Dear
Colleagues,
We
wanted to send a brief note to follow-up on the incredible hearing that took
place last week. It was a historic event--it
was the first ever hearing on the effectiveness of federally funded
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the history of the programs--and was a
huge success!
Led
by Chairman Henry Waxman, the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform heard from three panels of witnesses--including leading medical and
sexual health experts from across the country who testified on the ineffectiveness
of the programs and youth speakers who testified to the program's ill effects
on their lives and the lives of their peers.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive
Director of the American Public Health Association; Dr. Margaret Blythe, Chair
of the Committee on Adolescence, American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. John
Santelli, a leading sexual health researcher; Max Siegel, Policy Associate at AIDS
Alliance for Children, Youth & Families; and Shelby Knox, speaker and organizer, all
represented our issues amazingly well.
They did not leave Republicans who supported the programs or the
minority witness, Stan Weed, a leg to stand on!
A
huge thank you to everyone who submitted a statement for the Congressional
record! Over 60 national, state, and
local organizations submitted statements criticizing
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and calling for an end to federal
funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
Several
Committee Members asked pointed questions of witnesses and stood up as champions of a real approach
to sex education. Please thank the following Committee Members
for championing efforts to end ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs:
Chairman Henry Waxman, 202.225.3976
Representative
John Sarbanes, 202.225.4016
Representative
Peter Welch, 202.225.4115
Representative
John Yarmuth, 202.225.5401
Representative
Paul Hodes, 202.225.5206
Representative Betty McCollum, 202.225.6631
Representative Chris Shays, 202.225.5541
Representative
Elijah Cummings, 202.225.5206
Representative
Dennis Kucinich, 202.225.5871
Representative
Diane Watson, 202.225.7084
For
those that missed the hearing, you can view the video here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1910
You
can read the testimony of those who testified as well as read Chairman Waxman's
opening statement here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1888
The
website RH Reality Check has been posting several points of view about the
hearing. Here is the first part of my
own optimistic assessment of the hearing in an entry this morning. It can
be found at:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/04/30/hearings-highlight-ab-only-industry-in-peril
And,
finally, for a good laugh, the Daily Show did a piece on the hearing last
night. It can be found here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=167331&title=the-global-war-in-your-pants
We
will be back in touch soon with more follow-up. If you have any questions or
want more information, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
Best,
Bill
Smith
Vice President for Public Policy
SIECUS
