[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          TEEN PREGNANCY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here this evening, 
because it is Teen Pregnancy Awareness Month, to address this epidemic 
of teen pregnancy in our country. It is a reality that affects our 
entire society and it deserves not only our attention but it also 
deserves a series of remedies.
  Teens are often a group invisible to health policymakers and 
providers because they are generally in good physical health and they 
have limited contact with health care providers. Parents and health 
care providers often believe that young equals healthy.
  Unfortunately, the United States not only leads the Western 
industrialized world in teen sexual activity and teen pregnancy but 
there is double the rate of these activities in the United States than 
in other industrialized nations. That is shocking.
  Teen sexual activity has led to 3 million teens acquiring sexually 
transmitted diseases each year along with one of the fastest rising 
rates of AIDS cases. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases reports that 25 percent of new HIV infections are occurring to 
people between the ages of 13 and 20. Teen mothers are less likely to 
graduate from high school and nearly 80 percent of teen mothers turn to 
welfare.
  These circumstances have had a detrimental effect on our children and 
obviously on our society as a whole.
  The problem is apparent. But now what can we do? Teens who engage in 
risky behaviors such as sex at an early age may be attempting to mask 
or cope with emotional school or family problems, and these behaviors 
may be a call for help. By understanding and valuing the concerns of 
young people, adults can help develop and encourage safer options that 
are attractive to adolescents and teens.
  For the past few years, we have seen a slow decline in our Nation's 
teen pregnancy rates. We can be grateful for that. Communities all over 
the country have reached out to their teens by providing information 
and support.

                              {time}  1830

  But what we need to know is we need to know what works. I am pleased 
to be a sponsor of H.R. 1636, the Teen Pregnancy Reduction Act 
introduced by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) and supported 
and endorsed by many of the people who will be speaking this evening, 
including the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton), who is 
involved with this special order.
  That legislation calls for an evaluation of the best methods of 
communicating with our youth about sex, and uses these programs as 
models for areas that are in need around the country. It is a 
nonpartisan approach, and it would include experts who would 
collaborate on the most effective method of getting in touch with teens 
and therefore decreasing teen pregnancy rates.
  Some of the organizations leading this effort in battling teen 
pregnancy that would be called on in this legislation are the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of Population Affairs, 
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the 
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
  It is obvious that a cookie cutter approach to teaching our teens 
about sex and how to reduce risky behavior will not be enough to 
minimize pregnancy rates. Now we as policymakers need to provide 
methods that work.
  As a cosponsor of that Teen Pregnancy Reduction Act and a member of 
the House Advisory Panel to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen 
Pregnancy, and as a mother and as a grandparent, I urge our colleagues 
to join with us to combat this epidemic of teen pregnancy in our 
country.

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