Floor Action feed
July 28, 2015, 08:01 pm
McConnell to fast-track bill to defund Planned Parenthood
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is fast-tracking a bill to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, after senators huddled in his office Tuesday to work out the details of a bill.
Speaking on the Senate floor, the Republican leader started the process, known as Rule 14, which allows the bill to skip over being sent to a committee and go directly to the Senate floor for a vote.
“The horrendous videos of senior executives from Planned Parenthood discussing in callous tones and shocking detail their role in a national scandal requires a congressional response," the Republican leader said in a statement. "This legislation would ensure taxpayer dollars for women’s health are actually spent on women’s health — not a scandal-plagued political lobbying giant.”
McConnell is expected to finish the fast-track process Wednesday.
The latest legislation comes after a third video surfaced Tuesday, which appeared to show a Planned Parenthood official in Colorado negotiating with someone posing as a buyer of fetal tissue.
The Republican leader told reporters earlier Tuesday that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would be leading a working group of senators, which also included Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to come up with a new bill.
The group huddled in McConnell's office Tuesday afternoon.
In addition Ernst and Paul, other Republican senators including McConnell, Sens. James Lankford (Okla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Deb Fischer (Neb.), John Cornyn (Texas), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Thune (S.D.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) have signed on to the new legislation, a spokesperson for McConnell said.
McConnell told reporters earlier Tuesday that the Senate will take a vote on legislation to defund Planned Parenthood before it leaves at the end of next week for the August recess.
But Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) remained adamant that Democrats would be able to block a proposal, even though the Republican legislation redirected Planned Parenthood funds toward other women's health organizations.
"I think that we have to understand that it is an attack on women's health, as Senator Murray so clearly outlined to our caucus today," he added. "We're dealing with the health of American women, and they're dealing with some right wing crazy deal."
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/249578-mcconnell-to-fast-track-bill-to-defund-planned-parenthood
