[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E364-E365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING

                                 ______


                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 1996

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring your attention to the 
crisis in funding for international family planning programs.
  The United States has traditionally provided developing countries 
with money to create effective, voluntary family planning programs. 
However, in the fiscal year 1996 Foreign Operations appropriations 
bill, family planning programs were cut by 85 percent, from $547 to 
$356 million.

[[Page E365]]

  A recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit 
corporation for reproductive health research, policy analysis and 
public education, stated funding cuts will restrict 7 million couples 
in developing countries from using modern contraceptive methods. This 
will result in 1.9 million more unplanned births, 134,000 more infant 
deaths, and 8,000 more women dying in childbirth and pregnancy, 
including from unsafe abortions. In fact, due to the dearth of funding, 
there will be at least 1.6 million more abortions in developing 
countries in just 1 year.
  Family planning services offer often lifesaving health care services, 
including family planning, prenatal services, maternal and infant 
health programs, treatment of infertility, and the prevention of AIDS. 
The more we limit funds for family planning, the more we will spend on 
money for destitute children and health care for the sick.
  Long-term costs of the cuts may prove so disastrous that the United 
States will wind up spending more than it will save. Worsening 
population trends mean the United States may confront more 
international instability, greater depletion of important global 
resources and ultimately much higher levels of foreign aid assistance.
  International family planning funding must be restored. Not only is 
it a public health issue, but family planning is the answer to the 
question of overpopulation. Global population now exceeds 5.7 billion 
people. If nothing is done to stem this growth, the Earth's population 
will quadruple to over 19 billion people by the end of the next 
century. Uncontrolled population growth not only causes extreme 
poverty, unemployment, and urban overcrowding, but it is having an 
enormously damaging effect on our environment and public health.

  In much of the developing world, overpopulation, caused mainly by the 
lack of access of women to basic reproductive health services and 
information, is contributing to impoverishment, malnutrition, and 
hopelessness. The damaging effect on the world's environment is 
resulting in resource depletion, tropical deforestation, extinction of 
certain plants and animals, and pollution of air, water, and land. 
Population growth is outstripping the capacity of many nations to make 
even slight gains in economic development leading to political 
instability.
  Overpopulation must be addressed by sustainable development programs. 
There are three key areas which will target overpopulation directly: 
international family planning, financial commitment, and technical 
expertise. Practically every major innovation in the population and 
family planning field can be linked to U.S. support. Modern technology 
has also been applied to the population field in the areas of mass 
communication, biotechnology, and biomedical research in the 
development of new contraceptives.
  Funding for international family planning is not about whether women 
in third world countries have abortions. The ramifications to funding 
cuts stretch from health counseling to global warming. Family planning 
directly deals with the protection of our environment, economy, and the 
health of women and children. We must work to maintain sustainable 
development programs to protect our environment, public health, and 
future. Please join me in the fight to restore this vital funding.

                          ____________________