Choosing Life

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, this week, House Republicans are doing important work to support pregnant women and mothers. As thousands of people across the Nation join together this week to promote their pro-life cause, we are grateful for the chance to do our part on the legislative level and bring two critical bills to the floor, the Pregnant Students' Rights Act and the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act.

We are also continuing to hold the Biden administration accountable for their policy failures at the southern border. Time and time again we are up here talking about this. We are visiting the border. We are, as the House GOP, intently focused on making some what should be very simple fixes to be able to reduce the ability for the cartels to run the border and to set so many people up for failure with this entire topic. We are going to continue to sound this alarm.

Since President Biden has taken office, there have been 8 million illegal crossings nationwide and over 6.7 million encounters at the southern border. It is unacceptable, and we just passed a resolution denouncing the administration's open border policies that are threatening the safety of our communities.

These are important items and important legislative topics. We have several colleagues of mine here to share their thoughts on this approach.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I joined the gentleman last week at our legislative markup on this exact topic. The point we were trying to make is in this situation, particularly with TANF dollars, we need to be able to provide more care and stretch those dollars to support as many situations as possible.

This is an unneeded rule. It is targeted at groups that are trying to do right by their communities and support women going through very difficult situations as best as they can.

So continuing, as we have been doing these Special Orders, Mr. Speaker, we have had an overwhelming number of individuals, particularly from Texas, as the border issue continues to just rage on affecting those communities acutely, and other States are becoming a border State because of it.

Our Representatives from Texas are so passionate about this issue.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his comments. I echo his sentiment of how simple and best it can be for the American people. It is just baffling that we can't have the administration understand this. I appreciate so many credible Members coming down and sharing their message from their own districts.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his very clear message on navigating solving this issue.

Again, I reiterate: There are simple policy fixes that would take off an enormous amount of strain at our southern border. We have got the data to show that these policies are effective. I don't want to oversimplify it because I know this is Congress, but the immediate fixes can be so simple, and we have to quit empowering the cartels to put people in these situations.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Rose for his heartfelt message on a very important week for this particular topic.

I yield to the gentleman from the Second District of South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), my former colleague on defense matters extraordinaire. I appreciate all his work in that regard.

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, we all appreciate the great work and leadership of Congressman Moore of Utah, as he is conducting tonight's Special Order.

As the anniversary approaches for the 1973 infamous Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, I was grateful to attend Proudly Pro-Life events at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia 2 weeks ago supporting mothers and children.

As part of that weekend, I joined South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, State Senator Mike Reichenbach of Florence, and other State leaders for the 50th March for Life. The march began at Russell House on the University of South Carolina campus, and a rally began on the statehouse grounds. It was well attended by many supporters despite very cold weather.

Founded by South Carolina Citizens for Life in 1974, the group is a State affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, the largest single issue right-to-life organization in the Nation. It exists solely to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia while supporting mother and child.

Courageous leaders in South Carolina are Holly Gatling, Lisa Van Riper, and Sally Zaleski. I am grateful that my eldest grandson, Addison Wilson III, several years ago participated in a National Right to Life March with classmates of the Holy Trinity Classical Christian School of Beaufort, South Carolina.

Through the legal and peaceful means of education, legislation, and political action, South Carolina Citizens for Life works to restore the right to life of the preborn and to protect the lives of medically vulnerable individuals, including elderly, disabled, mentally ill, chronically ill, and terminally ill persons.

After the U.S. Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v. Wade, State legislatures have become the determiners of abortion access. South Carolina, with strong bipartisan support in the General Assembly, is a right-to-life State. Additionally, South Carolina is upholding the State's ban on abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as interpreted by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, in a statement, welcomed the decision saying: ``The right to life is foremost and absolutely must be protected and prioritized.''

This law protects life by prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected with exceptions for rape or incest during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, medical emergencies, or fatal fetal anomalies.

Upon signing the bill into law, Governor Henry McMaster said: ``This is a great day for life in South Carolina, but the fight is not over. We stand ready to defend this legislation against all challenges and are confident we will succeed. The right to life must be preserved, and we will do everything we can to protect it.''

It is sad that Biden has abandoned his pro-life position to export extremist, radical, murderous abortion of babies up to the time of birth. This is infanticide, killing viable babies, which is condemned across the world except in dictatorial China and dictatorial North Korea.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, who have protected America for 20 years since the 9/11 attacks. Sadly, currently, due to the appeasement in Afghanistan, the global war on terrorism continues with Afghanistan as a safe haven for terrorists to bring more attacks to America with Biden open borders. All Americans must be alerted that terrorist attacks could be imminent and are imminent in America, as warned by the FBI.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Wilson's message during this very important week.

I yield to the gentleman from the First District of California (Mr. LaMalfa).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the message of the gentleman from California, particularly during this week again.

Finally, I yield to the gentleman from the Fourth District of Florida (Mr. Bean) for a special message.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Every one of our constituents, the people who we serve deserve that type of attention. I appreciate you for highlighting the wonderful life that she lived.

Mr. Speaker, I will wrap up briefly just by saying House Republicans have an incredible focus this week, keeping the focus on finding the solutions needed at the border and pressuring and pleading with President Biden to just take a look at what has been done in the past.

We have got policies that existed in the previous administration that worked, and they limited border activity and cartel activity. These things are simple, and we need them reinstated. Embracing these things is what the American people need.

Lastly, we have got very important bills on the floor this week related to supporting women, parents, and babies, as women make incredibly tough choices, finding the support they need in various ways, whether they are in school, whether they are in their community, whether they are working, whatever the circumstance may be. These children need a chance to have every opportunity they deserve. We are focused on building out sound legislation that addresses that this week.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for sharing their messages, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source