mr. speaker , i rise today in strong support of s. 686 . 
as many before me and many still to come have indicated , this is not an easy situation . 
if it were , we would not be here at this late hour , on this day . 
what makes this situation difficult is that there are so many unresolved questions . 
what are terri 's wishes ? 
terri schiavo never prepared a living will to express definitively what her wishes would be . 
so we are left with conflicting accounts of what course of action terri would want her doctors to take . 
what has the family decided ? 
opponents of this legislation say this should be a family issue . 
i agree . 
however , we have a family that disagrees on the fate of terri 's life . 
while her husband wants to end her life , we have a set of parents who are willing to do everything it takes medically , emotionally , and financially to save the life of their child . 
we have some doctors saying that terri will not recover . 
yet we also have other neurologists saying that with the proper medical care , there is a chance that she could improve considerably . 
and let us be clear : terri is not on life support she is not brain-dead , and no heroic measures are needed to keep her alive , she simply needs the assistance of a feeding tube for food and water . 
if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the answers to these questions , we would likely not need to be here tonight . 
however , because these questions remain disputed , the responsible course of action is to err on the side of life . 
some may ask why congress is getting involved . 
the answer to that is simple . 
one of the primary duties of the federal government and members of congress is to uphold and defend the constitution and the individual rights it sets forth . 
so we are acting to allow that every possible legal process has been exhausted to ensure that terri 's federal rights have been properly defended . 
one of those federal rights is the right to life . 
the fourteenth amendment establishes that no `` state shall deprive any person of life , liberty , and property , without due process of law. '' everyday , in cases where the action of the state will result in the death of an individual , that individual is provided the opportunity to have their case heard in both the state and federal court systems . 
that is all we are asking to be done today . 
my thoughts and prayers , as well of those of my constituents in 19th district of texas , are with terri and her family during these difficult times . 
