Date: 1997-09-09
Speaker: BOB SHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Chairman. I find it surprising. frankly. that this debate takes place to the extent that it does and with the passion that it does. Mr. Chairman. I wish to address a number of points. The credibility that really eludes the arguments of the opponents of the Istook amendment is rooted in a number of points that I wish to address. First of all. Mr. Chairman. I ask that Members remember this is an appropriations bill. One would think that this was a bill over a particular activity or another piece of legislation. But what this really is about is about cash and about funding and about funding a particular activity through the title X clinics. One of the comments that was made by the opponents of this amendment was that if adopted. it would. quote. deny contraceptive services. Mr. Chairman. I point out that this amendment only ensures that public funds are not spent in a way that undermines parental authority. In fact. contraceptive services to children. for those who support that kind of thing. can continue on iwith the Istook amendment. In fact the proponents of the substitute amendment. which favors contraception for children. suggests that the groups like the AMA. the American Academy of Pediatrics. the Hospital Association. the American Association of Public Hospitals. the American OB/ GYNs all support the concept of contraception for children and oppose the Istook amendment. Well. these groups are fine organizations. They are in many cases privately funded organizations. Let them pay for contraception for children if they really and truly do believe the importance of it. What is at debate here today. again. is not whether this activity is legal or should or should not take place. What is in question is the extent to which our Federal Government should subsidize an activity that is so offensive to so many and does undermine the principal authority of parents and families throughout our country. Mr. Chairman. in my district out in the eastern plains of Colorado. there are tens of thousands. perhaps hundreds of thousands for whom contraception alone is an offensive proposition. They believe that it in fact violates their religious precepts that they practice as a part of their daily life. Frankly. they are not asking to impose that belief on anyone else. But just as there are those who hold those beliefs and ideals dear. and abide by them daily. there are others who believe that contraception for children is a good idea. Now. those individuals are in fact imposing their values. their brand of morality. on all of the rest. They are in fact taking the cash on .April 15. the income taxes of hardworking individuals who find this activity abhorrent. they take their cash and they spend it in a way that violates that public trust. Mr. Chairman. my wife and I are raising three daughters and a young boy. and if I ever found out that my government was providing advice and contraceptfve services to my children without my knowledge. I can only say that it would be very difficult to forgive those who allowed that to take place. I believe I would find a way to do that eventually. but it would be difficult and it is difficult for every parent in this country to handle that as well. Mr. Chairman. it is more difficult still to understand that it is possible today. in fact likely today. and in fact is occurring today. that that scenario will duplicate itself and repeat itself and the very parents who are offended by that activity are bearing the costs themselves. Yes. right here in America. parents are paying as taxpayers for agents of the Government to teach their children values that are contradictory to those which are taught in the home. We should not allow that to occur. It has been said by th6se who are in favor of contraception for children that the United States leads the world in sexually transmitted diseases. That was not always the case. It has only been the case since we have allowed the Federal Government to intrude into the bedroom on children. to subsidize the sexual activities of children. Mr. Chairman. how often have we heard that: Keep government out of the bedroom? We should not use taxpayer dollars to ease children into a bedroom. We should not use taxpayer dollars to equip them for an activity for which they are not fit to engage. We should not use taxpayer dollars to teach a false sense of security for an activity that can kill them. that can scar children. that can devastate their futures and which drives a wedge even further between children and their parents. Mr. Chairman. if we want children to learn. we buy them books. If we want children to brush their teeth. we buy them toothbrushes. and toothpaste. If we want them to obtain jobs. we teach them how to work. If we want them to be baseball players. we buy them baseballs and baseball gloves. If we want them to stop fighting. we take away the clubs. If we want them to stop shooting. we take away the bullets. If we want them to stop taking drugs. we take away the needles. If we want them to have sex. all we have to do is give them the tools. as we do today. to have sex. to think that they are responsible. to treat them like married adults. when actually they are foolish children. One other opponent of the Istook amendment said that in order to understand this issue and vote the way they think we ought to vote. we only need to put ourselves in the mind of a 15yearold. As a Member of Congress. I say hell no. We are the U.S. Congress. We are sent here to represent a country and honor the values of this great Nation. not to think like children. not to pass foolish pieces of legislation that take cash from parents and use it to pry their authority away from their family obligation and their rights as parents. We should pass the Istook amendment and honor that sacred institution of our families.