[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 62 (Thursday, May 6, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL DAY TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 2004

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. We have much to celebrate as a 
country in respect to teen pregnancies and birth. Teen pregnancy, 
abortion and birth rates have all declined: the birth rate is down 31 
percent from 1991-2002 and the teen pregnancy rate is down 28 percent 
from 1990-2000. While African American teens still have higher teen 
pregnancy rates than any other major racial/ethnic groups in the 
country, their rates are decreasing faster than the overall rates for 
teen pregnancy and birth in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000, 
the teen pregnancy rate among African American teens declined 31.5 
percent.
  There have been an exceptional number of organizations whose hard 
work and dedication through education and outreach services contributed 
to this decline. A few of those include our Community Health Center, 
the school health associations, the Ounce of Prevention Fund, and 
Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
  Still, there is no room for complacency. Nearly half of our Nation's 
high school students have had sexual intercourse; the average age of 
first intercourse for boys and girls is 15 and almost 25 percent report 
having sex with four or more partners by 12th grade. 35 percent of 
girls still get pregnant by age 20 in this Nation--nearly 850,000 teen 
pregnancies annually. In Chicago alone, more than 7,500 babies are born 
to teen moms every year, 88 percent of which are out-of wedlock. The 
numbers of teens contracting sexually transmitted diseases are just as 
startling. Each year one--quarter of the estimated 12 million new cases 
of STD, other than HIV, in the United States occur among teenagers. 
Adolescents have one of the fastest increasing rates of HIV infection; 
an average of two young people are infected with HIV every hour of 
every day.
  Abstinence education should be taught but not without more education 
explaining the risks of being sexually active. With the high percentage 
of adolescence having sexual intercourse and according to the Illinois 
Department of Public Health only 35 percent of males and females 
nationally use a condom during every act of sexual intercourse, we can 
not pretend or even wish that our young people are waiting to have sex. 
Education works--we have proof of that with the decline in teen 
pregnancies and births. We need to ensure that our young people are 
receiving a comprehensive sex education program to effectively teach 
and encourage teens to delay sexual activity. The Alan Guttmacher 
institute found that between 1988 and 1995, three-quarters of the 
decline in teen pregnancy was due to improved contraceptive use among 
sexually active teenagers with one quarter of the decrease due to 
increased abstinence.
  Mr. Speaker, teen pregnancy is so closely linked to other critical 
social issues: child poverty, out of wedlock births, a well-trained and 
ready workforce, and a responsible fatherhood. Congress, communities, 
schools, parents, organizations and groups of faith should all join 
together in properly educating and demonstrating to our young people 
that adolescence is a time for education and growing up, not pregnancy 
and parenthood.

                          ____________________