[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WORLD POPULATION AWARENESS WEEK

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 28, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this week is World Population Awareness 
Week. It calls attention to the growing population of mankind and the 
pressures it puts on the planet. At the current rate, the world's 
population will double from 5.8 to 11 billion people during our 
lifetime. Excluding China, 21 million women of childbearing age in the 
developing world are added each year--equal to the total number of 
women of childbearing age in California, Texas, New York, and Florida 
combined.
  Population Awareness Week calls attention to our voluntary family 
planning program. President Nixon launched the U.S. international 
family planning program in 1969. The program improves the health of 
mothers and their children by increasing the time between births while 
reducing unintended pregnancies and abortions. After 30 years, the 
program helped reduce the average number of children in the developing 
world from six to four. Modern contraceptive use climbed from 10 to 35 
percent. As contraceptive use in countries such as Russia rose from 19 
to 24 percent, abortion rates fell from 109 per 1,000 women to 76. It 
is clear that family planning reduces unintended pregnancies and 
abortions in many countries. In sum, the Population Council estimates 
that without family planning programs, there would have been 500 
million more people in the world today--almost twice the population of 
the United States.
  The single greatest way to reduce infant mortality is to increase the 
time between pregnancies. Family planning also helps to reduce 
abortion. Family planning saves lives and creates greater opportunities 
for the health, education, and economic future of children.
  I want to commend the leaders behind World Population Awareness Week, 
especially Werner Fornos of the Population Institute. The institute is 
one of the leading forces in bringing the attention of the Congress to 
key issues of population, family planning, and the environment.

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