[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 18 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 18

 Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should strive 
to prevent teen pregnancy by encouraging teenagers to view adolescence 
 as a time for education and maturing and by educating teenagers about 
   the negative consequences of early sexual activity; and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2003

   Mr. Lieberman (for himself and Ms. Snowe) submitted the following 
   concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should strive 
to prevent teen pregnancy by encouraging teenagers to view adolescence 
 as a time for education and maturing and by educating teenagers about 
   the negative consequences of early sexual activity; and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas nearly 4 in 10 girls in the United States will become pregnant before 
        the age of 20;
Whereas the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and childbirth 
        in the industrialized world;
Whereas, despite significant progress over the past decade, there are still 
        nearly 900,000 teen pregnancies each year;
Whereas, on average, nearly 100 teenage girls become pregnant and 55 teenage 
        girls give birth every hour;
Whereas childbearing by teenagers costs taxpayers at least $7,000,000,000 each 
        year in direct costs associated with health care, foster care, criminal 
        justice, and public assistance;
Whereas teen pregnancy is closely linked to the social problems of welfare 
        dependency, poverty and out-of-wedlock births, and has negative 
        ramifications with respect to the critical social issues of overall 
        child well-being, responsible fatherhood, and workforce development;
Whereas mothers who give birth as teenagers are less likely to complete high 
        school and attend college, thereby unduly limiting their potential for 
        economic self-sufficiency;
Whereas more than half of all mothers on welfare gave birth as teenagers to 
        their first children;
Whereas 1 out of 2 unmarried mothers first gave birth as a teenager;
Whereas 80 percent of births to teenagers involve unmarried teen mothers;
Whereas almost all adults and teenagers believe that teenagers should be given a 
        strong message from society that they should abstain from sex until they 
        have at least completed high school; and
Whereas the children of teen mothers are more likely to be at risk for a variety 
        of adverse health and educational outcomes than other children: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL DAY TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States should strive to prevent teen 
        pregnancy by encouraging teens to view adolescence as a time 
        for education and maturing, and by educating teens about the 
        negative consequences of early sexual activity; and
            (2) the President should designate May 7, 2003, as 
        ``National Day To Prevent Teen Pregnancy''.
    (b) Proclamation.--Congress requests the President to issue a 
proclamation designating May 7, 2003, as ``National Day To Prevent Teen 
Pregnancy''.
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