Values
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Protecting and encouraging a strong family is of vital importance to our nation’s progress and prosperity. We should continue to promote policies in Washington that allow families to flourish and that protect life at all stages.
I am grieved by the number of innocent lives lost to abortion each year and continue to strive to be a nation that respects life from conception to natural death. Few things demean the sanctity of human life more than elective abortion. Throughout the 115th Congress, the House has passed multiple pro-life bills and supported the Trump Administration’s efforts to ensure taxpayer funds are not used for abortions. I voted in favor of H.J. Res. 43, a resolution of disapproval that blocks an Obama administration regulation forcing states to include abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, as recipients of Title X grant distributions. This legislation also passed the Senate on March 30 and was signed into law by the president on April 13. You can view remarks I gave on the House floor in support of this legislation at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1j5mq5yAuY&feature=youtu.be Additionally, I cosponsored and voted in favor of H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, when it passed the House October 3. This legislation would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks based on medical evidence that unborn children feel pain at this point of development. The Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a proposal to prohibit Title X family planning program funds from going to organizations which perform abortions unless the abortion services are separated physically and financially from the rest of the organization. This rule, the Protect Life Rule, will draw a bright line between family planning and abortion, in accordance with the intent of Congress and if enacted, would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions in any way. I joined over 140 of my House colleagues in a letter to Secretary Azar strongly supporting the proposed rule. Additionally, I was proud to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives in support. You can view my comments at the URL below. I am committed also to fighting the travesty of human trafficking. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, pervasive yet often unnoticed, occurring “underground” every day amid ordinary functions in the public square. Estimates by the International Labor Organization indicate that, globally, 20.9 million people are trafficked, around 4.5 million of whom are victims of forced sexual exploitation. Over half are subjected to forced labor, 26% are children and 55% are women and girls. Strikingly, these abuses constitute a $150 billion worldwide industry. In North Carolina alone there were 157 instances of human trafficking reported in 2016. I am proud of the work we have done in the 115th Congress to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This Congress, the House passed more than thirteen bills dedicated to ending human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The bills have included changes to ensure that prosecutors have the essential skills and knowledge to properly investigate and process cases where the victim has experienced severe trauma, encourage states to implement services and programs to help these victims, close loopholes that allowed people who used phones to record the sexual assault of a child to escape federal conviction, and made it easier to prosecute those who record or transmit it. Additionally, the House passed a bill authorizing the State Department and federal law enforcement to target international human traffickers by offering rewards for their arrest or conviction around the globe. I will continue to fight human trafficking both in the United States and around the world to ensure that we end this global epidemic. Our nation was built on Judeo-Christian values and we must not turn our backs on these principles. While the First Amendment to the Constitution explicitly states that Congress shall make no law establishing a state religion, it also prohibits Congress from prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The First Amendment guarantees Americans the freedom to think, speak, and believe as they choose. To force Americans to check their religious beliefs at the door when engaging in any sort of public debate is wrong. I will fight to maintain our rights and to honor and carry on our religious heritage.Again in the 115th Congress, I am proud to serve as a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, Congressional Prayer Caucus and Values Action Team. Legislation Pertaining to Values sponsored, co-sponsored, or supported by Rep. Foxx in the 115th Congress: H.R. 7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act H.R. 36: Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act H.R. 354: Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2017 H.R. 644: Conscience Protection Act of 2017 H.R. 692: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act H.R. 853: Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2017 H.R. 1192: Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of 2017 H.R. 1625: The TARGET Act H.R. 1761: Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act H.R. 2019: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude certain abortions from the definition of qualified medical expenses for purposes of distributions from health savings accounts. H.R. 2473: Put Trafficking Victims First Act H.R. 4131: No Abortion Bonds Act H.R. 4660: Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2017 H.R. 4712: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act |