The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ABORTION” mentioning John Barrasso was published in the Senate section on pages S145-S146 on Jan. 26.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ABORTION
Mr. LEE. Now, Mr. President, I would like to discuss another important matter. This past week, we marked the anniversary of a deadly day in American history. It has resulted in the loss of millions of innocent American lives. That is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Since January 22, 1973, more than 60 million unborn children have been lost to the scourge of abortion. This week, we honor and remember those lives, as well as those who have been hurt by the pains of abortion.
In a normal year, tens of thousands of Americans would be marching down Constitution Avenue this Friday to do so. This year, as with so many other things, the March for Life will instead be virtual. But, nonetheless, Americans will continue to march, whether virtually or in person where they can.
The theme of this year's march is ``Together Strong: Life Unites!''--
a fitting theme following a year ripe with division, violence, and loss. Now, more than ever, we must unite as a nation, turning with hope toward the future--hope that our Nation will heal, hope that justice will prevail, and hope that the grievous act of abortion will be forsaken. Given our country's history, in which we have stubbornly made mistakes but, thankfully, have come around in the end, there is much reason for hope. But we cannot heal and we cannot unite if we don't honor and respect all of the American people, born and unborn.
So many of the deepest injustices in our country's history stem from one dark dangerous thing; that is, when we have rejected the dignity of the human person, when we have denied the humanity of our brothers and sisters, when we have discriminated against others based on the way they look, think, love, or worship, and when, because of that, we have looked at them not as people but as things and as mere objects to be acted upon.
As abolitionist William Lord Garrison put it, the worst kind of oppression to be regarded with the greatest degree of indignation and abhorrence is ``that which turns a man into a thing.''
Now, we have discriminated against a whole class of people not based on the color of their skin but on their age and development.
But it doesn't change the truth. The truth is that a baby inside the womb can respond to human touch by the age of 8 weeks and feel pain by the age of 20 weeks--who can recognize her mother's voice even before she is born; who has a perfect little nose, fingernails, and a beating, fully functioning heart, her own distinct unique DNA, and her own unique unrepeatable soul.
Science and medicine are only confirming what we know deep down, that unborn human beings are in fact little persons. The evidence is only getting plainer by the day.
When we deny the humanity of our brothers and sisters, as we have seen throughout our history and over the past year, the inevitable and tragic result is violence. Abortion does undeniable violence to the baby and undeniable violence to the mother. Thankfully, looking back at the past decade, we have made significant strides toward building a culture that respects, values, and even protects all human life, even in its simplest, earliest stages of development.
Many States have ensured that public funds are directed toward pregnancy health centers, rather than abortion facilities, providing life-affirming alternatives to families in need. And in just the last decade alone, States have passed more than 400 pro-life laws--more than one-third of all pro-life laws that States have passed since Roe v. Wade was decided. This is indeed reason for hope.
Through our laws and with our lives, we ought to affirm the truth that the lives of both the mother and the baby matter and that healthcare should heal, protect, and preserve both of those lives.
I have introduced legislation to help our laws affirm that very truth. Through my bill, the Abortion Is Not Healthcare Act, we have a chance to stop the tax deductibility of abortions, which are currently categorized as ``medical care'' by the IRS, because we must be serious: Whatever else it may be, of course, elective abortion is not healthcare. That is why physicians literally take an oath to do no harm. The government should not offer tax benefits for a procedure that kills hundreds of thousands of unborn children each and every year.
We also have the chance to prematurely stop the use of American foreign aid--the opportunity permanently to stop the use of American foreign aid--from funding or promoting abortions overseas and perpetuating violence against women and of children abroad, especially baby girls.
The Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance Act will save countless lives across the globe, and it affirms the truth that the lives of all unborn children, regardless of where they are from, have dignity and worth.
As the lyrics of a children's song in my church--a song that I sang in Sunday school as a child--say about each one of us, I am a child of God. We are all one human family, all children of God--these littlest among us, too, who cannot yet sing for themselves, but they will soon. They will soon.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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