Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise quite saddened by the news that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure has made a political decision--a fine nonprofit that I have been associated with for years. I've run in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I've walked in the Race for the Cure. I have been the emcee of a number of events locally that they have held. So I have been a big booster of the Susan G. Komen organization. But not anymore.
Their announcement yesterday that they are no longer going to fund any organization that is being investigated by a Federal, State, or local body means that Planned Parenthood is no longer going to receive $600,000 a year. Now, ironically, yesterday, the Komen organization also announced, and with great concern in a statement, that the dismal rate of breast cancer screening with women who do not have insurance is something like 38.2 percent.
Last year, the Planned Parenthood organization was responsible for over 700,000--700,000--breast cancer screenings for women who are poor, for women who don't have insurance, for women who seek to get the health care they get through Planned Parenthood. So over the last 5 years, there have been 4 million breast cancer screenings by Planned Parenthood. Komen has funded about 170,000 of them through Planned Parenthood.
So what does this mean? Well, I guess it means that Susan G. Komen has decided to become a 501(c)(4), because no longer do they want to be providing nonprofits. They want to become a political advocacy group.
Last time I checked, we were all presumed innocent until proven guilty and we looked to investigations in the Federal judicial branch; we looked to investigations by the U.S. Attorney or the district attorney. Far be it from us to rely on the House of Representatives holding a hearing as being emblematic of justice, because oftentimes it's a political sandbox.
Now, this ostensible investigation is one that has been called on by Mr. Stearns, who is the subcommittee chair of Energy and Commerce on Oversight. The hearing has never been held. So why would Susan G. Komen take the remarkable step of saying they are no longer going to fund Planned Parenthood?
I suppose when we review NIH and bring them under some investigation that they will stop funding NIH to the tune of a million dollars, or I suppose that when we have a pharmaceutical company that we bring to the Hill to ask them questions about a particular activity that they will stop accepting sponsor money from that particular pharmaceutical company.
All of you across this country that feel that Susan G. Komen should stick to what it knows, and that is breast cancer research, breast cancer screening, and support and promote those activities by organizations that do the research and do the screening, I ask you to call them at 1-877-465-6636 and tell them that you want them to stick to what they know.
Let's not make this a race to the political bottom.