http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/249106-mcconnell-starts-fast-track-for-bill-to-defund-planned-parenthoodJuly 24, 2015, 01:08 pm
McConnell starts fast track for bill to defund Planned Parenthood
By Jordain Carney
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell started a fast-track process Friday on legislation to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding in the wake of two controversial videos showing officials discussing delivery of fetal parts.
The Republican leader began "Rule 14," which will let the legislation skip the committee process and be placed on the Senate calendar so it can be brought up for a floor vote.
The move comes after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) slammed McConnell during a blistering floor speech earlier Friday, suggesting the Kentucky Republican wanted to dodge a vote on defunding Planned Parenthood.
"There are a host of amendments that the American people are focused on, things like defunding Planned Parenthood after the gruesome video,” Cruz said. “The majority leader doesn't want to vote on that. That's actually something the American people are focused on."
Cruz and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both of whom are running for president, as well as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), were hoping to use the the Senate's long-term highway bill as their vehicle to defund the agency.
McConnell appeared to dash those hopes Friday morning when he used the procedural tactic known as "filling the tree," a move meant to block further amendment votes.
A spokesman for Lee told The Hill at the time that a Planned Parenthood amendment would not be considered germane — blocking it from being attached to the highway bill.
The organization is back in Republican crosshairs after two videos were recently released showing Planned Parenthood officials talking about the preservation of fetal tissue and the cost of saving and distributing the tissue.
The Department of Justice said earlier this week that is reviewing the two videos, and information surrounding them, to decide what, if any, steps need to be taken.
Meanwhile, 50 senators, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell that called on her department to "fully cooperate" with the congressional investigations.
