At a press conference this morning, House Speaker John Boehner will pledge to ensure that taxpayer dollars are “never used to fund abortion.” He says this effort will be one of the GOP’s “highest legislative priorities.”
Here are the speaker’s prepared remarks, obtained by National Review Online:
Our new majority has pledged to listen and focus on the will of the people. We’ve begun to carry out this commitment by cutting our own budget and repealing the job-destroying health care law. Today we’re here to talk about keeping another commitment to the people — and that is ensuring their tax dollars are never used to fund abortions.
A ban on taxpayer funding of abortion is the will of the people 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, 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, and today we begin to make good on that commitment. Congressman Chris Smith has introduced bipartisan legislation that codifies the Hyde Amendment and other similar policies by permanently applying a ban on taxpayer funding of abortion across all federal programs.
This common-sense legislation reflects the will of the people and deserves the support of the House.
It is one of our highest legislative priorities. As such, I have directed that it receive the designation of H.R. 3.