[Page H3919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REQUEST TO CONSIDER H.R. 18, NO TAXPAYER FUNDING FOR ABORTION ACT

  (Mr. RUTHERFORD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUTHERFORD. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand for the sanctity 
of life and believe strongly in our responsibility to protect the 
unborn.
  While I understand that the issue of abortion is one that divides 
many here in Congress, H.R. 18 does not universally ban all abortions. 
It would simply reinstate and make permanent the bipartisan Hyde 
amendment on a government-wide basis, which only prevents taxpayers 
from paying for the killing of unborn children.
  It is what the majority of Americans want. In fact, a recent Marist 
Poll found that nearly 60 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funded 
abortion. It is shocking and heartbreaking the Democrats would remove 
this critical protection from law after supporting it for over 40 
years.
  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary be discharged from 
further consideration of H.R. 18, and I ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under guidelines consistently issued by 
successive Speakers, as recorded in section 956 of the House Rules and 
Manual, the Chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it 
has been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships.

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