Bulletin from US Senator Barbara Boxer

Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 2:41 AM
Subject: Protecting our Children

Dear Friend:

Every year, too many children are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and a set of other disorders associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol. This fully preventable condition can cause brain damage that produces cognitive and behavioral impairments. Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause mental retardation or low IQ; difficulties with learning, memory, attention, and problem-solving; problems with mental health and social interactions; growth retardation, birth defects involving the heart, kidney, vision and hearing; and other abnormalities.

Currently, about 13 percent of women report using some amount of alcohol while pregnant, even though there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Health officials report that somewhere around 1 percent of births have complications associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol.

The disorders associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol pose extraordinary financial costs to the nation, including the cost of specialized health care, education, foster care, incarceration, job training, and other general support services for these individuals and their families. Lifetime health costs for an individual with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome average $860,000 and can run as high as $4,200,000. The total national direct and indirect economic costs were estimated to be more than $5 billion in 2003.

Clearly, our nation needs to do more to prevent prenatal exposure to alcohol. That is why I am cosponsoring S.1722, a comprehensive and bipartisan bill intended to help prevent and treat these disorders. The bill would establish programs of prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome with better education and public awareness programs; establish better education programs for affected children; educate officials in adoption, foster care, and the criminal justice system on how to better assist individuals with the disorder; provide for transitional services for such individuals; and provide respite care for their caretakers.

This bill is a wise use of federal funding because, in the end, it would save the billions of dollars currently used to treat those who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and related diseases. It also makes sense because, in the future, more children will live happier, healthier lives. I am pleased to cosponsor S.1722 and will work for its passage.

Sincerely, Barbara Boxer United States Senator