[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 132 (Tuesday, October 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11499-S11501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              URGING PROHIBITION OF REBIRTHING TECHNIQUES

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 276, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 276) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that the attachment therapy technique known as 
     rebirthing is a dangerous practice and should be prohibited.


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  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about a resolution 
I have introduced with my colleague from North Carolina, Senator Burr. 
This resolution encourages States to prohibit a controversial procedure 
known as ``rebirthing.''
  Today's action sheds light on the death of a North Carolina child 
brought to Colorado to undergo the ``rebirthing'' procedure.
  Like many, I first learned of this intervention procedure known as 
``rebirthing'' when information about the death of Candace Newmaker was 
reported in Colorado newspapers.
  Rebirthing is a procedure which attempts to reenact the birth process 
by restraining a child with blankets and forcing a child to emerge 
unaided.
  Candace, a 10-year-old, was brought to my State to undergo 
``rebirthing,'' which was supposed to help her form a bond with her 
newly adoptive mother. Instead, this dangerous procedure, which is 
supported by no scientific evidence, and is in fact condemned by the 
American Psychiatric Association, cut short a life full of 
possibilities.
  Her adoptive mother believed that this procedure would help her 
establish a stronger relationship with Candace, who was having 
difficulty adjusting to her new home and who had been in and out of the 
foster care system.
  By paying $7,000 for someone to diagnose and to treat Candace, her 
adoptive mother believed that she would establish a connection with her 
new daughter. After a few days, the hired ``experts'' decided that 
``rebirthing'' would erase Candace's childhood memories so that she 
could form a lasting mother-daughter relationship.
  Candace was wrapped in flannel blankets, held down by the weight of 
four adults, who bounced her and squeezed her to simulate contractions. 
When Candace begged for the procedure to cease, the adults holding her 
down ignored her pleas. When she told the strangers restraining her 
that she felt she was going to die, they ignored her.
  In April 2001, when Candace was brought to Children's Hospital in 
Denver, she was unconscious. She had been restrained under blankets for 
over an hour. Tragically, she suffocated to death.
  I was Colorado's Attorney General at the time this tragedy occurred. 
When one of the therapists was convicted for the death of Candace, my 
office successfully upheld that conviction upon appeal.
  As I stated then, and still believe today: adults are responsible for 
their criminal recklessness when caring for a child, regardless of 
whether it is called ``therapy'' or some other form of unusual care or 
treatment.
  We cannot take back the actions of the past and bring Candace back, 
but we can take action to ensure that her life was not lost in vain.
  Her grandparents, David and Mary Davis, have been the primary force 
behind efforts to honor the life of Candace. Through their advocacy, 
the States of Colorado and North Carolina have passed laws banning 
rebirthing.
  The Davis family also worked with their representative in the U.S. 
House of Representatives to pass a resolution encouraging States to 
outlaw rebirthing.
  With the introduction of this resolution, the Senate is poised to 
act.
  Candace's grandparents and several members of her extended family are 
with us today. I welcome the Davis family and sincerely appreciate 
their presence. I am honored to join with Senator Burr to support this 
resolution.
  It is my hope that our actions today will prevent further pain and 
suffering.
  I urge the Senate to promptly act on this resolution in the name of 
Candace Newmaker and all children who could potentially be victimized 
by this life-threatening procedure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Colorado. It is 
seldom we have an opportunity to effect a change for a specific 
individual. We have an opportunity to do that today for an individual 
we will never meet, an individual who might be placed in the same 
situation as Candace. In fact, in 2001, Candace Newmaker, the 
granddaughter of David and Mary Davis of Vale, NC, was killed. She was 
killed during a so-called rebirthing therapy session. This dangerous 
practice involves therapists, as my colleague said, wrapping sheets and 
towels and pillows around a patient who almost always is a young child, 
who is curled in a fetal position. The therapists attempt to recreate 
the child's birth by physically restraining and pushing against the 
child, urging the child to escape.
  The stories are horrendous. Rebirthing has resulted in numerous 
injuries as well as the suffocation and death of five children. If 
there was ever a time that called out for us to act on a resolution 
like this, this is it; to reach out to States and say: Do what North 
Carolina did, do what Colorado did--outlaw this practice.
  In 2003, North Carolina did outlaw this unsafe therapy, largely due 
to the Davises' efforts. Today, Senator Salazar and I urge other States 
to do exactly that. The Candace Newmaker resolution encourages States 
to examine the rebirthing technique and enact laws prohibiting this 
dangerous practice. Organizations such as the American Psychological 
Association fully support the ban of this technique. The possible loss 
of another child to this harmful therapy should be enough reason for 
the Senate to pass this resolution; if we can affect one child with our 
action, a child we have not met who might be exposed to this, we should 
do so.
  The House of Representatives, led by my colleague, Representative Sue 
Myrick, passed a similar resolution on December 17, 2002. The Davises 
are here today, and I thank them personally for their passion and for 
their commitment to have rebirthing outlawed. Their dedication to this 
cause is a reflection of the amount of love and loss they feel toward 
Candace.
  Mr. President, I proudly join my colleague, Senator Salazar, to raise 
awareness of this resolution and to urge our colleagues in this body 
for a quick consideration.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution and preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motion to reconsider 
be laid upon the table, that any statements relating thereto be printed 
in the Record, without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 276) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 276

       Whereas ``rebirthing'' is the most dangerous form of 
     attachment therapy, a controversial and scientifically 
     unsupported form of therapy that claims to treat emotionally 
     disturbed children by using physical restraints;
       Whereas rebirthing techniques attempt to reenact the birth 
     process by restraining a child with blankets or other 
     materials and forcing the child to emerge unaided;
       Whereas rebirthing techniques are based on the erroneous 
     assumption that a reenactment of the birth process will treat 
     children with reactive attachment disorder, a psychiatric 
     condition characterized by the inability to form emotional 
     attachments, by purging the child of rage resulting from past 
     mistreatment and allowing the child to form stronger 
     emotional attachments in the future;
       Whereas attachment therapists claim rebirthing techniques 
     create new bonds between adopted children and adoptive 
     parents and often use rebirthing techniques in therapy 
     sessions with adoptive families;
       Whereas in 2000, Candace Newmaker, a 10-year-old child from 
     North Carolina, died from suffocation, after being wrapped in 
     flannel sheets, covered with pillows, and leaned on by 4 
     adults to simulate contractions, when Candace became trapped 
     by the sheets because she was forcibly restrained by these 
     adults and could not emerge through her own efforts to be 
     reborn into her adoptive family;
       Whereas between 1995 and 2005, at least 4 other children in 
     the United States have died from other forms of attachment 
     therapy;
       Whereas the American Psychiatric Association, a national 
     medical specialty society that focuses on the diagnosis, 
     treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses, maintains that 
     no scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of 
     rebirthing techniques;
       Whereas in 2002, Paul S. Appelbaum, M.D., President of the 
     American Psychiatric Association, condemned rebirthing 
     techniques as ``extreme methods [that] pose serious risk and 
     should not be used under any circumstances''; and
       Whereas several States have enacted or are considering 
     legislation to prohibit the use of rebirthing techniques: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) rebirthing, an attachment therapy technique that 
     reenacts the birth process by

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     physically restraining a child and forcing the child to 
     emerge unaided, is dangerous, potentially life-threatening, 
     and unsupported by scientific evidence; and
       (2) each State should enact laws prohibiting the use of 
     rebirthing techniques.

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