WASHINGTON — A Republican congressional leader on Monday defended a House investigation of Planned Parenthood's provision of fetal tissue to researchers, offering no suggestion that last week's killings at one of the group's clinics will cause the GOP to retreat from the inquiry.
House majority leader Kevin McCarthy also indicated that the Republican-run Congress will not risk a government shutdown fight with President Obama over GOP efforts to halt federal funding for the organization, which provides abortions and other health services to women. ''I do not see a shutdown happening in this process,'' he told reporters.
With lawmakers returning to the Capitol for the first time since Friday's killing of three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, the Senate's top Democrat called on House Republicans to abandon their investigation of the group, which he called politically motivated. Without naming Republicans, Senate minority leader Harry Reid seemed to insinuate that the GOP has helped create a dangerous brew of issues.
''Whipping people into a frenzy of hate and anger while providing them with easy access to firearms has proven disastrous to our country,'' said Reid.
McCarthy stood by the Republican-created House panel investigating how fetal parts are made available for research by Planned Parenthood and other organizations. He said that committee is ''where all pieces of information can come forward. We'll see how that plays out.''
Democrats have said they are participating in that panel to be able to defend Planned Parenthood.