E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 164 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2018 No. 19 Senate The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was proceed to S. 2311, which the clerk will healthcare providers can and cannot called to order by the President pro report. spend public funds on. What Planned tempore (Mr. HATCH). The senior assistant legislative clerk Parenthood does use public funding for are vital healthcare services that have f read as follows: Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 294, S. absolutely nothing to do with abortion. PRAYER 2311, a bill to amend title 18, United States Let me just make sure people under- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Code, to protect pain-capable unborn chil- stand what I am talking about. We are fered the following prayer: dren, and for other purposes. talking about cancer screenings, pre- Let us pray. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under natal care, preventive services, routine Eternal God, we lift our hearts to the previous order, the time until 5:30 physicals, and more. I have townhall meetings in every You. You are the source of our p.m. will be equally divided in the county in our State. I have had more strength. You are our hope for tomor- usual form. If no one yields time, then time will than 860 of them. The vast amount of row. Continue to show our lawmakers terrain in Oregon is rural. When I go to the path where they should walk, lead- be charged equally. The Senator from Oregon. those small communities and the least ing them to Your desired destination. populated areas of our State, that is Lord, inspire them to continuously put Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the odds are quite good that when this Repub- what people tell me they go to Planned their hope in You. As they remember Parenthood for—to get those basic es- Your unfailing love and compassion, lican-controlled Congress closes up shop in December, time spent attack- sentials, ranging from cancer remind them that nothing is impos- screenings to routine physicals. That is sible to those who believe. ing the healthcare of women is going to be right up at the top of how this Con- what women would lose with this We pray in Your powerful Name. Trump agenda of healthcare discrimi- Amen. gress spent their day. They are back at it again, and this latest attack that we nation. Next up, given the way the year and f will be discussing this week goes after a little bit longer has evolved, is the women’s essential healthcare deci- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ongoing attempt by the Trump admin- sions. The President pro tempore led the istration to deny women guaranteed In my view—and I want to be very Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: no-cost access to contraception. This is clear about this point—this is another I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the one of the most popular healthcare key part of the Trump agenda of policies in recent memory. There are a United States of America, and to the Repub- healthcare discrimination. This time, lic for which it stands, one nation under God, lot of reasons why this is smart, not indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. it is going after women. This entire just because it is a matter of fairness agenda is what the Republicans are f for all women to have access to birth doing their best to blast through the control. When women have access to RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME Congress into law. It is not just a one- contraception, it means healthier preg- off, either. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. CAS- nancies and healthier newborns. It also So I am going to spend a few minutes SIDY). Under the previous order, the reduces the risk of cancer among now to put this particular health pro- leadership time is reserved. women. posal that discriminates against You can also look at it in terms of f women in the appropriate kind of con- dollars and cents. When you take away CONCLUSION OF MORNING text. To do that, I think it is impor- no-cost contraception, you are essen- BUSINESS tant to describe what has happened on tially taxing women based on their healthcare since day one of the Trump gender. You are driving up the cost of The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning administration. their routine healthcare. It flies in the business is closed. The administration and Republicans face of everything my colleagues on f in Congress came right out of the gate the other side of the aisle say about with legislation that would have de- the problems of healthcare costs in PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD prived hundreds of thousands of women America. PROTECTION ACT—MOTION TO of the right to see the doctor of their So those are strikes one and two: de- PROCEED choosing. There was another attack on nying women the right to see the doc- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under Planned Parenthood that completely tor of their choosing and making it the previous order, the Senate will re- ignored the fact that the Congress al- harder for them to access contracep- sume consideration of the motion to ready regulates what these trusted tion. Now the Senate is debating ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S527 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Jan 30, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A29JA6.000 S29JAPT1 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with SENATE S528 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 29, 2018 whether to throw a matter of settled kind of bipartisan debate looking for periencing pain. Yet there is no Fed- law out the window with a solutions. eral law protecting these vulnerable hyperpartisan ban on abortion after 20 Another example is the opioid epi- humans from abortions. As a result, weeks. demic raging from one end of the coun- every year in our country the lives of My view on abortion throughout my try to the other. More than half a mil- thousands of babies end painfully time in public service is it ought to be lion lives lost in the last two decades, through abortion. This is unacceptable. safe, it ought to be legal, and it ought countless families and entire commu- The majority of men and women across to be rare. I have supported a whole nities torn apart. The Congress and the the Nation agree with this premise. Ac- host of policies that bring both sides of Trump administration haven’t done cording to a recent Marist poll, 6 out of the aisle together. nearly enough to fight the crisis and, 10 Americans surveyed support a law The Presiding Officer is fairly new to frankly, not anywhere near close to prohibiting abortion after 5 months of the Senate Finance Committee and is what was promised in the fall of 2016. pregnancy. looking to be involved in a host of Instead of taking on these chal- Additionally, multiple States, in- issues. My guess is, he will be very in- lenges, the Trump administration and cluding my home State of Iowa, have terested in the adoption tax credit con- Republicans in Congress are just full passed legislation that would prohibit cept which I and others have cham- steam ahead with this agenda of abortions after 5 months of develop- pioned for some time, something that healthcare discrimination; this week, ment because these babies are babies. brings both sides together. an attack on women and their There is no way to deny the humanity So my view is, abortion, safe, legal, healthcare choices. Passing this bill is of these children when you consider and rare; find ways to bring both sides going to make it harder for women to stories like that of Micah Pickering. together; and respect that the Federal be in a position to make the healthcare Micah is from Newton, IA. He is a Government ought to leave women choices they believe are important— very young friend of mine. He is 5 years alone on these most intimate decisions maybe essential—for their lives. old. Just a few weeks ago on the floor that involve women, their spouses, and I urge my colleagues to oppose the of the Senate I was able to share their healthcare providers. bill. Micah’s story. As you may recall, The proposal the Senate is now de- I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Micah was born at just 20 weeks bating is all about telling women what ator from Iowa. postfertilization—the very point at they can and cannot do. It criminalizes Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, I rise to which the Pain-Capable Unborn Child healthcare services that ought to stay urge each of my colleagues to support Protection Act would begin to protect between women and their doctors— the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protec- these young lives. Today, Micah is a healthcare services often necessitated tion Act. This critical legislation very happy, very energetic little 5- by potentially life-threatening com- would prohibit a child from being year-old. Now, I would like to go back plications. aborted at 5 months of development. to these pictures. I just, for the life of me, don’t see the For those we have watching today, I When I first met Micah, he was about wisdom of a lawmaker or a bureaucrat would like you to focus a little bit on 3 years old.