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SPENDING BILL WITHOUT THE HYDE AMENDMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark) for 5 minutes.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the appropriations package we will pass this week because this document respects the dignity and humanity of women in this country and around the world.
For the first time in over 40 years, the Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill without the Hyde amendment. For decades, the Hyde amendment has prevented women of color and low-income people from receiving basic healthcare. Hyde forces one in four women under Medicaid to carry a pregnancy to term.
Twenty percent of the women in this country rely on Medicaid, including half of all American people living below the Federal poverty line, and millions of women of color. Yet, they are denied their constitutional right to healthcare, including an abortion.
This is discrimination. The legal right to an abortion is meaningless if you are unable to afford one. Abortion is healthcare. The legal right to an abortion is based on access, and that should not be denied based on your income or insurance coverage.
Budgets are documents that represent our values, and that is why I am so proud to put forward a spending package that rejects Hyde, and also provides a directive to the VA to implement a comprehensive sexual assault and harassment policy, $1.2 billion for maternal and child health, a repeal of the restrictive Helms amendment and global and domestic gag rules, and so much more.
This is a good day for women here and around the globe. I thank Chair DeLauro and I thank the millions of activists who fought to make this moment a reality. We will continue our march for equity shoulder to shoulder with you.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 133
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