Letter to The Honorable Harry Reid Majority Leader

Letter

Letter to The Honorable Harry Reid Majority Leader

GOP Senators to Reid: We Will "Take Full Advantage of Our Rights" to Stop Massive Taxpayer Subsidies for Abortion in Appropriations Bills

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, joined a majority of his Republican colleagues in the Senate in sending a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid regarding the troubling pro-abortion policies in the remaining appropriations bills. The 35 senators made clear in their letter that they are "prepared to take full advantage of our rights under Senate rules to prevent massive taxpayer subsidies for abortions and abortion-related activities."

"Democrats are not just trying to rush abortion funding through in their health care takeover, they're also secretly using our yearly spending bills to massively expand abortion on demand with taxpayer funding at the 11th hour," said Senator DeMint. "This is unacceptable and Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to prevent taxpayers from being forced to fund the destruction of innocent life."

"Democrats have added language to appropriations bills that would fund abortion on demand for residents of the District of Columbia, for federal employees including members of Congress and their staff, and a permanent provision to immunize foreign organization that want to promote abortion as a method of birth control. These are changes to existing law that currently protect taxpayers and they cannot stand. Both sides of the abortion debate have always drawn a line at forcing taxpayers to fund something they find morally offensive. We should be finding ways to decrease abortions, not sneaking through federal funding of abortion on demand."

Below is text of the letter sent to Harry Reid:

December 2, 2009

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Leader:

We have grave concerns regarding the exclusion of longstanding funding limitations on abortion in the various appropriations bills that are currently before Congress. These measures, which have enjoyed broad bipartisan support for many years, are meant to ensure that taxpayers are not forced to pay for or promote elective abortions either in the United States or abroad.

Yet provisions calling for taxpayer financed abortions and the promotion of abortion have been included in the FY2010 Financial Services and State/Foreign Operations Appropriations bills. We cannot, in good conscience, allow these provisions to move forward, even in an omnibus appropriations bill.

We want to assure you that we are prepared to take full advantage of our rights under Senate rules to prevent massive taxpayer subsidies for abortions and abortion-related activities.

Sincerely,

Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Barrasso (R - WY), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Bond, Christopher S. - (R - MO), Sam Brownback (R - KS), Jim Bunning (R - KY), Richard Burr (R - NC) , Saxby Chambliss (R - GA), Tom Coburn (R - OK), Bob Corker (R - TN), John Cornyn (R - TX), Mike Crapo (R - ID), Jim DeMint (R - SC), John Ensign (R - NV), Michael Enzi (R - WY), Lindsey Graham (R - SC), Chuck Grassley (R - IA), Judd Gregg (R - NH), Orrin Hatch (R - UT), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R - TX), Jim Inhofe (R - OK), Johnny Isakson (R - GA), Mike Johanns (R - NE), Jon Kyl (R - AZ), George LeMieux (R - FL), John McCain (R - AZ), Mitch McConnell (R - KY), James Risch (R - ID), Pat Roberts (R - KS), Jeff Sessions (R - AL), Richard Shelby (R - AL), John Thune (R - SD), David Vitter (R - LA), George Voinovich (R - OH), and Roger Wicker (R - MS).