[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 135 (Friday, August 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                       HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Greenwood 
amendment--an amendment that really ought to be noncontroversial.
  For starters, this amendment has nothing to do with abortion. Title X 
programs do not fund abortions. What these programs do instead is help 
over 5 million women to receive many primary health care services. 
Title X clinics serve as the entry point to the health care system--and 
the only source of services that would otherwise be unavailable to many 
women.
  In addition, title X funding helps deter unintended pregnancies, 
particularly teenage pregnancies. Members of this House who argued so 
strenuously for the need to reduce teenage pregnancies during the 
welfare debate, ought to be the strongest supporters of family 
planning. But strangely, this is not the case.
  Family planning also helps save the American taxpayers $1.8 billion 
annually. How? Every dollar spent on family planning saves $4 that 
would otherwise be spent on medical and welfare costs.
  In short, family planning improves both the Nation's health and its 
economy. It should not become the victim of unrelated ideological 
struggles. I urge my colleagues to support the Greenwood amendment.


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