Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce the Communities of Color Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Act. Teen pregnancy is closely linked to a number of issues that affect the welfare of children in our Nation, particularly child poverty. A child in the United States is nine times more likely to grow up in poverty if their mother gave birth when she was a teen, if the child's parents are unmarried when they are born, and if the mother did not graduate from high school. The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation. Each year close to 750,000 teens in the United States become pregnant. Despite some progress in reducing teen pregnancy overall, many minority communities continue to struggle with disproportionately high rates of teen pregnancy. Over half of all Latina and African American girls will become pregnant at least once before they turn 20. In 2009 the teen birth rate for Latinas, African Americans and American Indians/Alaska Natives was more than double the teen birth rate of non-Hispanic Caucasians.…”