[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 147 (Monday, October 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TMA, ABSTINENCE EDUCATION, AND QI PROGRAMS EXTENSION ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 26, 2007

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, this bill allows the extension of some 
important programs, specifically Transitional Medical Assistance and 
the Medicare Qualifying Individual Program.
  But it unfortunately ties these necessary provisions to yet another 
ill-considered extension of the federal abstinence-only program.
  Keeping federal abstinence-only programs in the form they've taken 
for the past ten years is an embarrassment to Congress, an insult to 
taxpayers and a disservice to the health of American young people.
  We all support promoting abstinence as the healthiest choice for 
young people. But the abstinence-only programs we've been funding are a 
mistake. They contain serious misinformation and, most importantly, are 
not effective in improving adolescent health.
  In 2004 a report I released looked at federally-funded abstinence-
only programs and found that the vast majority of the most popular 
curricula had significant scientific and medical errors. Kids were 
being taught that HIV can be spread by tears and sweat, that condoms 
don't help protect against STDs, and that pregnancy occurs one in every 
seven times a couple uses condoms.
  In 2006, GAO found that HHS still wasn't reviewing the medical 
accuracy of curricula used in the biggest federal abstinence-only 
programs. GAO also said there was no reliable evidence that these 
programs improve participants' health.
  In 2007, HHS released the results of an evaluation it had 
commissioned itself on the effectiveness of federally-funded 
abstinence-only programs. In this randomized, controlled study--the 
gold standard of research--the abstinence-only programs had no impact 
on whether teens had sex. They had no impact on the age of first sex. 
They had no impact on the number of partners. And they had no impact on 
rates of pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.
  It's not surprising, in light of all this, that eleven states have 
decided they'd rather not receive federal abstinence-only money at all.
  This program is broken. We've given abstinence-only programs one 
billion dollars in the past decade. $500 million of that has been 
through this program. And that doesn't include the matching money 
states have put in. And for all that money, all we've been able to show 
the taxpayers are glaring medical errors and zero impact on adolescent 
health.
  Language passed by the House in August would have required programs 
to contain medically accurate information; mandated that programs be 
based on models proven effective in improving adolescent pregnancy, 
HIV, or sexually transmitted disease rates; and given states the option 
of offering more comprehensive health information.
  I want to be clear. I do not think we should fund any abstinence-only 
programs. I don't think that we should be funding federal programs that 
are specifically premised on withholding crucial and age-appropriate 
health information from young people.
  But I am heartened by Chairman Dingell's statement that he will 
continue to fight for the House changes, because I believe they will 
move us closer to a responsible federal position on sex education. I 
offer Mr. Dingell my full support in ensuring that federally-funded 
programs actually improve the health and well-being of American youth.

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