In remarks on the House floor last week, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) spoke about her NDAA amendment to stop funding from going towards abortions.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
00:04In 2022, President Biden issued a new Department of Defense policy using taxpayer dollars to fund
00:09time off lodging and travel expenses for elective abortions.
00:13My amendment will stop this unlawful practice and return to the hide protections codified in law.
00:19In recent years, President Biden and many of my Democrat colleagues have embraced a radical
00:23pro-abortion stance, going so far as to push to federally legalize abortion for
00:28any reason up until the moment of birth. I'm not sure why we have gone from wanting
00:34abortions to be safe, legal, and rare to encouraging taxpayer-funded abortion on
00:39demand, but here we are. They can't define a single limitation that they would support
00:44on elective abortions. Republicans are offering solutions that support women throughout their
00:48pregnancy and after, while my colleagues on the other side are taking the anti-woman stance of
00:54incentivizing abortions. I urge my colleagues to support this common sense amendment to not
00:58only follow the law, enforce the law, but to do so while protecting the most vulnerable,
01:03the unborn. And Mr. Chair, I reserve.
01:06John Warren from Texas Reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from New Jersey rise?
01:13Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment.
01:16Gentlelady is recognized.
01:18Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield my, I'm sorry, I'm now honored to yield one minute to my friend
01:24and partner in this fight, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Quality of Life
01:28Panel, Representative Houlihan.
01:30Gentlelady is recognized.
01:33Thank you, Representative Sherrill and Mr. Speaker. It truly saddens me to be here yet
01:39again having the same conversation we had last year, yet again standing before this chamber
01:45as a woman, yet again, a woman who has actually served and actually worn a uniform and actually
01:51was a mother in uniform. Here I am yet again defending our service women and men's members'
01:57right to seek the medical care that they need when they're serving our country.
02:02I'm sick and tired of members who have never served telling service members,
02:06the same service members that they are proud to publicly express their purported support for,
02:11that they don't deserve the financial or otherwise freedom to seek the medical care that they and
02:16their family members deserve and need when they need it.
02:20And to those who have served in uniform, and most of them are men who are here on this floor
02:25and still don't wish to afford the service to members, the availability to seek reproductive
02:30care, I am enormously disappointed with them as well. We all know how difficult military life is.
02:37If a woman in uniform or a member of a family who is in uniform says it's not the right time perhaps
02:44to start a family or has a medical reason otherwise, it is her and her... May I have a
02:50little bit more time? Mr. Speaker, I now yield 30 seconds to my colleague. It is hers and her
02:59alone's decision of what to do here. That's why I introduced the March Act, which would in fact
03:04expand access to abortion service and military treatment facilities. We should be supporting
03:09our family service members, not hindering them. I strongly urge a no vote on this amendment and
03:14the overall bill if it passes and I yield back and appreciate it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve. General
03:19Lady reserves. General Lady from Texas is recognized. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker,
03:23the language in this bill is very straightforward. It would simply roll back Biden's illegal DOD
03:27abortion travel policy issued under the October 2022 memorandum, returning DOD to the practice in
03:34place for decades, under which both Democrats and Republican administrations have agreed.
03:39This bill has absolutely nothing to do with preventing people from getting medical care.
03:46Abortion is not medical care for the baby. It's a brutal procedure that ends the lives of unborn
03:51children through suction, dismemberment, or chemical poisoning. The Biden administration's
03:55made taxpayer funding available for abortion at any stage of pregnancy, even for late-term
04:00abortions that inflict excruciating pain and suffering on the child. This human rights abuse
04:04should not be paid for or encouraged by the US government. Abortion is also not medical care for
04:09the mother. Abortion can lead to significant physical complications for women and has serious
04:14mental health risks. A recent study found that over 60 percent of women who have had abortions
04:18report high levels of pressure. With that, I reserve my time. General Lady reserves. The
04:23General Lady from New Jersey is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield myself such time as I may
04:28consume. Mr. Chair, I am vehemently opposed to this amendment. I wish I could say I'm surprised
04:34by the situation in which we find ourselves where, once again, House Republicans are trying
04:39to take rights away from service women and military families. But I'm not. I'm not surprised
04:45because it's their third attempt to get this policy repealed in the last year alone. They
04:51tried in last year's NDAA. They tried via Senator Tuberville as he waged his culture war with no
04:57concern for how he was impacting military readiness and setting back the careers of many talented
05:03officers. And this year, instead of having an actual debate about the best policies regarding
05:08vital reproductive health care for service women and military families, they're once again hiding
05:14behind the Rules Committee and only putting forward their standard regressive backwards
05:18policies that continue to fail. Preventing military women from traveling for care when
05:24they're stationed in states with draconian abortion laws isn't pro-life. It's not pro-life
05:30to force women to risk their lives and their careers with non-viable pregnancies. It's not
05:34pro-life to make it harder for women to access basic health care. And it's not pro-life to do
05:40it at the expense of women who already risk their lives in service of their country. I wish we could
05:46treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves. I wish we could have a real debate about reproductive
05:52health care for service members. But we can't. Why? Because this majority would rather score cheap
05:58points in their MAGA culture wars than have a serious discussion about their anti-women policies.
06:04So with that, I reserve the balance of my time. The gentlelady reserves. The gentlelady from Texas
06:08recognized. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. You know, when we talk about wanting to have
06:12be concerned with the safety of women, I would say that when we're looking at statistics,
06:17that if you look at actually far more accurate studies and complete data on pregnancy outcomes,
06:22including abortion and child care, that study after study showed that a woman is almost
06:26four times more likely to die from abortion than from childbirth. What we are trying to do is
06:30actually support women who are pregnant, support women who are pregnant and found themselves in a
06:34difficult situation. All we are simply doing in this is going back to the law. We are enforcing
06:39the law of not having taxpayer funded abortions. This has nothing to do with limiting health care.
06:44This is actually everything to do with following the law. And I reserve my time. The gentlelady
06:50reserves. Gentlelady from New Jersey is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I request how much time
06:54I've left. Gentlelady from New Jersey has two minutes and the gentlelady from Texas has two
07:00and a half minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair. Okay.
07:12Amendments like this cheapen the National Defense Authorization Act.
07:17They make America look weak. They demean this body. And this isn't the only one.
07:21So once again, this majority has chosen not to treat matters of national security
07:26with the seriousness with which they deserve to be treated. And they're choosing to use that
07:31National Defense Authorization Act to shove their extremist culture war agenda down the
07:35throats of the American people. Homophobia. Check. Racism. Check. Misogyny. Check. Serious
07:44policy amendments that will strengthen our national security. Far less important to this
07:49majority. These ludicrous amendments are why later today I will be offering a motion to recommit,
07:55not to start the process all over, but to give our service members and our nation the serious
08:00policy-focused National Defense Authorization Act that we passed out of the Armed Services Committee.
08:05I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and support a clean, policy-centered National Defense
08:11Authorization Act. And I reserve the balance of my time. Gentlelady reserves. Gentlelady from Texas.
08:15Thank you very much. This is about taxpayer-funded abortion, something that has been prevented for
08:20five decades. In fact, the Hyde Amendment was upheld by the Supreme Court even under Roe v.
08:25Wade. This is not a change in policy. This is continuing the policies that have been supported
08:29by both Democrats and Republicans. And I would ask my kind colleagues to tell me, please, how
08:35supporting and paying out of DOD funds for a woman to travel across the country to get an abortion
08:40has anything to do with protecting our national security? Understretched DOD resources already to
08:46underwrite abortions through funding for flights and hotels is simply pandering to the abortion
08:50lobby and does nothing to increase our national security. And with that, I reserve my time.
08:55Gentlelady reserves. Gentlelady from New Jersey is recognized.
08:58Mr. Chair, I have the right to close and I reserve the balance of my time.
09:00Gentlelady reserves. Gentlelady from Texas is recognized.
09:03I reserve the balance of my time.
09:04The gentlelady from New Jersey is prepared to close.
09:08Sir, are you prepared to close?
09:09Gentlelady from Texas is recognized.
09:11Thank you very much. I would argue that this was an amendment that last year passed. It was taken
09:16out by the Senate. It is necessary. All we are asking the department to do is actually follow
09:22the law, which under executive order currently Biden is trying to have them surpass. For years,
09:28this has been an adopted practice by both Democrats and Republicans. What we are seeing
09:32is extreme measures taken by Democrats to show us exactly where their abortion stance is.
09:38I was on the floor of this House last session when we voted for a bill that would allow
09:43taxpayer-funded dollars to be used for abortions up until the moment of birth. If that is not
09:49extreme, I don't know what is. Republicans are supporting support for women who find
09:53themselves in these positions. This is a defense bill. It should not be used to kill innocent
09:59lives and put women's lives at unnecessary risks, especially those that are supporting
10:05and fighting for this country and those values. With that, I yield.
10:10Gentlelady yields back. Gentlelady from New Jersey is recognized.
10:14Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in the advent of the overturning of Roe, we have seen a race
10:19to the bottom in reproductive health care in too many states across the nation and attempts again
10:24and again and again to implement a nationwide abortion ban by Republicans. This is really
10:31dangerous to our servicewomen who are given orders to go to certain places. They can't say
10:36that they prefer not to serve in Texas, for example, which is now the 49th worst state
10:42in the nation when it comes to women's reproductive health care, a very fast drop
10:47because of the horrible draconian anti-choice laws that have been implemented. And so our
10:53servicewomen are ordered to states like this and don't have access to basic reproductive health
11:00care. We see again and again and again how this culture war agenda has threatened women across
11:07the country and certainly servicewomen. We have over 140,000 service members in Texas right now,
11:13and that doesn't even include their families. That's why these are dangerous pieces of
11:18legislation. That's why we have worked so incredibly hard to find fixes to make sure
11:23our servicewomen are protected. Thank you. I urge a no vote. And with that, I yield back.