Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Spending Bill Approved by House

On July 19, the House approved, 276-140, the FY2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 3043), after rejecting, 206-213, a motion to recommit by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA). The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure on July 11 (see The Source, 7/13/07). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version (S. 1710) on June 22 (see The Source, 6/22/07).

The measure would allocate $151.748 billion in discretionary funds in FY2008, $7.138 billion more than FY2007 and $10.832 billion over President Bush’s request.

During debate on the measure, the House approved the following amendments:

an amendment by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) to increase funding for special education programs for children who are deaf and blind by $2 million, offset by a transfer from the Department of Education’s management fund, by voice vote;
an amendment by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to increase appropriations for the National Cord Blood Stem Cell Program by $11.037 million, by voice vote;
an amendment by Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) to increase funding for special education by $50 million, offset by a transfer from the Department of Education’s management fund, 419-11;
an amendment by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) to prohibit use of funds to require HPV vaccinations for school admittance, by voice vote;
an amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to increase funding for the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education by $2 million, offset by a transfer from the Department of Education’s management fund, by voice vote; and
an amendment by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson to cut the Reading First program by $46.5 million, by voice vote.The House rejected the following amendments:
an amendment by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) to increase funding for special education by $125 million by reducing funding for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases by the same amount, 203-224;
an amendment by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) to reduce funding for Children and Families Services Programs by $8 million, 58-370;
a second amendment by Rep. Hensarling to reduce funding for Children and Families Services Programs by $5 million, 80-347;
a third amendment by Rep. Hensarling to reduce funding for Aging Services Programs by $21.4 million, by voice vote;
an amendment by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to reduce funding for the Student Financial Assistance account by $64.987 million, 79-349;
an amendment by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to reduce spending for all discretionary programs in the bill by 4.6 percent, 136-288;
a second amendment by Rep. Price to decrease overall spending in the bill by one percent, 165-256;
an amendment by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) to decrease overall spending in the bill by .5 percent, 177-245;
an amendment by Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) to decrease overall spending in the bill by .25 percent, 108-316.The House also rejected, 189-231, an amendment by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Title X family planning funds.
Speaking in support of his amendment, Rep. Pence said, “Allow me to say there are many good things happening in federally funded family planning clinics nationwide: five million Americans served, 90 percent of whom are low-income; 900,000 unintended pregnancies were averted by Title X family planning funding; and it is reassuring that abstinence education is required for all clients. But today, I am offering an amendment that is very simple. The Pence amendment states that no funds under Title X may be granted to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of Title X funding, and it is the largest abortion provider in America. Last year alone, Planned Parenthood’s own annual report states that it received more than one-third of its $1 billion budget from government contracts and grants. And, again, according to their annual report, Planned Parenthood performed more than one quarter of a million abortions. Millions of pro-life Americans should not be asked to fund the leading abortion provider in the United States. Now, let me stipulate, I know that Title X funds may not be used for abortion. And my amendment does not cut or reduce the budget for family planning in this appropriations bill; it simply prevents appropriated funds from reaching an organization that profits from the abortion trade.”

Responding to the Pence amendment, Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) said, “I rise in opposition to this amendment and associate myself with the remarks and the eloquent statement of Chairman Obey and my colleagues. And I speak from the perspective of a nurse who worked for many years with these women and their families in the community I’m from. Title X is our nation’s primary program to provide family planning services. According to the Guttmacher Institute, Title X has been so successful that for every public dollar invested in family planning, three dollars are saved in Medicaid costs alone for pregnancy and newborn care. In hundreds of communities across this country, the nonprofit Planned Parenthood is the major implementation of precisely the reproductive health care necessary to carry out effective family planning and to reduce unintended pregnancies. And they are contributing, these nonprofit organizations, to the successful implementation of Title X services. So I urge my colleagues to stand for family values and to vote against this amendment so that you can protect your constituents’ access to proven, effective family planning services which have as their goal to reduce unintended pregnancies.”

An amendment by Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) to prohibit any provider of family planning services from receiving Title X funds if “it is made known to the Secretary of Health and Human Services” that the provider has violated state law requiring the notification or reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, or incest was withdrawn after Rep. Obey raised a point of order against legislating on an appropriations bill.

The House Appropriations Committee report language detailing a number of programs affecting women and their families is described in a separate article in this week’s issue of The Source.