dr. tiller's family. i know that dr. tiller and his family are in the thoughts and prayers of every member of the house today. i want to commend our colleague, the distinguished chairperson of the rules committee, my fellow new yorker, ms. slaughter, for introducing this resolution. it is imperative that the house of representatives speak with the united voice in condemning this crime. it is a sad reminder that medical personnel are still at risk from armed extremists who are willing to resort to deadly violence in order to advance their causes. even when they quote their cause is in the language of life. there can never be room in the free society for the use of deadly violence to advance a cause. it is against everything this country stansdz for. i have no doubt there isn't a single member of this house who would disagree. this resolution renews our commitment to the quote, american principle, the tolerance must always be superior to intolerance and violence is never an appropriate response to differences in belief, unq

dr. tiller as moral outlaws, as people who are beyond the pale. you know, we are not real americans, that sort of thing. in kansas, demonizing dr. tiller was a ritual of the conservative -- of the republican right. you have never cared about abortion before in your life, but he would get up on a platform and start bad mouthing dr. tiller and, lo and behold, he would be elected to something or other. that -- you would be elected to something or other. they made a demon out of this man, a member of their community, and they attacked him for 20 years. it is a testimony to some aspect of the kansas personality that the man took it. you know, he would not give up. he was stubborn and he stayed there, by god, in wichita, and they shot him in his church. it is monstrous. ok, i am being quiet now. >> i just have to say that i agree that it is incredibly effective because that is how they ended the old civil-rights thing, just by killing king and everything else. i mean, it is really effective. my question is just that, there is this missing thing, and i k

dr. tiller's family and friends and my prayers are with them. i ask permission to revise and extend and i yield time back. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. coble: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished the gentlelady from new york, ms. slaughter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank my colleague, mr. nadler. i want to close my portion here reminding people of what a terrible thing has happened in this country of a man who was simply doing what he was allowed to do, what he was trained to do. i think perhaps i should state it for the record, too, that third trimester abortions are less than 1% and even roe v. wade says that after the first trimester that the state has an interest and that it takes two doctors as well as it does with a third trimester. these are o

dr. george tiller, recognis

dr. tiller, he is a doctor. after this tragedy where he was shot and killed in church and before that he had his arm shot but he continued his work. many, many women came forward to attest to how kind he was to them in their good need. dr. tiller operated within the law. there were those who tried to run him out of town with lawsuits. and he won all of those. so when a procedure is legal and a doctor is following the rules to have a murder of a doctor in that circumstance is a tragedy to his family, to his friends, so his paints patients and, frao america, because it difficult ds us as a society. i want to tell it like it is around here. every democrat cleared this resolution and said "yes," we ought to have a chance to bring it to the floor and be voted on. that's all my colleagues wants. she wrote a simple resolution. she read it to you. she want as voted. every democrat said "yes." let's bring it to the floor. you don't like it, you don't have to vote against it. you want to change it, make it an amendment to

dr. tiller was one where the justice department has historic plea used its resources to protect -- historically use its resources to protect certain things. with regards to killing the recruitment officer, we have offered our assistance in that. >> i am not talking about the protection efforts. i am talking about the prosecution of that. >> that would be the responsibility of the justice department in conjunction with other departments. >> do current hate crime laws cover that act in arkansas? >> if there was a determination made it the killing was made on the race of the victim, yes it is arguable. the motivation was because of his military status, i do nothing that would fallen to the crime status. >> regardless of what his motivations with a pin. >> we have to consider the motivation of the person. >> what happened there was horrible. it is not something that should be tolerated. we want to look at what is the nature and the extent of the hate crime that we are trying to legislate. the categories we have now show there are substantial crimes that have happened. we think we should expand the

dr. tiller who performed abortions in kansas. just to take a step back, tell us your take on this and how you entered the debate? sort of the conservative debate over this? guest: that have been a couple of points that i have tried to make. one, there has been i think an attempt to say that if you pro- lifeers would just quit agitating about this issue, then this sort of thing would not happened, and i think it has to be said that it is true, if there were no pro-life movement, this sort of violence would not happen, just like if there were no environmental movement is less likely you have the unabomber or at least mentally unbalanced people would find some other outlet for their rage and violence. but you cannot legitimate ask people to give up their important series convictions if they are working through the democratic process, passionate advocacy on these issues have to be allowed. the other point i was making, one of the things you see the debaters points on this issue is people say, well, you pro-lifer s were serious, you w

dr. tiller was one where the justice department has historically usedity resources to protect -- used its resources to protect doctors who engaged in reproductive activities. with regard to the killing of the recruitment officer, that is one that the department of defense has a primary responsibility for, though we have offered our assistance in that regard. >> the prosecution of that would be outside the department of justice? >> oh, no, no, i thought you meant the protection efforts. >> no, i'm talking about the prosecution of that. >> no, that would be the responsibility of the justice department in conjunction with our local partners. this happened in kansas, there's a component of that that's being done by the local prosecutors, being done by us. >> i understand that. do current hate crime laws cover that act? in arkansas? >> if there were a determination made that the killing was based on the race of the victim, yes, i think there's at least arguable that is but if the motivation was because his mailtary status, i don't think that would be under the hate crime status. >> regardless

dr. tiller who performed abortions in kansas. just to take a step back, tell us your take on this and how you entered the debate? sort

dr. george tiller over the weekend in four years the bush administration went out of its way to protect doctors from being forced to provide services they found objectionable, yet did nothing to shield physicians providing legal and life protecting medical care to women from ongoing harassment, threats and violence. this is unconscionable and must change in my judgment. the federal government must send the gibbet-- that acts of violence will not be tolerated. i was pleased to learn that attorney general holder has indicated that the u.s. marshal service will begin protecting certain abortion clinics and doctors, and this is a good first step. today "the new york times" also pulled on attorney general holder to revitalize the national task force on violence against healthcare providers. that was originally established in the 1990's. i realize this task force would be under the jurisdiction of the department justice, not hhs. i want to know number one, would you support its revitalization and how does hhs intend to work with the department justice to ensure that these acts of violence are elimina

dr. george tiller, we have conditions here that warrant this legislation, h.r. 1741. it is terrible that violent acts are perpetrated here in america, that they're used -- violent act comes about through the use of firearms and other matters and, therefore, there will be witnesses that is necessary to bring these people to justice. i cannot imagine to allow these heinous crimes be perpetrated and then we are not able to prosecute because a witness is frightened for them and their family. the legislation that we are now speaking to provides that protection, and i ask my colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: at this time i would continue to reserve, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california continues to reserve. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, may i inquire how many more speakers the gentleman from california has remaining. mr. issa: i thank the gentleman. i'm prepared to yield back if the g

dr. george tiller, and offers our condolences to his wife, four children, and 10 grandchildren. he was known as a doctor of last resort and a friend to women when they were in desperate need of support and care. his murder in his church in wichita where he served as an usher and where his wife sang in the choir was a violent and lawless and senseless act. at his memorial service this past saturday, he was remembered for his sense of humor and spirit. let us also remember him for his courage. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. royce: mr. speaker, news came yesterday that will laura ling and euna lee, two american journalists held in north korea, and held there since march, have been found guilty of illegally entering north korea. they have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. these court proceedings were a cruel joke. nothing more than a kangaroo court. i know of no justice system in north korea. the two should be immediate