Website. And so, i think your words need to be taken down. Accusing staff our staff of leaking that is not true. Those words should be taken down. Madam chair . Blackburn the staff had asked for the documents to be shared. Before thehared website, released to the entity. In order to take comments down, they have to be personal in nature. So with that, let us begin with our opening statement. And then, we will receive our first panel of witnesses. As i was beginning earlier, i want to welcome all of our witnesses who are here today. Im going to introduce each of you later. As we move forward with our testimony on the pricing of fetal tissue, as part of my opening statement, i will present a narrative about the exhibits that todays hearing will discuss. I have said many times that my hope is that both parties can Work Together on some things. And todays subject matter should be an opportunity to do so for a couple of reasons. First, at our initial hearing on bioethics and fetal tissue, all witnesses from both sides agree that no one should profit from the sale of baby body parts. Nobody. Second, the democrats overwhelmingly supported a prohibition on profiting from fetal tissue sales during the 1993 passage of the National Institute of healths revitalization act. Passr congressman dingle this legislation out of the energy and commerce committee. And a former congressman henry bill onmended the nih the floor to make clear that profiting from the sale of baby body parts was a crime. Folks, these two democrat leaders took the offense so seriously that they may profiting from the sale of fetal tissue punishable by a 10year felony. Unbornderstood that children do indeed have constitutional rights. Now there is been a lot of heated debate about the horrible videos that came out last year. But todays hearing will present business documents, invoices, marketing brochures, and management documents that reveal that one forprofit procurement business and several Abortion Clinics may have violated the intent of the statute. And the waxman prohibition passed overwhelmingly by a democratcontrolled house. We have invited attorneys to help us understand this, in light of the statue. We look forward to working through this material in a thoughtful way. And i asked my colleagues on the other side to join in a productive discussion about the statute that your side past. To introducing the documents i want to call your attention to five posters that will help to visually follow the discussion. The first chart presents three entities involved in the business of selling the body parts. That chart depicts the middleman , the procurement business, pays the Abortion Clinic for fetal tissue, and is then paid by the researcher. The second chart is a website screen grab of from the procurement business on how to buy baby body parts online. There is a new website, and the business has been spun off to a new entity. That chart shows the dropdown box for every part imaginable. By liver, and then you pick the destination. Then you check out to select your form of shipping. The third chart shows the daily tasks inside the Abortion Clinic. Once the order is communicated, the procurement tech starts to work, checking gestation periods. Getting consent, procuring tissue, and ascending to the customer. Ahese are clear hipp violations. I would hope that, at a minimum, they will join us in condemning obvious violations of hippa, which was signed into law by president clinton on august 21, 1998. The fourth chart summarizes several sample payments from the procurement business to the Abortion Clinic, and from the customer to the procurement business. Is the samples for a discussion today. They do not present the entire financial picture. And the fifth chart shows you who bears the responsibility. Next i want to walk the witnesses for the exhibits. I know that the lawyers and the n the room like to focus on the detail. That is why youre here. But it is important to understand the big picture of what the german business is trying to do, in spite of the waxman prohibition on profiting from the sale of baby body parts. Please turn to the exhibits, beginning with b2. This is the Procurement Company broke sure that is handed out at national conferences, where Abortion Clinic managers are in attendance. Notice that it says financially profitable. Fiscal rewards, financial benefits to your clinic. Aok at exhibit b3, which is website screen grab of the procurement business. Once again, financially profitable. While also providing a financial benefit to your own clinic. Evidently, the procurement business is not familiar with the waxman prohibition. Now, turn the page and look at exhibits b four and five. It started in 2010 with three clinics. In two more years, it had nearly 100. Further, they were negotiating a contract to have over 250 clinics by this year. Negotiationsketing with the National Abortion trade organization fell apart, just about the time the videos came out last year. Now, you do not have to be a lawyer to see what is going on here. You put up a website that offers the part imaginable, and why on earth would anybody ever need a baby scalp . Then you pick the destination period and you checkout. You need Abortion Clinics, a lot of Abortion Clinics. So you grow your number of clinics, and you offer the clinics money to sign up. You offer them financial benefits to join. Youtell the clinics that will do all the work, all of the items on the chart that show the workflow of the procurement technician. This does not sound to me like tissue donation for research. This sounds like someone who wants to make money, a lot of money. Selling the baby body parts. So, i thank our witnesses for their generous time today. I welcome them. And at this time, i yield 10 s. Nutes to mysti from the outset, this investigation has not been an objective or factbased search politicaluth, but a weapon to attack Womens Health care and lifesaving research, and harass and intimidate those who provide these services. This was clear during our first hearing, where one of the witnesses invited by the republicans drew comparisons between researchers who use fetal tissue and nazi war efiminal, dr. Joseph mengele. Women who have abortions are morally disqualified from choosing to donate tissue for research purposes. For todays hearing, republicans have again invited witnesses who believe that abortion should be illegal, that women should not be permitted or trusted to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term. Some continue to declare that planned parenthood is selling fetal tissue forprofit, despite the fact that three House Committees, 12 states, and a texas grand jury have already cleared the organization of wrongdoing. These witnesses, like a republican colleagues, rely on the video allegations of antiabortion extremists and his support theo inflammatory claims. Anyone who is been following the facts knows the truth. The videos are not reliable. And they do not show the unlawful sale of fetal tissue. And the will argue today that the socalled exhibits do not make that case either. A grand jury in texas already put him to the test under oath, and he failed. That grand jury, instructed by the republican Lieutenant Governor to investigate planned himnthood, instead indicted for breaking the law through his efforts to entrap planned parenthood. The District Attorney handling the case refused to represent it to another grand jury, explaining that we must go over the evidence leads us. End as she explained, anyon who pays attention knows that im prolife. I believe abortion is wrong. But my personal believe does not relieve me of my obligation to follow the law. That standard should apply with equal force here. There is no reason to believe that a proven liar when it comes to plan claritned parenthood would be any more reliable on fetal Tissue Research. Instead of correcting the record on the video, the chair continues to invoke them. Today, my republican colleagues likely will claim that it is not just the videos actually the chair has a reclaimed that. They may assert that documents, that this panel has received or that republican staff have created, show the need for further investigation. And this is also false. 16 years ago, the subcommittee on health and environment of the House Commerce Committee considered similar materials. 16 years ago. That hearing titled fetal tissue is it being sold in violation of federal law . Schedule service showing amounts. Logs, andn agreements between providers and procurement organizations. And that also featured an employee who had worked at two Tissue Procurement Organizations. The antiabortion group life had filmed and released a video interview where alberti claimed to have witnessed fetuses born alive. And unauthorized payment for fetal tissue, exactly the types of claims made in this video. In statements under oath however, alberti contradicted his inflammatory claims, and admitted during the 2000 hearing that his sworn statement, not the remarks on the heavily edited video made by antiabortion extremists, were the truth. The department of justice also investigated the allegations of unlawful profiteering, that was in the heart of that hearing. And concluded that no laws have been broken. No one believes that companies should be allowed to profit by selling eagle tissue. Fetal tissue. We strongly support the prohibition. However, the law expressly allows reimbursement for costs. Provision we are focusing on today is modeled on the National Organ transplant act, which similarly prohibits consideration, but allows reimbursement, which can be considerable. Possiblens regarding unlawful profit from adult organ would not result in a call to ban all Organ Donations. Yet, republican lawmakers in the house want to ban fetal tissue donation and research altogether. Something some states of oregon. Florida for example recently unveiled the bill attacking fetal tissue. This is tragic for women and families on the gulf coast, at researchers race to understand the zika virus. Despite care blhair blackburns claim, fetal tissue increases our understanding of the zika virus. These bands have been proposed, despite the fact there is still no evidence of wrongdoing related to fetal tissue donation. Instead, the. Net received by this panel actually show that areth care providers looting money for research purposes. This is not what congress intended when it voted on a bipartisan basis to allow reimbursement of costs. It is absurd that even when they are losing money, providers are still attacked by those who appear motivated by the opposition to abortion, not the actual facts regarding fetal tissue donation. This panel is a perfect example. Over the course of the investigation, the chair has targeted one clinic, one university, one Tissue Procurement Organization, all of whom were operating voluntarily before the chair served them with unilateral subpoenas. The panel has known since january that the southwestern women option does not take any money for ensuring that women who want to donate tissue to the university can do so. And let me underscore that fact, no money is exchanged in connection with a womans choice to donate fetal Tissue Researchers at the university of new mexico. Already knowing this, the chair served subpoenas and issued press releases tied to what she describes as an investigation into the unlawful sale of 80 body parts. Which we heard today. As a result, the university and clinic have been subject to unwarranted accusations from state and federal officials on the additional target of harassment and antiabortion extremists, it is no wonder that others reluctant to hand over the names of their researchers for students, clinic personnel, and doctors so that the chair can amass a dangerous database of their names. For its part, the tissue Procurement Company, stem express, already offered to have its procurement director explain the structure. Andchair ignored that offer instead called this public hearing, inviting witnesses who have no firsthand knowledge of the facts to opine about the potential criminal misconduct. On its own initiative, stem submitted anow letter to make sure the panel has the information needed to bring this investigation to an end. This investigation has never been and has no promise of becoming fair or factbased. A republican colleague disdain and doctors is putting women at risk. It is time for Republican Leadership to bring this investigation to an end. Have unanimous consent to the april 18 letter from stem express included as part of the record for this hearing. I yield back the balance of my time. The gentlelady yields back on her request. We have already agreed to put that into the record. At this time, i want to welcome our first panel. Senator Jeanne Shaheen is a u. S. Senator from New Hampshire. She is the only woman in u. S. History to be elected both a governor and a u. S. Senator. Say thee me, can i just letter i wanted inserted in the record is a different letter. That we receive from yesterday. So moved. Sorry. Shaheen is a member on foreign relations, appropriations, and is Ranking Member of the Small Business and entrepreneurship committee. Senator shaheen is a form of Small Business owner and formerly served as the director of Harvard Universitys institute of politics at the Kennedy School of government. Welcome. Senator ben sasse is a u. S. Senator from nebraska. Comes to the senate having spent the last five years as a College President , one of the youngest in the nation. During the first and second terms of george w. Bush, he worked in the department of justice and the department of homeland security. Before becoming assistant secretary for planning and a valuation at the u. S. Department of health and human services. Welcome to you, senator sasse. We will begin with senator shaheen for your fiveminute remarks. Shaheen thank you very much. Members of the committee, i very much appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. But i do so with great concern. I know you will hear from my colleagues, senator sasse from nebraska, and i respect his deeply held personal beliefs. But if we want to have a civil discussion on this issue, we should begin with the facts. Already, news articles today have called into question the validity of the exhibits that will be presented to the panel. Ess committee i;s very existence it proven false across the country. In january, after thorough investigation into the videos, a texas grand jury cleared of planned parenthood of any wrongdoing. And indicted the individuals responsible for their creation. Fact, 12 other states have also cleared of planned parenthood of any wrongdoing. And eight additional states have declined to investigate, citing a lack of evidence. I believe it is now time for the special investigations to end. And i would also like to point out that fetal Tissue Research has long had bipartisan support. In 1993, Congress Passed the National Institute of healths revitalization act. That bill passed with overwhelming support. 290130 ine senate, the house. And i think it is important to about bill was passed on recommendations of the Blueribbon Panel convened under president reagan, which was tasked with studying the efforts of fetal Tissue Research. Millions of people have benefited from fetal Tissue Research. Rubella,for polio and and research on Health Issues that touch so many of us parkinsons, diabetes, hiv, aids, spinal for injuries have also benefited from the 1993 law. If it is the desire to change the law, obviously, u. S. Legislators are able to do that. But i believe it would be a grave error. Sadly, it is my belief that this panel was formed with political motivation. There is very little real interests in an unbiased investigation to uncover facts related to Womens Health or research. Instead, i believe that this panel serves as an opportunity for some to once again attacked the health care providers, who millions of women and families reliable. I joined colleagues in both chambers to disband this panel and all other congressional investigations that would undermine womens access to health care. Not only do i believe that this panel is an inappropriate and wasteful misuse of federal resources, but im gravely concerned that it puts researchers, providers, and atients across the country rest. Unfortunately, as result of the political rhetoric surrounding this issue, we have seen violent acts and threats against researchers across the country. And i am very sad to report that this fall, the same month that this panel was formed, a Womans Health clinic in claremont, New Hampshire was vandalized not once, but twice. The Second Attack caused so much damage, it was forced to close for nearly six weeks. This was a real disservice to the women, men, and families who rely on the full range of services that the clinic provides. And unfortunately, New Hampshire is not alone. After the release of the deceptive, highlyedited videos, incidents of harassment against some Health Centers increased ninefold in just one month. I do not believe that todays hearing is a factbased, objective investigati