[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    INTRODUCTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL POPULATION STABILIZATION AND 
                        REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACT

                                 ______


                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 18, 1995
  Ms. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleague Tony 
Beilenson in introducing the International Population Stabilization and 
Reproductive Health Act.
  There has been a growing realization over the last 10 years that 
population growth is not a neutral factor in economic development but 
is a critical factor in environmental degradation and sustainable 
development programs. It is also increasingly evident that any 
successful efforts to address these problems must include steps to 
empower women, providing them with the ability to exercise control over 
their own lives by assuring access to reproductive and other health 
services and access to educational opportunities.
  In the developing world, the inability of women, especially poor 
women, to access basic family planning services and information 
undermines women's efforts to determine their own destiny, increases 
illness and mortality rates of women and their children, contributes to 
environmental degradation, and inhibits the ability of families to lift 
themselves out of poverty.
  The impact of human population growth, combined with widespread 
poverty, is being demonstrated by the mounting signs of stress on our 
environment, such as tropical deforestation, erosion of arable land and 
watersheds, extinction of plant and animal species, global climate 
change, waste management, and air and water pollution.
  After more than 25 years of experience and research, the actions 
needed to rapidly reduce birth rates are well documented. The ability 
to exercise reproductive choice must be expanded, through the broader 
dissemination and choice of family planning services which involve the 
community, especially women, and which meet the needs and values of 
those who use them.
  The International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health 
Act will establish accessibility to family planning services and 
information as a principle objective of U.S. foreign policy.
  In addition, the bill recognizes the importance of improving the 
health, social, and economic status of women as essential for any 
country's economic progress, and notes that women who participate in 
the social, economic, and political affairs of their communities are 
more likely to exercise their choices about childbearing than those who 
do not.
  Of vital importance, this legislation makes the point that 
comprehensive population efforts which include both family planning 
services and economic development activities achieve lower birth rates 
and stimulate more development than those which pursue these objectives 
independently. It highlights issues such as education and literacy, 
infant and child survival, and gender equality as the most powerful 
long-term influence in reducing birth rates, and authorizes funding for 
support of basic health, nutrition, and education services for children 
and women.
  This legislation represents a compromise among a number of interested 
parties, including population, women's health, and environmental 
groups, as well as Democratic and Republican legislators. The bill 
represents a huge step forward from the policies and attitudes of the 
1980's and will help to restore U.S. leadership on this vitally 
important issue.


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