The extraordinary step by the House Committee on Government Reform “will require hospice administrators and attending physicians to preserve nutrition and hydration” for Schiavo long enough “to allow Congress to fully understand the procedures and practices that are currently keeping her alive,” House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and House Majority leader Tom DeLay said in a joint statement early this morning.

The Republican leaders said the committee will investigate long-term care of incapacitated adults, “an issue of growing importance to the federal government and federal healthcare policy.”

Added Hastert and DeLay: “This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety. The fight is not over.”

The statement was issued only hours after the unraveling of last-ditch attempts by the Florida Legislature and U.S. Congress to keep Schiavo alive. By a judge’s order, she was to be disconnected from life-sustaining nutrition and hydration at 1 p.m. today.