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The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

Date: June 21, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Aid Abortion


THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 21, 2007)

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(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in opposition to the Lowey amendment, although I do want to express my appreciation to Chairman Lowey for preserving, as she indicated, the 15 different restrictions that are in this bill on the use of American taxpayer dollars overseas to directly fund abortion.

But I want to say respectfully to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, come on. Legislation that disallows contributions to fund abortions in family-planning organizations around the globe ought to also disallow in-kind contributions to those same organizations.

Money is fungible. We know that. Organizations that receive commodities can take the r esources that they would have used to purchase those commodities and use it to promote abortion. We all know. We are adults in this room. We all know that we are seeing here a concerted, sincere, and I would like to say respectfully creative legislative effort to undermine a policy known as the Mexico City policy that I think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know is broadly supported by the American people.

Whatever the view is on abortion in this country, the American people don't want to s ee their taxpayer dollars used to fund abortions at home or abroad. They don't want to see their taxpayer dollars used through the foreign aid program to fund organizations that promote abortion as a means of family planning. And the possibility of making tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars available to organizations that promote abortion around the globe, making it available in the form of commodities is still making resources available to organizations that promote abortion.

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