[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1965-H1966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson] for her work with me as co-chair of the 
Caucus and for helping to organize this very important special order 
which has gone so well with its great variety.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Sanchez].
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a serious problem 
that affects all our communities, but which is rarely addressed, that 
of teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy burdens us all. When teenage girls 
give birth, their future prospects decline dramatically. Teen mothers 
are less likely to complete school, they are more likely to be single 
mothers, and they are more likely to depend on welfare and government 
support. Teen pregnancy is not only a serious problem, it is a growing 
problem. Over half a million teenage girls become pregnant each year in 
our country. California has the highest amount of teen births. It was 
over 70,000 last year. Four thousand of those teens are young girls 
from Orange County, my county. My home town of Anaheim has seen the 
highest number of teen births for all of Orange County.

                              {time}  1930

  That is why I am so concerned about the young women in my district, 
and I call upon my colleagues to take a thoughtful look at teen 
pregnancy in their communities.
  The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the 
industrialized world. Is this because our kids are more sexually 
active? No; it is because other nations treat teen pregnancy as a 
public health issue. We define it as a moral or social problem. Let us 
treat teen pregnancy like the health problem which it is, and let us 
practice preventive medicine. Reducing teen pregnancy will then prevent 
abortion and reduce high school dropout rates and the number of women 
who depend on welfare.
  Teen pregnancy is preventable. It is a possible but challenging task. 
We need a multifaceted approach in our communities, one that addresses 
not only reproductive health and abstinence but also self-esteem and 
responsible decisionmaking. Kids need role models, and they need to 
have the opportunity to be involved in extracurricular activities.
  That is why I will be joining the efforts of local organizations in 
my communities to help combat the rising rate of teen pregnancy in 
Orange County. I encourage all of my colleagues to take a local 
approach to solving a national problem.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
[Mrs. Tauscher].
  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak 
about a subject of great importance to the women and families of the 
10th Congressional District of California which I am honored to 
represent. That subject is the need for vital funding for research into 
the causes, treatments, and cures for breast cancer through the 
National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. This is 
an issue I have been focusing on for many years. In 1992 I was honored 
to be a founding board member of the Breast Cancer Fund in San 
Francisco, and I

[[Page H1966]]

really believe that this is a very important issue for American women 
to be paying attention to.
  Mr. Speaker, this year the President is requesting $338.9 million for 
the National Cancer Institute's breast cancer program, and I urge all 
the Members of Congress to support this needed funding. Later this 
spring, the National Breast Cancer Coalition will be presenting 
Congress and the President with 2.6 million signatures from the 
constituents from all over America, urging us to work together to 
support 2.6 billion for cancer research between now and the year 2000. 
I believe this is a powerful statement about the commitment of the 
people of the Nation to fighting this disease. The increase in funding 
this year will allow the National Institutes of Health to continue its 
work in basic research, prevention, treatment, and community outreach 
as well as to initiate any studies.
  Mr. Speaker, I remain committed to working with my colleagues, the 
President, and the National Cancer Institute to defeat this killer of 
American women.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, it is no accident that we have focused on women's 
health. This is the 20th anniversary of the women's congressional 
caucus. In those 20 years we have probably had our greatest success by 
focusing on women's health. So we come forward this evening in order to 
press again this issue.
  The women's caucus and women members and other members have 
essentially over the past 20 years made what can only be called great 
discoveries when it comes to neglected women's health issues. The 
inclusion of women in clinical trials, for example, was a historic step 
forward.
  During the 105th Congress the congressional women's caucus is going 
to have a legislative agenda which we will be publicizing in the next 
several weeks. The reason for that legislative agenda is to measure 
ourselves and to measure this Congress against real goals. Had we not 
done that, then the gains we have made, for example with respect to 
women's conditions like osteoporosis or cervical cancer, simply could 
not have been made. When we began to work on research in cervical 
cancer, for example, it was a dreaded disease. Once you got it, nobody 
knew what to do about it, and now half the cases can be caught and 
cured.
  We might well get the most out of this special order if we could get 
the agreement of the House and the Senate to pass what I can only call 
an easy bill. That would be the Mammography Quality Standards 
Reauthorization Act, or H.R. 1289, that has, of course, been mentioned 
in this special order this evening, but I mention it as we close out 
the evening because it is a fitting bill to be the first significant 
bill affecting women, women's health, passed this year. It is simply a 
reauthorization of a bill that would assure that mammograms are 
performed under safe circumstances and conditions. It is fitting also 
because we have just gone through the storm with the doubt and 
uncertainty that was there over mammography for women in their forties 
that has been cleared up. We now know that women in their forties 
should have mammograms at least every other year, if not every year. We 
come forward this evening, therefore, to remind ourselves not only of 
what we have accomplished in 20 years bringing women's concerns to the 
House, but to vigilantly keep ourselves focused on what is yet to be 
done.

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