I would like to share with you some thoughts on the continuing resolution vote that took place today in the U.S. House of Representatives.
While the dollar amount is indeed disappointing, this the largest spending cut in American history. House Republicans had all hoped for more, but our next important fight is the fiscal year 2012 budget, that will cut trillions of dollars from federal spending and tackle entitlement reform. Remember, the reason we have had to deal with a short-term budget is because then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats failed to produce and pass a budget last year for the first time since 1974.The failure of the Democratic leadership to responsibly construct a budget resolution has threatened job creation, exploded spending and deficits, and intensified America’s debt crisis.
On the other hand, had the Democratic-led Congress passed a budget, the federal government would have been locked into much higher spending levels through the end of the fiscal year – September 30, 2011 – and House Republicans would have made NO pro-life victories, which I address in more detail below.
I have been opposed to a government shutdown. Why? One of the biggest problems with a government shutdown is that the families of our soldiers fighting around the world would not get paid after April 15, 2011. While they would receive their pay once the shutdown was resolved, most families live paycheck to paycheck, and I believe that Congress has a duty to support the troops.
One major reason that I am a Republican is because I believe that life begins at conception. There are many conservative and pro-life Members of Congress who supported H.R. 1473, the fiscal year 2011 budget agreement, because they see it as a victory for the pro-life cause on several fronts:
• The deal negotiated between Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, and President Obama includes a commitment to vote on just-introduced H. Con. Res. 36 which states that “None of the funds made available by this Act may be made available for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any affiliate of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.”
• In terms of federal funding for Planned Parenthood, this language goes further than U.S. Representative Mike Pence’s language concerning Title X funding as it fully eliminates federal funding for the organization without any exceptions.
• The House will vote on this today immediately following the vote on H.R. 1473. The U.S. Senate will also vote on this resolution after it votes on the budget deal. This is a major victory for pro-life proponents as the Senate had up until now refused to consider such a vote. This vote in the Senate will also have enormous consequences in the 2012 Senate races.
• H.R. 1473 restores the ban on local or federal funding for abortions in the District of Columbia. In 2009, the Obama Administration and Democratic majorities in Congress rolled back the ban on local taxpayer dollars being used for abortions in the District of Columbia that was successfully imposed in 1989 by the Dornan Amendment. This was a defeat for the pro-life community that has now been reversed.
• Finally, H.R. 1473 reduces family planning activities by $73 million for international organizations – and includes a reduction in the United Nations Population Fund to fiscal year 2008 levels.
Many of our friends in Congress voted today to support for H.R. 1473. I am a part of this group. Had I voted no, then I would – in effect – have been allowing funding of abortions to continue in Washington, DC.
I will to stay in the fight and keep moving forward on protecting the unborn.
Gregg Harper email to constituents
4/15/11
