mr. speaker , today members of congress have come from all over the country , wta to uphold the most essential right that any of us posses the right to life . 
as we stand here today , a woman is dying . 
she dies not as the result of an underlying disease or illness , but because a judge has decided that her life is not one worth living . 
this despite evidence that she makes attempts to respond to her parents , cries , follows movement with her eyes . 
with such evidence and her parents crying out in her defense , how can we not intervene ? 
as we stand here in washington , terri is being starved to death . 
we refer to the `` removal of feeding tubes , '' but let 's talk about what is really happening . 
not only has a tube delivering food and water been removed , but her parents have been barred from even putting ice chips on her tongue . 
yesterday , advocates were arrested for attempting to bring water to terri . 
to bar parents and relatives from offering the most basic of comforts to a dying loved one is not only an egregious overreach of judicial powers it is cruel and morally wrong . 
i ask , is this about removing a tube or about starving a disabled woman ? 
some will argue that this is about terri 's right to die . 
yet , terri has no living will , no do not resuscitate order and her husband 's claim that she would not want to be kept alive only surfaced years after she became disabled . 
last week this body passed legislation that would protect all americans in cases similar to this one , but senate democrats stood in the way of that valuable measure . 
now for nearly sixty hours , terri has been denied sustenance while republican leadership in both houses have negotiated the legislation before us today . 
though i regret that certain members of this body and the senate , stood in the way of passing the legislation . 
approved last week , i am pleased that we now have an opportunity to vote on this measure . 
this bill does not ensure terri 's survival , but it does give her and her parents an opportunity similar to that which we make available to murderers sentenced to death row . 
under this legislation terri 's case will be reassessed in a federal court and we expect that she will be fed once again . 
it is my hope that the federal court will handle this case better than the egregious dereliction of judicial duty exhibited in the florida court . 
mr. speaker , regardless of the motives of those who would remove terri 's link to life , their judgment would violate the most cherished right endowed to all persons : the right to life . 
we stand today not for political purposes , but consistent with our constitutional duty to sustain that right for every citizen . 
