[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5183-S5184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS AWARENESS DAY
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate now
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 141, which was submitted
earlier today.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 141) designating September 9, 2005,
as ``National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness
Day.''
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. On Wednesday, May 18, parents of children afflicted
with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and their advocates will travel
to our Nation's Capital for the Second Annual FASD Hill Day. FASD Hill
Day is sponsored by the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
and organizations that support those who care for FASD children in our
States and communities.
Nobody knows better than a parent of a child afflicted with FASD how
challenging it is to raise a child who
[[Page S5184]]
was exposed to alcohol before birth. Nobody knows better the physical,
mental, behavioral and learning disabilities that can have lifelong
implications. I would urge my colleagues to open their offices to the
parents and advocates who participate in FASD Hill Day because they
have a very important story to tell. Their stories will move you.
At the conclusion of FASD Hill Day, the National Organization on
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome will host its annual Leadership Awards Benefit
Reception. All of the parents and advocates are invited to participate.
I am pleased to inform my colleagues that the distinguished Senator
from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi, and our distinguished colleague from Illinois,
Mr. Durbin, will receive the 2005 Leadership Award at the benefit
reception. As a Senator who represents a State with one of the highest
incidence rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, I appreciate the
leadership of Senator Durbin and Senator Enzi, and the support of all
of our colleagues, in the crusade to eradicate fetal alcohol spectrum
disorders.
The term fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, or FASD, was coined by
experts as an umbrella term to describe the range of effects that can
occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. It
refers to conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol
effects, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder and alcohol-
related birth defects.
The only cause of FASD is alcohol use during pregnancy. When a
pregnant woman drinks, the alcohol crosses the placenta into the fetal
blood system. Thus, alcohol reaches the fetus, its developing tissues
and organs. This is how brain damage occurs, which in turn can lead to
mental retardation, social and emotional problems, learning
disabilities and other problems. In fact, FASD is the leading cause of
mental retardation in all of western civilization, including the United
States.
Since the only cause of FASD is prenatal alcohol consumption it
follows that by abstaining from the consumption of alcohol during
pregnancy a woman can completely foreclose the possibility that her
baby will be born with one or another of the conditions that are
regarded fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Every day of the year we must remind women that no amount of alcohol
consumed during pregnancy is safe for their baby. No alcohol during
pregnancy is safe. None at all.
To dramatize this point, a group of parents who were raising children
afflicted with fetal alcohol came together on the Internet and wondered
in cyberspace, ``What if a world full of FAS and FAE parents all got
together on the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month of the year
and asked the world to remember that during the 9 months of pregnancy a
woman should not consume alcohol?'' If this were to occur, they
wondered, ``Would the world listen?''
On the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month every year they
called upon all the peoples of the world to observe a moment of silence
to remind women of childbearing age that no amount of alcohol is safe
during pregnancy.
These pioneering activists, most of whom were adoptive and foster
parents, led by Brian Philcox and Bonnie Buxton of Toronto, Canada, and
Teresa Kellerman of Tucson, AZ, did not have the resources of large
public relations firms or well connected lobbyists. They organized the
first International FAS Awareness Day, which was observed on September
9, 1999, on a shoestring using the Internet. Rapidly their group grew
to include more than 70 volunteer coordinators in eight countries. Each
year I receive e-mails from places like New Zealand, Germany, and my
own State of Alaska, telling me about their local FAS Day observances.
Through this grassroots awareness effort, many women of childbearing
age learned for the first time that no amount of alcohol in pregnancy
is good.
On September 9, 2004, for the first time, the moment of silence was
observed on the Senate floor. I would hope that this would become an
annual tradition until fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are eradicated.
The resolution that I have introduced today designates September 9,
2005, as National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Awareness Day. Although
September 9 is several months off, I have asked that the resolution be
considered at this time as a tribute to the efforts of the FASD parents
and advocates who have come to Washington, DC, educate all of us about
the dangers of alcohol and pregnancy and to provide them with a tool to
encourage each of their communities to observe and participate in
FASDAY 2005 when they return home.
Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the
preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 141) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 141
Whereas the term ``fetal alcohol spectrum disorders''
includes a broader range of conditions and therefore has
replaced the term ``fetal alcohol syndrome'' as the umbrella
term describing the range of effects that can occur in an
individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy;
Whereas fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are the leading
cause of mental retardation in western civilization,
including the United States, and are 100 percent preventable;
Whereas fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a major cause
of numerous social disorders, including learning
disabilities, school failure, juvenile delinquency,
homelessness, unemployment, mental illness, and crime;
Whereas the incidence rate of fetal alcohol syndrome is
estimated at 1 out of 500 live births and the incidence rate
of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is estimated at 1 out of
every 100 live births;
Whereas the economic cost of fetal alcohol syndrome alone
to the Nation was $5,400,000,000 in 2003 and it is estimated
that each individual with fetal alcohol syndrome will cost
United States taxpayers between $1,500,000 and $3,000,000 in
his or her lifetime;
Whereas in February 1999, a small group of parents of
children who suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
came together with the hope that in 1 magic moment the world
could be made aware of the devastating consequences of
alcohol consumption during pregnancy;
Whereas the first International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Awareness Day was observed on September 9, 1999;
Whereas Bonnie Buxton of Toronto, Canada, the co-founder of
the first International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day,
asked ``What if . . . a world full of FAS/E [Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome/Effect] parents all got together on the ninth hour
of the ninth day of the ninth month of the year and asked the
world to remember that during the 9 months of pregnancy a
woman should not consume alcohol . . . would the rest of the
world listen?''; and
Whereas on the ninth day of the ninth month of each year
since 1999, communities around the world have observed
International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) designates September 9, 2005, as ``National Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day''; and
(2) calls upon the people of the United States to--
(A) observe National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Awareness Day with appropriate ceremonies to--
(i) promote awareness of the effects of prenatal exposure
to alcohol;
(ii) increase compassion for individuals affected by
prenatal exposure to alcohol;
(iii) minimize further effects of prenatal exposure to
alcohol; and
(iv) ensure healthier communities across the United States;
and
(B) observe a moment of reflection on the ninth hour of
September 9, 2005, to remember that during the 9 months of
pregnancy a woman should not consume alcohol.
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