Eva M. Clayton: “I want to commend all of those involved in this important issue of providing education and other resources for our…”

“I want to commend all of those involved in this important issue of providing education and other resources for our Nation. Mr. Chairman, although there are many features of this bill that are better than last year, there are far many more features of this bill that we find unacceptable. I only want to use my time to highlight two of those, and perhaps not emphasize as much as my other colleagues have about education, but education indeed is important, and we have not invested enough in education. Also, the other issue that we have not invested anything whatsoever in is teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is a hot subject now; we talk about that, but we have the dubious distinction of leading the world in this area. Eash year approximately 1 million teenagers become pregnant. Teenage pregnancy significantly affects the health of teenagers, as well as their economic and educational future. Once a teenager becomes pregnant there is no good solution. The best solution indeed is to prevent the pregnancy in the first place. Demagoguery is very easy. Meaningful action means deeds are difficult. We have provided no funding whatsoever.”