Floor Speeches

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several Democrats on Wednesday night offered their congratulations to President Obama for ordering the successful mission to locate and kill Osama bin Laden.

"Hail to the chief," Pelosi said. "Congratulations and thank you, President Obama. We all know that the death of Osama bin Laden is not the end of terrorism, but it is a significant step. It sends a clear message that the American people will pursue justice."

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) each spoke out Wednesday on a Republican bill that would permanently ban the use of federal funds for abortion.

The bill, H.R. 3, would not only codify the temporary ban on federally funded abortion, but would also eliminate federal tax breaks on health insurance policies that cover elective abortion procedures. Pelosi and other Democrats said this goes too far and would limit healthcare access for women.

"For the first time, this bill places restrictions on how women with private insurance can spend their private dollars in purchasing health insurance," Pelosi said. "This bill will deny tax credits for women who buy the type of health insurance that they currently have, health insurance that covers a full range of reproductive care."

House Democrats on Wednesday sharply criticized Republican plans to enforce a ban on federally funded abortions through the tax code.

The House started debate shortly after noon on H.R. 3, which would make permanent a ban on abortions funded with taxpayer dollars that has been in place temporarily for decades via the Hyde Amendment. But while Republicans said the bill would simply codify existing practice, Democrats bristled at new tax-related language in the bill.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) on Wednesday joined a growing group of congressional voices charging that Pakistan was sheltering Osama bin Laden for several years and said this is another reason why the U.S. should abandon wasteful foreign aid programs.

"Foreign aid to Pakistan, though bin Laden was safely protected for 10 years in Pakistan, should make us question the wisdom of robbing American citizens to support any government around the world with foreign aid," Paul said.

"Our failed foreign policy is reflected in our bizarre relationship with Pakistan," he continued. "We bomb them with our drones causing civilian casualties, we give them billions of dollars in foreign aid, and she protects America's enemy number one, bin Laden, for a decade."

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday warned her Democratic colleagues that House Republicans will continue to attack last year's healthcare law until all of it is repealed.

"Mr. Chairman, we're going to keep revisiting this until we get single every piece of this bill off the books," she said.

House Republicans on Tuesday returned to their first substantive piece of legislation since mid-April by attacking billions of dollars in planned spending over the next decade to help states create health insurance exchanges.

The exchanges were established in last year's healthcare law, and the Congressional Budget Office expects $14 billion to be spent on the exchanges over the next decade.

"Quite simply, our country is broke, and we cannot continue to spend money like we have in the past," Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) said in his opening remarks on the floor.

House Democrats on Tuesday morning indicated they were preparing alternatives to two bills the House is expected to take up Thursday aimed at increasing offshore drilling for oil and gas.

Speaking on the House floor, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said he would offer an amendment later in the week that would increase taxes on oil companies by $37 billion and give that money to licensed U.S. drivers. Connolly said that change would amount to about $185 per driver, equivalent to a reduction in gas prices of about 27 cents per gallon.

The House adjourned shortly before 7:45 p.m., after a special order speech by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) congratulating the Obama administration for the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Burton used his floor time to outline the various terrorist acts since 1992 that al Qaeda either took credit for or inspired — more than one major attack per year since 1992. Burton said bin Laden's death shows the U.S. and its allies are serious about fighting sources of terrorism.

"No matter where you go, no matter where you hide, if you're a terrorist who attacks the free world, we will come and get you," Burton said. "The allied countries who fight terrorism, including the United States, will not rest until you're brought to justice."

"I was blind to how arrogant and self-centered that I had become," he said.

The protesters targeted members of both parties, with 12 individuals arrested in demonstrations.

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