I 
# 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2553 
To provide for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy, HIV rates, and other 
sexually transmitted diseases, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2005 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CROW-
LEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. FARR, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER 
of California, Mr. NADLER, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. 
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BRADY of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DICKS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. INSLEE, 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. KILPATRICK of 
Michigan, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MORAN 
of Virginia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. 
ROTHMAN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. SAND-
ERS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. STARK, 
Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WAXMAN, 
Mr. WEXLER, Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania, Mr. WYNN, Ms. LORETTA 
SANCHEZ of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGH-
TER, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, 
Ms. WATSON, Mr. WEINER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 
and Mr. MEEK of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy, HIV
rates, and other sexually transmitted diseases, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Education 
About Life Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) 
The 
American 
Medical 
Association 
(‘‘AMA’’), 
the 
American 
Nurses 
Association 
(‘‘ANA’’), the American Academy of Pediatrics 
(‘‘AAP’’), the American College of Obstetricians and 
Gynecologists (‘‘ACOG’’), the American Public 
Health Association (‘‘APHA’’), and the Society of 
Adolescent Medicine (‘‘SAM’’), support responsible 
sexuality education that includes information about 
both abstinence and contraception. 
(2) Recent scientific reports by the Institute of 
Medicine, the American Medical Association and the 
Office on National AIDS Policy stress the need for 
sexuality education that includes messages about ab-
stinence and provides young people with information 
about contraception for the prevention of teen preg-
nancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted 
diseases (‘‘STDs’’).
(3) Research shows that teenagers who receive 
sexuality education that includes discussion of con-
traception are more likely than those who receive ab-
stinence-only messages to delay sexual activity and 
to use contraceptives when they do become sexually 
active. 
(4) Comprehensive sexuality education pro-
grams respect the diversity of values and beliefs rep-
resented in the community and will complement and 
augment the sexuality education children receive 
from their families. 
(5) The median age of puberty is 13 years and 
the average age of marriage is over 26 years old. 
American teens need access to full, complete, and 
medically and factually accurate information regard-
ing sexuality, including contraception, STD/HIV 
prevention, and abstinence. 
(6) Although teen pregnancy rates are decreas-
ing, there are still between 750,000 and 850,000 
teen pregnancies each year. Between 75 and 90 per-
cent of teen pregnancies among 15- to 19-year olds 
are unintended. 
(7) Research shows that 75 percent of the de-
crease in teen pregnancy between 1988 and 1995
was due to improved contraceptive use, while 25 per-
cent was due to increased abstinence. 
(8) More than eight out of ten Americans be-
lieve that young people should have information 
about abstinence and protecting themselves from un-
planned pregnancies and sexually transmitted dis-
eases. 
(9) United States teens acquire an estimated 
4,000,000 sexually transmitted infections each year. 
By age 24, at least one in three sexually active peo-
ple will have contracted a sexually transmitted dis-
ease. 
(10) An average of two young people in the 
United States are infected with HIV every hour of 
every day. African Americans and Hispanic youth 
have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/ 
AIDS epidemic. Although less than 16 percent of 
the adolescent population in the United States is Af-
rican American, nearly 50 percent of AIDS cases 
through June 2000 among 13- to 19-year olds were 
among Blacks. Hispanics comprise 13 percent of the 
population and 20 percent of the reported adolescent 
AIDS cases though June 2000.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO REDUCE TEEN PREGNANCY, HIV/ 
AIDS, AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED 
DISEASES AND TO SUPPORT HEALTHY ADO-
LESCENT DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State shall be enti-
tled to receive from the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010, 
a grant to conduct programs of family life education, in-
cluding education on both abstinence and contraception 
for the prevention of teenage pregnancy and sexually 
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY LIFE PROGRAMS.— 
For purposes of this Act, a program of family life edu-
cation is a program that— 
(1) is age-appropriate and medically accurate; 
(2) does not teach or promote religion; 
(3) teaches that abstinence is the only sure way 
to avoid pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases; 
(4) stresses the value of abstinence while not ig-
noring those young people who have had or are hav-
ing sexual intercourse; 
(5) provides information about the health bene-
fits and side effects of all contraceptives and barrier 
methods as a means to prevent pregnancy; 
(6) provides information about the health bene-
fits and side effects of all contraceptives and barrier
methods as a means to reduce the risk of con-
tracting sexually transmitted diseases, including 
HIV/AIDS; 
(7) encourages family communication about 
sexuality between parent and child; 
(8) teaches young people the skills to make re-
sponsible decisions about sexuality, including how to 
avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual ad-
vances and how not to make unwanted verbal, phys-
ical, and sexual advances; and 
(9) teaches young people how alcohol and drug 
use can effect responsible decisionmaking. 
(c) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out a pro-
gram of family life education, a State may expend a grant 
under subsection (a) to carry out educational and motiva-
tional activities that help young people— 
(1) gain knowledge about the physical, emo-
tional, biological, and hormonal changes of adoles-
cence and subsequent stages of human maturation; 
(2) develop the knowledge and skills necessary 
to ensure and protect their sexual and reproductive 
health from unintended pregnancy and sexually 
transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS through-
out their lifespan;
(3) gain knowledge about the specific involve-
ment of and male responsibility in sexual decision-
making; 
(4) develop healthy attitudes and values about 
adolescent growth and development, body image, 
gender roles, racial and ethnic diversity, sexual ori-
entation, and other subjects; 
(5) develop and practice healthy life skills in-
cluding goal-setting, decisionmaking, negotiation, 
communication, and stress management; 
(6) promote self-esteem and positive inter-
personal skills focusing on relationship dynamics, in-
cluding, but not limited to, friendships, dating, ro-
mantic involvement, marriage and family inter-
actions; and 
(7) prepare for the adult world by focusing on 
educational and career success, including developing 
skills for employment preparation, job seeking, inde-
pendent living, financial self-sufficiency, and work-
place productivity. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that while States are not 
required to provide matching funds, they are encouraged 
to do so.
SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of evaluating the 
effectiveness of programs of family life education carried 
out with a grant under section 3, evaluations of such pro-
gram shall be carried out in accordance with subsections 
(b) and (c). 
(b) NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
for a national evaluation of a representative sample 
of programs of family life education carried out with 
grants under section 3. A condition for the receipt 
of such a grant is that the State involved agree to 
cooperate with the evaluation. The purposes of the 
national evaluation shall be the determination of— 
(A) the effectiveness of such programs in 
helping to delay the initiation of sexual inter-
course and other high-risk behaviors; 
(B) the effectiveness of such programs in 
preventing adolescent pregnancy; 
(C) the effectiveness of such programs in 
preventing sexually transmitted disease, includ-
ing HIV/AIDS; 
(D) the effectiveness of such programs in 
increasing contraceptive knowledge and contra-
ceptive behaviors when sexual intercourse oc-
curs; and
(E) a list of best practices based upon es-
sential programmatic components of evaluated 
programs that have led to success in subpara-
graphs (A) through (D). 
(2) REPORT.—A report providing the results of 
the national evaluation under paragraph (1) shall be 
submitted to the Congress not later than March 31, 
2011, with an interim report provided on a yearly 
basis at the end of each fiscal year. 
(c) INDIVIDUAL STATE EVALUATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A condition for the receipt 
of a grant under section 3 is that the State involved 
agree to provide for the evaluation of the programs 
of family education carried out with the grant in ac-
cordance with the following: 
(A) The evaluation will be conducted by an 
external, independent entity. 
(B) The purposes of the evaluation will be 
the determination of— 
(i) the effectiveness of such programs 
in helping to delay the initiation of sexual 
intercourse and other high-risk behaviors; 
(ii) the effectiveness of such programs 
in preventing adolescent pregnancy;
(iii) the effectiveness of such pro-
grams in preventing sexually transmitted 
disease, including HIV/AIDS; and 
(iv) the effectiveness of such programs 
in increasing contraceptive knowledge and 
contraceptive behaviors when sexual inter-
course occurs. 
(2) USE OF GRANT.—A condition for the re-
ceipt of a grant under section 3 is that the State in-
volved agree that not more than 10 percent of the 
grant will be expended for the evaluation under 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State 
that submits to the Secretary an application for a 
grant under section 3 that is in such form, is made 
in such manner, and contains such agreements, as-
surances, and information as the Secretary deter-
mines to be necessary to carry out this Act. 
(2) The term ‘‘HIV/AIDS’’ means the human 
immunodeficiency virus, and includes acquired im-
mune deficiency syndrome. 
(3) The term ‘‘medically accurate’’, with respect 
to information, means information that is supported
by research, recognized as accurate and objective by 
leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, and pub-
lic health organizations and agencies, and where rel-
evant, published in peer review journals. 
(4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services. 
SEC. 7. APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of carrying out 
this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$206,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 
2010. 
(b) ALLOCATIONS.—Of the amounts appropriated 
under subsection (a) for a fiscal year— 
(1) not more than 7 percent may be used for 
the administrative expenses of the Secretary in car-
rying out this Act for that fiscal year; and 
(2) not more than 10 percent may be used for 
the national evaluation under section 5(b). 
Æ