Lloyd Bentsen: “I rise today in support of releasing the already appropriated funds for family planning on March 1. With the growing…”

“I rise today in support of releasing the already appropriated funds for family planning on March 1. With the growing program of overpopulation around the world, access to international family planning is crucial. About 1.3 billion people subsist on $1 a day, 1.5 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, 120 million people are actively looking for work, and 700 million people are classified as underemployed, working long hours in jobs that often fail to come close to supporting their basic needs. For many of these people, health care is neither affordable nor even available. It is clearly in our national interest to address these changes and to contribute to international stability and economic growth. It is a more cost effective investment to address these problems proactively rather than later when they erupt into an international crisis. For health reasons alone, quality family planning deserves our full support. Only through the use of family planning funds have women and couples in poor countries had access to contraceptives, prenatal care, and a link to modern health care services. International family planning has improved women's health and allowed generations of children to grow in safer, more suitable environments.”