[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 125 (Thursday, September 18, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 1997

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2264) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes:

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, we must stop this trend of 
escalating numbers of young girls becoming pregnant and raising 
children when they have hardly escaped childhood themselves. It is 
imperative that we as leaders address the Nation's problem of teenage 
pregnancy with the most practical and effective strategies, the most 
important of which is education.
  An accurate and informative education on pregnancy and sexually 
transmitted diseases is not being provided to those who are the most 
vulnerable and are in the most need of this information. Parents, legal 
guardians, and other adults influencing children should emphasize 
healthy and responsible sexual development and decisionmaking, yet 
study after study of adolescent youth demonstrates that this is lacking 
in the home. In addition to family, poverty, sexism, and economic 
disenfranchisement are critical factors shaping the ability of 
teenagers to make decisions and yet, teenagers have little influence on 
any of these areas. What adolescents need, and are provided by the Teen 
Pregnancy Prevention Program, are the knowledge and confidence to make 
the best decisions despite, and in light of, these factors.
  The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is designed to implement and 
evaluate a range of interventions that promote healthy sexual 
development and reduce teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted 
diseases. The program also focuses on decreasing the incidence of 
pregnancies to teenagers by increasing the proportion of teens who 
delay the initiation of sexual activity, and who effectively use 
contraception.
  We all know that teenage childbearing robs not only the young parents 
of a better future, but the baby as well. That is why we must work 
together to ensure that the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program can 
continue its work to buck the current trend of increasing teen 
pregnancy. And that is why we must pass the Pelosi amendment.

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