[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 42 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2351-S2352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, and Mrs. 
        Murray):
  S. 2380. A bill to provide for international family planning funding 
for the fiscal year 2001, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations.


 saving women's lives through international family planning act of 2000

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Saving Women's Lives through International Family Planning Act of 2000. 
I would like to thank Senator Snowe, Senator Boxer, and Senator Murray 
for joining me as cosponsors and I invite others to join us. 
Congresswoman Maloney introduced this legislation in the House in 
February, and it has gained the support of 94 cosponsors on both sides 
of the aisle in that body.
  Mr. President, while global population growth has slowed, the world's 
population reached 6 billion in 1999 and is expected to rise to 8.9 
billion by 2050. Nearly all of this growth is occurring in developing 
nations. High population density puts tremendous strain on water and 
other resources and takes an increasing toll on the quality and length 
of human life.
  Each year, more than 585,000 women die from complications related to 
pregnancy and childbirth. And millions of women suffer serious health 
problems following childbirth.
  International family planning programs are our best hope to slow 
population growth and decrease mortality rates, and that's why the 
legislation I'm introducing today is so important.
  Tomorrow is World Health Day, an appropriate occasion to remember 
that international family planning programs save the lives of millions 
of women all over the world. Providing reproductive health care and 
health education results in safer pregnancies and safer motherhood.
  Yet this country is paying hundreds of millions of dollars less on 
international family planning programs today than it did five years 
ago. We need to restore this country's commitment to helping those in 
developing countries raise their standards of living, and family 
planning must be an important part of that assistance. Without this 
renewed commitment, high fertility rates and rapid population growth 
will prevent people in the poorest countries from rising out of 
poverty.
  The Saving Women's Lives through International Family Planning Act of 
2000 authorizes $541.6 million--the funding level requested by 
President Clinton--for bilateral family planning programs and related 
assistance abroad. It also provides $35 million for the United Nations 
Population Fund, known as UNFPA. This would return our level of 
international family planning assistance to where it was in fiscal 
1995. This is a sound investment that will bring returns for decades to 
come.
  This bill would also reverse the so-called ``gag rule'' that 
restricts USAID grants to non-governmental organizations abroad that 
use their own funds to advocate a woman's right to choose or to perform 
legal medical procedures. Under this bill, the requirements we apply to 
NGOs would not be more restrictive that the requirements on foreign 
governments that receive similar assistance.
  I have fought for years, as a member of the Foreign Operations 
Appropriations subcommittee, for adequate funding for international 
family planning programs without restrictions which would limit the 
reach or effectiveness of our aid.

[[Page S2352]]

  Last year, we were forced to accept the gag rule in exchange for 
congressional agreement to pay U.S. arrears to the United Nations. It 
was a bitter pill to swallow and we must eliminate this provision now. 
It's unfair and undemocratic. By restricting the freedom of 
organizations to engage in public policy debates, the gag rule 
undermines a central goal of U.S. foreign policy, the promotion of 
democracy--which has at its core the principles of free and open debate 
and citizen involvement in government decisions. And this restriction 
is a serious impediment to our efforts to bring global population 
levels under control and to protect the lives of millions of women by 
letting them choose to have only as many children as they can care for 
responsibly.
  Mr. President, family planning is even more critical to the health of 
people in developing countries than it is here in America. Many 
developing countries lack the hospitals and clinics and doctors and 
other health-care professionals to provide women with the advice and 
care they need to have a safe pregnancy. Many lack the facilities and 
expertise to provide obstetrical and prenatal care women need to 
deliver healthy babies.
  Sometimes, a pregnancy can be dangerous, especially if the woman is 
too young or too old to bear a child. In many poor societies, families 
have many children because so many die before they reach adulthood and 
children provide the only support in their parents' later years. As a 
result, families too often have more children than they can 
realistically support and face malnutrition or even starvation. 
Finally, there are those who do not properly consider the potential 
transmission of deadly diseases such as AIDS or who do not have access 
to contraceptive devices.
  For many poor women abroad, family planning clinics offer the only 
general health care available. Without the critical funding provided in 
this bill, many of these women will unnecessarily suffer and even die. 
With this assistance, women and children will have a better chance of 
living longer, healthier lives.
  We need this legislation to reduce mortality rates, to combat the 
spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and to give the poorest nations 
an opportunity to meet their social, environmental, and economic needs 
by making family planning available worldwide.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join in support of the Saving 
Women's Lives through International Family Planning Act of 2000. We all 
have a stake in helping people in the worlds poorer nations plan their 
families and helping control the impact of population growth on the 
planet we share.
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