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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of our Special Order.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mrs. Roby, thank you very much for, again, underscoring the viable option that is available and that is far too seldom selected, and that is the loving option of adoption.
I now yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Latta, thank you very much for your leadership and for your compassion for the weakest and most vulnerable.
I now yield to the gentleman from Illinois, Dan Lipinski, the cochair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend and colleague for his leadership, for standing so strong, and for reminding everyone about the importance of the crisis pregnancy centers, which are a lifeline to so many women who might otherwise abort and make that irreversible decision. So thank you for underscoring that.
I would like to yield to my good friend and colleague from Nebraska, who has also been a tremendous leader in the cause of life and human rights in general.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Huelskamp, thank you very much. And thank you for your work on the Pro-life Caucus. You have really stepped up, and it is deeply appreciated by all of us. Thank you so very much.
I would like to now yield to, we have a number of pro-life doctors in the U.S. House of Representatives, and we have two with us today. First, beginning with the gentleman from Tennessee, Dr. Roe.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Dr. Roe, for your very kind remarks, but more importantly, for your witness for life, particularly as an OB/GYN and for delivering those 5,000 babies.
I would like to now yield to another doctor, Dr. Andy Harris, the gentleman from Maryland, who works often at Johns Hopkins, and a great defender of life and an eloquent spokesman.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you very much, Dr. Benishek.
Just to close, Mr. Speaker, 41 years ago next week--January 22--marks the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous, reckless, and inhumane abandonment of women and babies to abortionists. Forty-one years of victims--dead babies, wounded women, shattered families. Forty-one years of government-sanctioned violence against women and children.
Since 1973, more than 56 million children have been killed by abortion--a staggering loss of children's precious lives--a death toll that equates to the entire population of England.
The passage of time hasn't changed the fact that abortion is a serious, lethal violation of fundamental human rights, and that women and children deserve better, and that the demands of justice, generosity, and compassion require that the right to life be guaranteed to everyone.
Rather than dull our consciences to the unmitigated violence of abortion, the passage of time has only enabled us to see and, frankly, better understand the innate cruelty of abortion and its horrific legacy--victims--while making us more determined than ever to protect the weakest and the most vulnerable.
All life is sacred, Mr. Speaker. No one, regardless of sex, race, religion, disability, or condition of dependency, is a ``throwaway.'' All of us, especially lawmakers and policymakers everywhere in this town and throughout the country, have a profound moral duty to protect the innocent and the inconvenient.
I yield back the balance of my time.