Life Advocacy Briefing

Step One

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTED 245 to 189 Wednesday to repeal the massive ObamaCare legislation enacted less than a year ago. Just three Democrats joined all House Republican Members in voting to dismantle the legislation and the massive bureaucracy already being established to implement it.

Motivations for the respective votes vary, but since we at Life Advocacy view ObamaCare as a threat to the right to Life, we cite the vote as a pro-life victory and publish the attendant roll calls at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing. (Besides the final passage vote, House Members voted also on a hostile motion to recommit the repeal legislation.)

Notable among the votes are those of the 13 Democrats who voted against passage of ObamaCare last year and have returned as Members of the 112th Congress. Three – Representatives Mike Ross (AR), Mike McIntyre (NC) and Dan Boren (OK) – stuck with their opposition to ObamaCare by voting for HR-2 to repeal it. But ten others voted against repeal; they are Representatives John Barrow (GA), Dan Lipinski (IL), Ben Chandler (KY), Steve Lynch (MA), Collin Peterson (MN), Larry Kissell and Heath Shuler (NC), Jason Altmire and Tim Holden (PA), and Jim Matheson (UT).

Step Two

THE FOLLOWING DAY – last Thursday – the House passed HRes-9, “instructing certain committees to report legislation replacing the job-killing healthcare law.” The cited committees are Energy & Commerce, Judiciary, and Ways and Means.

HRes-9 denotes measures to be included in replacement legislation; included in the list is: “prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions and provide conscience protections for healthcare providers … .”

The resolution passed by a vote of 253 to 175, with 14 Democrats (including most of the 13 noted above) joining 239 Republicans in voting “yes;” we will publish that voting record as soon as space permits, hopefully in the Jan. 31 Life Advocacy Briefing.

Next Step: Banning Taxpayer Funding of Abortion

THE EXPANDED HYDE AMENDMENT WAS FILED in the US House last Thursday as HR-3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”

The bill number is an indication of support of the measure by the House Republican Leadership, as HR-3 was pre-filed by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) without text, preserving the number for legislation of top priority. Indeed, Speaker Boehner appeared at a news conference with Rep. Smith Thursday underscoring his support for the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”

“A ban on taxpayer funding of abortion is the will of the people,” said Speaker Boehner, “and ought to be the law of the land. But current law – particularly as enforced by this Administration – does not reflect the will of the people.

“Last year,” he said, “we listened to the people through our America Speaking Out project, and they spoke out on this issue – loudly and clearly. So we included it in our Pledge to America,” said Speaker Boehner, “and today we begin to make good on that commitment.”

Referring specifically to HR-3, Speaker Boehner said, “This commonsense legislation reflects the will of the people and deserves the support of the House. It is one of our highest legislative priorities.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) issued a statement endorsing HR-3, saying, “As part of fulfilling our [GOP campaign] Pledge to America, we support instituting a permanent, government-wide prohibition on taxpayer funding of abortion and ensuring conscience protections for healthcare providers.”

An earlier news conference last Thursday morning was led by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL), co-chairmen of the House Pro-Life Caucus, along with Rep. Joe Pitts, chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on health and chairman of the (unofficial) Values Action Team.

HR-3 was one of two bills highlighted at the press conference, the other being HR-358, the “Protect Life Act,” which would amend the ObamaCare legislation – should it remain in place – to incorporate a specific and comprehensive ban on abortion coverage.

HR-3 would make permanent the long-honored Hyde Amendment, which, as an appropriations bill provision, must be re-adopted every year. It would also make permanent other annual provisions barring abortion funding beyond the Health & Human Services programs, to which the late Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) had addressed his amendment.

Both bills include codification of the Hyde/Weldon conscience clause.

Life Marchers Descend on Capital

THE ANNUAL MARCH FOR LIFE CONVENES IN WASHINGTON, D.C., today, beginning with a noon rally on the National Mall at 4th Street NW. Pro-life Members of Congress will be joined by organization leaders, clergy and selected students in addressing the nation in observance of the Jan. 22 anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade edict by which the US Supreme Court struck down America’s abortion laws.

Life Advocacy Briefing traditionally publishes transcriptions of the Congressional speeches at the March rally and will endeavor to begin that process in the Jan. 31 edition.

Marchers will walk to the steps of the Supreme Court, and many later, at 6 p.m., will hear Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) keynote the Rose Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill.

The largest contingent of marchers is expected to come from the Pittsburgh area, where People Concerned for the Unborn Child will send 120 busloads of pro-life citizens to stand and walk together in Washington in silent tribute to those millions of American boys and girls who have lost their lives to the horror of legalized abortion since the fatal day in 1973 when the Supreme Court turned its back on the Creator from Whose hand we receive the unalienable right to Life.

Not So Fast, Mr. Hu

WHEN RED CHINA’s TOP TYRANT CAME TO THE U.S. last week, Pres. Obama rolled out the red carpet at the White House, but Hu Jintao’s visit to Capitol Hill Thursday morning was a little less exhilarating.

Though his meetings with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) were held behind closed doors, both Congressional leaders did comment briefly to the media, reports CQ/Roll Call Daily Briefing editor David Hawkings.

Sen. Reid gave “something of a recant” to his earlier remark to a Nevada television interviewer Tuesday in which he called the Chinese chief a “dictator,” saying to the Washington media, “Maybe I shouldn’t have said ‘dictator,’ but they have a different type of government than we have, and that is understatement.”

Speaker Boehner issued a statement, reports Mr. Hawkings, in which he “said he and a handful of other House Members from both parties pressed for stronger intellectual property protections in [Red] China and urged Hu’s government to act more assertively to rein in North Korea. In addition,” reports Mr. Hawkings, Speaker Boehner said, “‘we raised our strong, ongoing concerns with reports of human rights violations in China, including the denial of religious freedom and the use of coercive abortion as a consequence of the “one-child” policy.’”

House Voting Records

HR-2 – Motion to Recommit in order to kill repeal of ObamaCare – Jan. 19, 2011 – Failed 245 – 185 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no” / pro-Life*: AL/Aderholt, Bachus, Bonner, Brooks, Roby, Rogers; AK/Young; AZ/Flake, Franks, Gosar, Quayle, Schweikert; AR/Crawford, Griffin, Ross, Womack; CA/Bilbray, Bono-Mack, Calvert, Campbell, Denham, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce; CO/Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn, Tipton; FL/Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mack, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, Webster, West, Young; GA/Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Austin Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall; ID/Labrador, Simpson; IL/Biggert, Dold, Hultgren, Johnson, Kinzinger, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Schock, Shimkus, Walsh; IN/Bucshon, Burton, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman, Young; IA/King, Latham; KS/Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder; KY/Davis, Guthrie, Rogers, Whitfield;  LA/Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry, Scalise; MD/Bartlett, Harris, Hoyer, Ruppersberger; MI/Amash, Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, McCotter, Miller, Rogers, Upton, Walberg; MN/Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline, Paulsen; MS/Harper, Nunnelee, Palazzo; MO/Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer; MT/Rehberg; NE/Fortenberry, Smith, Terry; NV/Heck, Heller; NH/Bass, Guinta; NJ/Frelinghuysen, Lance, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith; NM/Pearce; NY/Buerkle, Gibson, Grimm, Hanna, Hayworth, King, Lee, Reed; NC/Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Jones, McHenry, Myrick, Shuler; ND/Berg; OH/Austria, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner; OK/Boren, Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Sullivan; OR/Walden; PA/Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster, Thompson; SC/Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Tim Scott, Wilson; SD/Noem; TN/Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe; TX/Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Paul, Poe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry; UT/Bishop, Chaffetz; VA/Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf; WA/Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert; WV/Capito, McKinley; WI/Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner; WY/Lummis.

Voting “yes” / anti-Life*: AL/Sewell; AZ/Grijalva, Pastor; CA/Baca, Bass, Becerra, Berman, Capps, Cardoza, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Garamendi, Harman, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Napolitano, Pelosi, Richardson, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Stark, Thompson, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey; CO/DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis; CT/Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, Larson, Murphy; DE/Carney; FL/Brown, Castor, Deutch, Hastings, Wasserman-Schultz; GA/Barrow, Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, David Scott; HI/Hanabusa; IL/Costello, Davis, Gutierrez, Jackson, Lipinski, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky; IN/Carson, Donnelly, Visclosky; IA/Boswell, Braley, Loebsack; KY/Chandler, Yarmuth; LA/Richmond; ME/Michaud, Pingree; MD/Cummings, Edwards, Sarbanes, VanHollen; MA/Capuano, Frank, Keating, Lynch, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, Tierney, Tsongas; MI/Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, Peters; MN/Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Walz; MS/Thompson; MO/Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver; NV/Berkley; NJ/Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Rothman, Sires; NM/Heinrich, Lujan; NY/Ackerman, Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Hinchey, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez, Weiner; NC/Butterfield, Kissell, McIntyre, Miller, Price, Watt; OH/Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton; OR/Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, Wu; PA/Altmire, Brady, Critz, Doyle, Fattah, Holden, Schwartz; RI/Cicilline, Langevin; SC/Clyburn; TN/Cohen, Cooper; TX/Cuellar, Doggett, Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Hinojosa, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson, Reyes; UT/Matheson; VT/Welch; VA/Connolly, Moran, Scott; WA/Dicks, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott, Smith; WV/Rahall; WI/Baldwin, Kind, Moore.

Not voting: AZ/Giffords, FL/Wilson, HI/Hirono, NJ/Garrett, OH/Boehner (The Speaker traditionally does not – but may – vote).

*Life Advocacy Briefing characterizes these votes as “pro-Life” or “anti-Life” because of the obvious intended impact of this motion, offered by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ), which would have been to defeat the ObamaCare repeal legislation. The motion, however, was cleverly drawn to focus on a separate issue, triggering repeal on certified refusal of a percentage of Members of the House and Senate to enroll in government-paid health benefits under the Congressional health plan. In a few cases, therefore, a Member may have voted “yes” on the motion because of the express principle of the motion, and a Member or two may have voted “no” in objection to that principle. In nearly all cases, however, the votes were cast on the basis of the effect intended on the overall legislation.

HR-2 – Repeal of ObamaCare – Jan. 19, 2011 – Passed 245 – 189 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: AL/Aderholt, Bachus, Bonner, Brooks, Roby, Rogers; AK/Young; AZ/Flake, Franks, Gosar, Quayle, Schweikert; AR/Crawford, Griffin, Ross, Womack; CA/Bilbray, Bono-Mack, Calvert, Campbell, Denham, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce; CO/Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn, Tipton; FL/Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mack, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, Webster, West, Young; GA/Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Austin Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall; ID/Labrador, Simpson; IL/Biggert, Dold, Hultgren, Johnson, Kinzinger, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Schock, Shimkus, Walsh; IN/Bucshon, Burton, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman, Young; IA/King, Latham; KS/Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder; KY/Davis, Guthrie, Rogers, Whitfield;  LA/Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry, Scalise; MD/Bartlett, Harris; MI/Amash, Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, McCotter, Miller, Rogers, Upton, Walberg; MN/Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline, Paulsen; MS/Harper, Nunnelee, Palazzo; MO/Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer; MT/Rehberg; NE/Fortenberry, Smith, Terry; NV/Heck, Heller; NH/Bass, Guinta; NJ/Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith; NM/Pearce; NY/Buerkle, Gibson, Grimm, Hanna, Hayworth, King, Lee, Reed; NC/Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Jones, McHenry, McIntyre, Myrick; ND/Berg; OH/Austria, Boehner, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner; OK/Boren, Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Sullivan; OR/Walden; PA/Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster, Thompson; SC/Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Tim Scott, Wilson; SD/Noem; TN/Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe; TX/Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Paul, Poe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry; UT/Bishop, Chaffetz; VA/Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf; WA/Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert; WV/Capito, McKinley; WI/Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner; WY/Lummis.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: AL/Sewell; AZ/Grijalva, Pastor; CA/Baca, Bass, Becerra, Berman, Capps, Cardoza, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Garamendi, Harman, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Napolitano, Pelosi, Richardson, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Stark, Thompson, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey; CO/DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis; CT/Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, Larson, Murphy; DE/Carney; FL/Brown, Castor, Deutch, Hastings, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson; GA/Barrow, Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, David Scott; HI/Hanabusa, Hirono; IL/Costello, Davis, Gutierrez, Jackson, Lipinski, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky; IN/Carson, Donnelly, Visclosky; IA/Boswell, Braley, Loebsack; KY/Chandler, Yarmuth; LA/Richmond; ME/Michaud, Pingree; MD/Cummings, Edwards, Hoyer, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, VanHollen; MA/Capuano, Frank, Keating, Lynch, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, Tierney, Tsongas; MI/Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, Peters; MN/Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Walz; MS/Thompson; MO/Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver; NV/Berkley; NJ/Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Rothman, Sires; NM/Heinrich, Lujan; NY/Ackerman, Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Hinchey, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez, Weiner; NC/Butterfield, Kissell, Miller, Price, Shuler, Watt; OH/Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton; OR/Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, Wu; PA/Altmire, Brady, Critz, Doyle, Fattah, Holden, Schwartz; RI/Cicilline, Langevin; SC/Clyburn; TN/Cohen, Cooper; TX/Cuellar, Doggett, Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Hinojosa, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson, Reyes; UT/Matheson; VT/Welch; VA/Connolly, Moran, Scott; WA/Dicks, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott, Smith; WV/Rahall; WI/Baldwin, Kind, Moore.

Not voting: AZ/Giffords.

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