Senate Democrats Question Republican Leaders on Political Nature of GOP Planned Parenthood Oversight

fFollowing widely criticized House oversight hearing on Planned Parenthood, Senate Democrats express concern over political theater and disrespect in letter to Republican Leadership

(Washington, D.C.) —Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and 20 Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Republican leaders expressing concern about the political theater and disrespect demonstrated by House Republicans in the recent House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Hearing on “Planned Parenthood’s Taxpayer Funding.”

Democrats urged Republicans to use the coming change of guard in the leadership of the House of Representatives to put aside political attacks on women’s health, including ending the effort to create a special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood, especially in light of Republican admissions about the political motivations behind other ongoing GOP investigations.

“As United States Senators, we believe the mistreatment of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards was unacceptable. It showed a willful disregard for and a misunderstanding of women’s access to health care, which was purportedly the core issue at hand,” the Democrats wrote. “Republican leaders have recently admitted to the political motivations behind other ongoing investigations, and the singularly political nature of the September 29, 2015 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing shows that attempts to defund Planned Parenthood are no different. In fact, this week, House Republicans made clear that they are creating a new special committee to further investigate Planned Parenthood. We understand that the House will soon have new leadership. We urge you to use this change of guard as an opportunity to end the effort to create a special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood, put aside political attacks on women’s health, and use the committees you are entrusted with to focus on the work women, families and communities across the country sent us here to do.”

Cosigners of the letter include Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Al Franken (D-MN), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Harry Reid (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Full text of the letter:

October 02, 2015

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Boehner, Majority Whip Cornyn, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Chairmen Grassley, Chaffetz, Goodlatte, and Upton:

We write with serious concern about the political theater and striking disrespect demonstrated by House Republicans at the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing to explore “Planned Parenthood’s Taxpayer Funding” on September, 29, 2015. As United States Senators, we believe the mistreatment of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards was unacceptable. It showed a willful disregard for and a misunderstanding of women’s access to health care, which was purportedly the core issue at hand.

During her five hours of testimony, Ms. Richards’ attempts to provide informed responses to House Republicans’ questions were repeatedly rebuffed. Inexplicably Ms. Richards’ salary became a primary focus of the hearing, even though she made clear that federal funding does not support her earnings. Watching elected officials reject Ms. Richards’ testimony out of hand, and instead scrutinize her for what she is paid as the president of a leading national organization—again, a matter outside the stated scope of the hearing—was offensive.

When members of the public are invited to participate in Congressional hearings and voluntarily choose to participate, as Ms. Richards did, they are entitled to basic respect, differences of opinion and perspective aside. This isn’t just common decency—it is also contained in the House rules. When these rules are disregarded, as we believe they were at this hearing, it reflects poorly on all of us as representatives of the Federal government and erodes Americans’ trust in their government.

If there was any benefit to the disrespect on display throughout this hearing, it is that one thing became even clearer than it was before: the latest Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood is not, and never was, about facts—because if it were, Republicans would have been interested in what Ms. Richards had to say. Instead, this effort is yet another partisan political attempt to appeal to extreme conservatives by undermining women’s health and rights.

Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota have all cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing after launching investigations following the release of the doctored videos. An additional seven states considered investigating the group, but decided there was not enough evidence to justify such action. Yet this week, House Republicans announced that they are creating a new special committee to further investigate Planned Parenthood.

Republican leaders have recently admitted to the political motivations behind other ongoing investigations, and the singularly political nature of the September 29, 2015 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing shows that these attempts to defund Planned Parenthood are no different.

We understand that the House will soon have new leadership. We urge you to use this change of guard as an opportunity to end the effort to create a special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood, put aside political attacks on women’s health, and use the committees you are entrusted with to focus on the work women, families and communities across the country sent us here to do.