[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 53 (Thursday, May 2, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S3882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 105--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
  THE NATION SHOULD TAKE ADDITIONAL STEPS TO ENSURE THE PREVENTION OF 
 TEEN PREGNANCY BY ENGAGING IN MEASURES TO EDUCATE TEENAGERS AS TO WHY 
   THEY SHOULD STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES BEFORE 
                 ENGAGING IN PREMATURE SEXUAL ACTIVITY

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself and Ms. Snowe) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 105

       Whereas 4 in 10 girls in the United States will become 
     pregnant before the age of 20;
       Whereas childbearing by teenagers costs taxpayers at least 
     $7,000,000,000 each year in direct costs associated with 
     health care, foster care, criminal justice, and public 
     assistance;
       Whereas the United States has the highest rates of teenage 
     pregnancy and birth in the industrialized world;
       Whereas more than half of all mothers on welfare had their 
     first child as a teenager;
       Whereas 80 percent of births to teenagers are to unmarried 
     teenagers, and teenage mothers have more children, on 
     average, than women who delay childbearing, which makes it 
     more difficult for them and their children to escape a life 
     of poverty;
       Whereas teenagers who give birth are less likely to 
     complete high school and to go on to college, thereby 
     reducing their potential for economic self-sufficiency; and
       Whereas the children of teenage mothers are more likely to 
     be born prematurely and at low birth-weight, and suffer from 
     higher rates of abuse and neglect than other children: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Nation 
     should take additional steps to ensure the prevention of teen 
     pregnancy by engaging in measures to educate teenagers as to 
     why they should stop and think about the negative 
     consequences before engaging in premature sexual activity.

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