptics, who believe that Members of Congress are simply unable to work with each other in the public interest.

We have the opportunity to disprove the skeptic by voting for this amendment and stripping out this provision.

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