Komen Breast Cancer Foundation under fire

>> and now we are joined by democratic senators patty murray of washington and barbara boxer of california. senator murray, can you respond from your information about planned parenthood , what is the flaw in the way they are providing services and what are you planning to do about it?

>> well, look, this is really a sad day for many of us who have have been proud supporters of an organization whose mission has been to save women's lives. who also know that planned parenthood 's mission is to save lives, and the tremendous work they do across this country in providing preventative services, so women don't miss out on their screenings for mammograms and diseases, cancer that can take their lives. so it's a very sad day. and susan g. komen has put in place a policy that says directly that they will not provide funding for organizations like planned parenthood , because of a partisan witch hunt in the house against planned parenthood , an investigation. i would ask that all the members of susan g. komen to reconsider that policy, because it's dangerous for women and it's dangerous for organizations. if susan g. komen comes under partisan investigation here in washington, d.c., they're going to be in violation of their own policy. all together. so we're putting out a letter along with senator lautenberg and 22 senators to ask them to reconsider this terrible decision.

>> senator boxer, why don't you speak out as well, as to where you think we should go from here?

>> sure, i listened to everything ambassador brinker said, and i have to say, this is a complete revisionist comment that she's making about why, suddenly, planned parenthood lost this funding. which, by the way, has served 170,000 women over the past five years. giving them the absolute life-saving screenings that they deserve to have. and you know, if you just go back a day ago, two days ago, the official spokespeople for that organization, susan g. komen , said the reason was an investigation in the house. well, could i say this? i was not born yesterday, as most of your viewers can tell. and the fact is, i'm reminded of the mccarthy era , where somebody said, oh, i'm a -- a congressman stands up, a senator, i'm investigating this organization, and therefore people should stop funding them. what's next? are they going to the attack the american lung association ? the ymca? the ywca? this is so sad, as patty murray has so eloquently stated, because it's about women's health. and we do hope that they will reconsider. but to change the story is not going to work. people know what they said and this means that unwittingly, or wittingly, they've put themselves in the middle of a political witch hunt . and that is very, very sad.

>> well, it's certainly troubling, this whole debate is troubling for people on all sides of it. and nancy brinker is still here. let me just ask you, i know we're out of time, but is there any chance that you would respond to the senators and change the policy?

>> well, i'm troubled that it's been labeled as political. this is not a political decision. we operate from one set of standards every day, and it is to our mission. and if we don't advance and revise and make grants that meet the mission and bring real care to vulnerable populations, we won't be doing our job. again, these grants --

>> i think there's a lot of communication --

>> there's a lot of communication that needs to go back and forth, you bet.

>> we will follow up with you, the senators, 22 senators have now signed that letter, and we will continue to report this story and there'll be more throughout the day on nbc and msnbc as