To expand access to preventive health care services that reduce unintended pregnancy (including teen pregnancy), reduce the number of abortions, and improve access to women's health care.

SA 244. Mr. REID (for Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Kerry,
Mr. Corzine, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mrs. Feinstein)) proposed
an amendment to the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 18, setting
forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for
fiscal year 2006 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for
fiscal years 2005 and 2007 through 2010; as follows:

On page 3, line 10, increase the amount by $72,000,000.
On page 3, line 11, increase the amount by $108,000,000.
On page 3, line 12, increase the amount by $14,000,000.
On page 3, line 13, increase the amount by $4,000,000.
On page 3, line 19, increase the amount by $72,000,000.
On page 3, line 20, increase the amount by $108,000,000.
On page 3, line 21, increase the amount by $14,000,000.
On page 4, line 1, increase the amount by $4,000,000.
On page 4, line 7, increase the amount by $100,000,000.
On page 4, line 16, increase the amount by $36,000,000.
On page 4, line 17, increase the amount by $54,000,000.
On page 4, line 18, increase the amount by $7,000,000.
On page 4, line 19, increase the amount by $2,000,000.
On page 4, line 24, increase the amount by $36,000,000.

[[Page S3079]]

On page 4, line 25, increase the amount by $54,000,000.
On page 5, line 1, increase the amount by $7,000,000.
On page 5, line 2, increase the amount by $2,000,000.
On page 5, line 7, decrease the amount by $36,000,000.
On page 5, line 8, decrease the amount by $90,000,000.
On page 5, line 9, decrease the amount by $97,000,000.
On page 5, line 10, decrease the amount by $99,000,000.
On page 5, line 11, decrease the amount by $99,000,000.
On page 5, line 15, decrease the amount by $36,000,000.
On page 5, line 16, decrease the amount by $90,000,000.
On page 5, line 17, decrease the amount by $97,000,000.
On page 5, line 18, decrease the amount by $99,000,000.
On page 5, line 19, decrease the amount by $99,000,000.
On page 18, line 16, increase the amount by $100,000,000.
On page 18, line 17, increase the amount by $36,000,000.
On page 19, line 4, increase the amount by $2,000,000.
On page 30, line 16, decrease the amount by $72,000,000.
On page 30, line 17, decrease the amount by $198,000,000.
On page 48, line 6, increase the amount by $36,000,000.
At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING PREVENTIVE HEALTH
CARE SERVICES.

(a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
(1) Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
included family planning in its published list of the Ten
Great Public Health Achievements in the 20th Century, the
United States still has one of the highest rates of
unintended pregnancies among industrialized nations.
(2) Increasing access to family planning services will
improve women's health and reduce the rates of unintended
pregnancy, abortion, and infection with sexually transmitted
infections.
(3) Contraceptive use saves public health dollars. Every
dollar spent on providing family planning services saves an
estimated $3 in expenditures for pregnancy-related and
newborn care for Medicaid alone.
(4) Each year, 3,000,000 pregnancies, nearly half of all
pregnancies, in the United States are unintended, and nearly
half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion.
(5) In 2002, 34,000,000 women--half of all women of
reproductive age were in need of contraceptive services and
supplies to help prevent unintended pregnancy, and half of
those were in need of public support for such care.
(6) The United States also has the highest rate of
infection with sexually transmitted infections of any
industrialized country. In 2003 there were approximately
19,000,000 new cases of sexually transmitted infections.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(November 2004), these sexually transmitted infections impose
a tremendous economic burden with direct medical costs as
high as $15,500,000,000 per year.
(7) The child born from an unintended pregnancy is at
greater risk of low birth weight, dying in the first year of
life, being abused, and not receiving sufficient resources
for healthy development.
(8) Each year, services under title X of the Public Health
Service Act enable Americans to prevent approximately
1,000,000 unintended pregnancies, and one in three women of
reproductive age who obtains testing or treatment for
sexually transmitted infections does so at a title X-funded
clinic. In 2003, title X-funded clinics provided 2,800,000
Pap tests, 5,100,000 sexually transmitted infection tests,
and 526,000 HIV tests.
(9) The increasing number of uninsured individuals,
stagnant funding, health care inflation, new and expensive
contraceptive technologies, and improved but expensive
screening and treatment for cervical cancer and sexually
transmitted infections, have diminished the ability of
clinics funded under title X of the Public Health Service Act
to adequately serve all those in need. Taking medical
inflation into account, funding for the program under such
title X declined by 59 percent between 1980 and 2004.
(10) Although employer-sponsored health plans have improved
coverage of contraceptive services and supplies, largely in
response to State contraceptive coverage laws, there is still
significant room for improvement. Half of the 45,000,000
women of reproductive age currently live in the 29 States
without contraceptive coverage policies. These women may
still find the most effective forms of contraceptives beyond
their financial reach due to a lack of coverage.
(11) Including contraceptive coverage in private health
care plans saves employers money. Not covering contraceptives
in employee health plans costs employers 15 to 17 percent
more than providing such coverage.
(12) Approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration,
emergency contraception is a safe and effective way to
prevent unintended pregnancy after unprotected sex. It is
estimated that the use of emergency contraception could cut
the number of unintended pregnancies in half, thereby
reducing the need for abortion. New research confirms that
easier access to emergency contraceptives does not increase
sexual risk-taking or sexually transmitted infections.
(13) In 2000, 51,000 abortions were prevented by the use of
emergency contraception. Increased use of emergency
contraception accounted for up to 43 percent of the total
decline in abortions between 1994 and 2000.
(14) Thirteen percent of all teens give birth before age
20. Eighty-eight percent of births to teens age 17 or younger
were unintended. Twenty-four percent of Hispanic females gave
birth before the age of 20. (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, December 2004).
(15) Children born to teen moms begin life with the odds
against them. They are less likely to be ready for
kindergarten, more likely to be of low-birth weight, 50
percent more likely to repeat a grade, more likely to live in
poverty, and significantly more likely to be victims of abuse
and neglect.
(16) Research shows that a range of initiatives, including
sex education, youth development and service learning
programs, can encourage teens to behave responsibly by
delaying sexual activity and pregnancy. Federal tax dollars
are best invested in programs with research-based evidence of
success.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that this resolution assumes that--
(1) $100,000,000 of the amount provided for under function
category 550 (health) for fiscal year 2006 may be used for
any or all of the following--
(A) to fund increases in amounts appropriated to carry out
title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et
seq.) above amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2005;
(B) to fund legislation that would require equitable
coverage of prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, and
contraceptive services under health plans;
(C) to fund legislation that would create a public
education program administered through the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention concerning the use, safety,
efficacy, and availability of emergency contraception that
is--
(i) approved by the Food and Drug administration to prevent
pregnancy; and
(ii) used post-coitally; or
(D) to fund legislation that would permit the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to award, on a competitive basis,
grants to public and private entities to establish or expand
teenage pregnancy prevention programs or to disseminate
information to educators and parents about the most effective
strategies for preventing teen pregnancy (funds made
available under the authority of this subparagraph are not
intended for use by abstinence-only education programs);
(2) the prevention programs described in paragraph (1) are
cost effective and will achieve savings by--
(A) reducing the number of unintended pregnancies;
(B) reducing the rate of sexually transmitted infections;
(C) reducing the costs to the medicaid program under title
XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); and
(D) providing for the early detection of HIV and early
detection of breast and cervical cancer; and
(3) the increase in funding described in paragraph (1) is
offset by an increase in revenues of not to exceed
$200,000,000 to be derived from closing corporate tax
loopholes, of which the remaining $100,000,000 (after amounts
are expended pursuant to this section) should be used for
deficit reduction.
______