mr. speaker , while i am not an attorney , it is my understanding that the perfect defense for a charge of libel is the truth . 
we have heard no discussions today about the substance of the descriptions in the committee report , and that is because the descriptions of the effects of the amendments in the committee report were accurate . 
contrast that with the dissenting views the minority attached to the committee report . 
for example , the minority views state that the child interstate abortion notification act is `` overtly hostile to families. '' the minority dissenting views in the committee report also describe the legislation as `` anti-physician and anti-family. '' now , 270 members of the house voted for legislation that the minority views stated was `` overtly hostile to families. '' fifty-four members of the other side of the aisle , the democrat party , voted for that bill . 
surely there is no comparison between stating that broadly supported legislation , designed to protect parental rights and the health and safety of young women , is `` overtly hostile to families '' and accurately describing the consequences of poorly drafted amendments to the legislation . 
further , the gentlewoman from new york ( ms. slaughter ) xz4003780 who we heard from earlier in her press release last week referred to a conspiracy to `` falsely rewrite the intent of an amendment. '' first , there was no rewriting . 
the majority of the committee , in describing offered amendments , do not cut and paste any description of an amendment into a committee report . 
the majority describes the amendment offered as it understands it . 
second , the purpose of describing an amendment is not to describe its intent . 
its purpose is to describe its meaning and effect . 
what matters is not what is in the mind of a member offering an amendment . 
it is what the text of the amendment offered would mean if it were made a part of the bill . 
describing the effects of an amendment as it where is not the same as describing the subjective intent of the person offering the amendment . 
a committee report should do the former , not the latter , because what matters at the end of the day are the actual words on the page of a bill . 
