[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 137 (Friday, October 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1875]
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, 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 11, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3061) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes:

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to the 
Istook Amendment.
  This Amendment will increase federal spending for abstinence 
education only. It is imperative that we continue to support not only 
abstinence, but comprehensive sex education as well. 82% of American 
parents support a comprehensive approach to sex education being taught 
in our schools, including birth control, safer sex and abstinence.
  We should not just spend taxpayer dollars on abstinence only programs 
while censoring information and access to information about 
contraception, which prevents unwanted pregnancies, decreases abortions 
and prevents sexually transmitted diseases, including the deadly HIV/
AIDS virus.
  According to Advocates for Youth, 93% of Americans support teaching 
comprehensive sex education in high schools, while 84% of Americans 
support sex education being taught in middle/junior high schools.
  Also, seven out of ten Americans believe teaching abstinence only 
prohibits education on the use of condoms, preventing HIV/AIDS, and 
other sexually transmitted diseases.
  In the United States more than 4 million teens acquire a sexually 
transmitted disease each year. The Centers for Disease Control reported 
that almost 3000 adolescents between the ages of 13-19 had been 
diagnosed with AIDS between 1995 and 1997.
  We must act responsibly and not fail our children, parents, 
educators, and medical professions who oppose this amendment.
  Research has also shown that 75 percent of the decrease in teen 
pregnancy between 1988 and 1995 was due to improved contraceptive use, 
while 25 percent was due to increased abstinence.
  Soon, I will be introducing the ``Family Life Education Act of 
2001,'' which would reform the abstinence only provision in the 1996 
Welfare Reform Act to allow states to receive money for both abstinence 
and comprehensive sexual education, including contraception. Currently, 
states are only allowed to receive this money if they teach abstinence 
only.
  Other supporters of teaching comprehensive sex education in schools 
include the American Medical Association, the American Academy of 
Pediatrics, and the Society of Adolescent Medicine.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join with me in voting no on the 
Istook Amendment. We must support our young people by providing them 
with the education necessary to prevent unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS 
and other sexually transmitted diseases.

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