by Bob Roehr
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
The House subcommittee that handles health and education appropriations has increased funding for abstinence-only education programs by 25 percent, despite a heavy lobbying effort by AIDS and reproductive health groups opposed to such programs.
"With mountains of evidence that these programs are medically inaccurate, ineffective, and value ideology over scientific fact, we are extremely disappointed that Congress would increase their funding by such a considerable amount," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
The Democratic majority increased funding where a Republican controlled Congress had held it steady over the last two years. The bill mark up came on June 7.
Committee chairman David Obey, (D-Wisconsin), argued that the $27.8 million is a way to build a veto-proof majority with Republican support for increased spending in other areas. The liberal democrat also allowed federal funding restrictions on abortions and needle exchange programs to remain in place.
"It is appalling that anyone would even consider increasing funds for a thoroughly debunked and harmful program like abstinence-only education," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "Congressional Democrats can and must end these programs once and for all, and do it now."
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., (D-Illinois), called it "a reasonable concession in light of the more than $10 billion" in spending above what the President requested in his budget. Bush has threatened to veto any measure that spends more than what he has called for.
"There is no other way to describe this concession but shameful," said William Smith, vice president of the Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. He said the bill "fails to fully fund HIV prevention, fails to fully fund the Minority AIDS Initiative, and fails to fully fund Title X family planning…yet House leaders have seen fit to shift vital and scarce resources to extreme programs that do not work and are on the verge of collapse."
The same bill also provided about $100 million in additional funding for Ryan White HIV programs and $64 million for CDC prevention activities. That is less than half of what advocates say is needed to meet the growing demands.
"We are just dumbfounded by this action [on abstinence funding] and will work to undo it," said Suzanne Miller, with The AIDS Institute.
However, prospects of doing so next week in the full committee are slim, and the rules that are applied to the bill when it comes to the floor of the House likely will make amendments difficult if not impossible. The Senate may offer greater opportunity to make changes.
The frustration from the rank and file of the liberal wing of the Democratic party has spilled out on the Internet. One poster on The Daily Kos pointed out that not only were the Democrats increasing funding to programs that do not work, they were channeling federal money to "an ultraconservative network that is clearly hostile to its policies and candidates." It does not seem to be a formula for long-term political success.
