Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today urged Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01) to end Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn’s (TN-07) abusive investigation, which has violated House and Committee rules and put doctors and researchers in danger.

“Before coming to Congress, I was a businesswoman and entrepreneur. Given the actions of this committee, if the House of Representatives were a business and Speaker Ryan were the CEO, he should call Chairwoman Blackburn into his office and say, ‘you’re fired.’ But what’s at stake here isn’t the business’s bottom line – it’s people’s lives,” DelBene said. “She has not only broken several House rules, she’s created a chilling environment for medical research and endangered the lives of doctors, patients and medical students across the country. Republicans have crossed the line. Speaker Ryan, it’s time to step in and disband this Panel before people are hurt.”

On Thursday, DelBene joined Democratic members of the Select Panel in sending Speaker Ryan a letter calling on him to disband the Select Panel after Chairwoman Blackburn broke numerous rules and publicly singled out a physician, putting his life at risk.

DelBene is an appointed member of Republicans’ Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health, which was established to investigate Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers after doctored videos were released from a group of anti-choice extremists – who have since been indicted by a grand jury on felony charges. In her role on the Select Panel, DelBene is fighting to protect women’s access to healthcare and safeguard the privacy and safety of doctors, patients and medical students across the country.

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