Getting things done in Congress is hard enough. But trying to work when one party won’t? That’s next to impossible. Just ask Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). The chair of the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives already had her hands full overseeing a congressional investigation into the possible criminal acts of Planned Parenthood in its baby-parts-for-profit scheme. But her job has been made even more difficult — not just by the uncooperative targets of her probe, but by uncooperative Democrats on the panel as well.

[Wednesday], at a key moment in the hearing over StemExpress’s possible financial involvement in the organ harvesting ring, every single one of the panel’s Democratic members walked out — refusing to hold the tissue procurement company responsible for ignoring the House’s subpoena. In a pathetic display, the parade of Planned Parenthood supporters left the room after Republicans refused to accept their motion to adjourn. Speaking for the group, Rep. Jan Schakowky (D-Ill.) insisted that Wednesday’s vote was “an unauthorized, dangerous, and unjustifiable escalation of Chair Blackburn’s partisan attack on health care and life-saving research.”

That’s ridiculous, the Tennessee Congresswoman fired back. “A subpoena is not a suggestion. It’s a lawful order and must be complied with.” And StemExpress had ample time to consent. “Nine months is enough time for an entity to produce accounting documents. [Federal law] makes it a 10-year felony to sell human fetal tissue for a profit. The statute passed as an amendment by Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in 1993. Sell human fetal tissue for a profit, you break the law.” For almost a year, Congress has been asking for specific accounting documents from the company — only to get vague information in exchange. That’s not good enough, conservatives agreed.

“StemExpress refused to produce the names citing safety concerns, despite assurances we would redact names. The first subpoena also demanded production of all banking and accounting records relating to fetal tissue. StemExpress produced accounting summaries [instead].” Enough is enough, Rep. Blackburn and the panel’s GOP members decided. If the company is willfully withholding information, then members have no choice but to hold them in contempt. That sent the panel’s liberals over the edge, and they huffed out of the room before the vote unanimously censuring StemExpress. “They walked out of the hearing today because they can’t handle the truth about Planned Parenthood and Stem Express’s for-profit business partnership in body parts,” David Daleiden said. Thanks to his undercover videos, there’s plenty of evidence that StemExpress isn’t nearly as innocent as it claims to be. On tape, employees virtually admitted that the company was combing through private medical records like a catalogue, hoping to fine ideal candidates for baby organ harvesting.

“The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Select Investigative Panel has already discovered probable cause that Planned Parenthood and StemExpress profited off of baby body parts together, used fraudulent and invalid consent forms to pressure patients to agree to body parts harvesting, and violated the HIPPA privacy rights of tens of thousands of pregnant women,” Daleiden told reporters. In the end, all StemExpress accomplished is casting even more doubt on its relationship with the abortion giant. If the company had nothing to hide, why not cooperate with Congress’s requests? “What is in the banking and accounting records that is so secretive that they won’t comply with a congressional, lawful subpoena?” Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.) asked.

In the meantime, I know that some people are wondering why the GOP isn’t doing more with its congressional majority. Well, as the Select Panel shows, they’re trying to. Unfortunately for Republicans, Congress is just one branch of government. That’s why this presidential election is so important. America desperately needs an executive branch that will with both enforce and abide by the law.

Originally published here.

Bible Gets a Seat at Missing Man Table

Thanks to more than 64,000 of you, there’s no longer something missing from the Missing Man Table! In a sweeping victory, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs smacked down the far-Left extremists in the military who were systematically desecrating a display honoring the military’s POWs. After pressure from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a number of Ohio military bases were ordering the removal of the Bible from the tables, falling prey to the idea that the Scriptures’ inclusion was somehow unconstitutional.

That’s ridiculous, the Military Religious Freedom Coalition argued — summoning people across the country to rally to the tables’ defense. As our own Lt. General Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.) has said before, U.S. servicemen and women know the enemy — and the Bible isn’t it! Actions like these, the Coalition wrote in a letter to VA leadership, “clearly represents a government intrusion into the religious and expressive rights of the staff and patients at the VA facility… A Bible resting passively along with other tradition elements of this display does not promote any single religion… Please recall that our country was founded, in part, upon the realization that all people are endowed with God-given rights that include free expression and freedom of religion.” Fortunately, the VA was listening, and last month, released a new policy protecting the display of Bibles like these. Under this new guidance, the government makes it clear that the VA “must remain neutral” on the “use of any religious or secular items” in displays offered by outside groups or individuals. (And neutral doesn’t mean hostile!)

FRC’s General Boykin commended the VA for making the right decision — especially when it comes to honoring the sacrifice of those who’ve suffered through captivity in wartime or are still missing. “This guidance is long overdue because, unfortunately, various VA officials have been misled by militant secularist groups that have shown contempt for this display tradition and disregarded the families of the MIAs and the POWs themselves.” But as pleased as he and the rest of the Coalition are with the decision, it shouldn’t take tens of thousands of petitions to pressure the government to come down on the side of the very freedoms our service members are fighting to defend. At the very least, maybe the forces of political correctness will think twice about trying a stunt like this again!

Originally published here.