Ernest Istook: “Mr. Chairman, this vote is going to show whether we believe in families and family responsibility or in Government…”

“Mr. Chairman, this vote is going to show whether we believe in families and family responsibility or in Government taking over the major aspects of what we teach our children. President Clinton says: Government does not raise children; families do. I say to my colleagues, Then show you mean it. I know a friend who came to me. He has a 16-year-old daughter. He found out that she had been going to a title X clinic for a couple of years. He did not know anything about it until she ended up pregnant and had had an abortion. He said, ``Can the Government do this to our family? I could have helped, but I could not because I did not know.'' As parents, my wife and I know our approval was necessary if our girls wanted to get their ears pierced, when one of our five children went on school field trips, if they simply needed aspirin at school, or even to handle many medical emergencies. Yet Federal law say kid don't need anyone's okay to get birth control, family planning counseling, or even medical treatment, so long as it relates to sex. Title X--Title Ten--of the Federal Public Health Service Act provides birth control, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and family- planning counseling to adults and minors alike. Created in 1970, the intent was to serve poor families, but that has changed.…”