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REMARKS BY:  	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Place:		National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Washington D.C.
Date: 		April 28, 1999

Being here with Governor Kean reminds me that if there's one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on, it's that teen pregnancy is more than a personal problem or a family crisis. It's a national problem and a crisis of our entire American family.

That's why I'm particularly proud to join all of you today: men and women whose moral leadership is helping to win the fight against teen pregnancy-and, in the process, add new luster to some of our oldest and most cherished values.

Americans have always known teen pregnancy to be a personal tragedy-but today we understand exactly how severe its true costs are. Teen parents are at higher risk for having difficult pregnancies. They're more likely to have low-birthweight babies. And they're more likely to become poor.

That's why, as we're about to observe National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, I'm particularly pleased to announce that for the sixth consecutive year, teen birth rates have noticeably decreased. In fact, between 1991 and 1997, the national teen birth rate declined by an astounding 16 percent--with a consistent drop in all 50 states.

That's good news for America's families.and for America's future. What it means is that more and more young people are making the right choice. And encouraging young people to make the right choice is what the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is all about.

As most of you know, the Campaign was created in response to the President and Vice-President's challenge to parents and leaders all across our country. The message was clear: winning the fight against teen pregnancy wasn't the sole responsibility of parents, religion, schools or the government. Winning this crusade is everyone's job-and the only way we'll win is if all of us join together.

To help meet that challenge my Department has been working with millions of parents, teachers, coaches, religious leaders, business people and members of the media. Together, we've been working to provide girls and boys with common sense guidance, positive alternatives and the emotional support it takes to stand up to peer pressure-and our national, sustained decline in teen birth rates is the result.

But this is only one component of an effective strategy to prevent teen pregnancy. Our Community Coalition Partnership Program is now strengthening teen pregnancy prevention programs in 11 states. Today, we're reaching out to teens directly to promote abstinence as a positive alternative to underage sex. It's a message that's also going to be reinforced through events like tomorrow's roundtable on teen pregnancy hosted by Vice-President Gore.

In addition, we're also improving the way we collect and evaluate information on teen pregnancy-so we can do a better job tracking the problem and a more effective job fighting it. But our strategy doesn't stop there. That's only where it begins.

We know that if we want to have an impact we must also change attitudes among teenage boys. That's why we're providing grants-totaling nearly two million dollars-to get our message across to boys through schools, health centers and the social services they depend on. And our Fatherhood Initiative is helping to teach boys why they should postpone the awesome responsibilities of fatherhood.

But, more than anything, we understand that fighting teen pregnancy is more than just telling young people what to say "no" to. We also want to offer them something they can say "yes" to.

That's why we started our Girl Power campaign-to promote positive values among girls ages 9 to 14. Because we understand that girls at a tender young age sometimes need help to make it through difficult times. We've made a great start-but our work has only just begun.

Each year, one million American teenagers become pregnant. These numbers remind us how much we still must do. Because, as Will Rogers once said: "Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

We still have a long way to go. But, working together I know that, one day, we'll get there. We don't have any other choice. Even though young people are only 26 percent of America's population-they're 100 percent of America's future. And we will not let them down.

Thank you.