President Bush Pros

President Bush recognizes the difficulties families face in coping with a rapidly changing world. In addition to the traditional challenges, parents and children have to deal with threats unheard of in generations past. President Bush is working on a series of initiatives to help parents keep their children safer. In his second term, President Bush plans to:

* Promote Abstinence - Bush has more than tripled funding for abstinence-only education since 2001. Going forward, he will continue to promote funding by starting an education program that helps parents communicate with their children about the risks of early sexual activity. President Bush will work with faith and community groups to encourage parents and children to communicate about these issues.

* Increase Drug Testing Funding - School drug testing programs help students resist peer pressure and help parents intervene with students who need help. Bush will provide $25 million for student drug testing programs.

* Fight Internet Pornography - The President has proposed doubling funding since 2001 for Justice Department programs that investigate and prosecute child pornography and obscenity and is implementing Operation Predator, a comprehensive program to protect children from foreign national pedophiles, human traffickers, and other child predators. The program has resulted in more than 3,200 arrests nationwide.

* Defend the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban -Bush will vigorously defend the Federal law banning the violent and brutal practice of partial birth abortion by continuing to enforce restrictions that prevent the Federal funding to support or promote abortion. President Bush supports the right of parents to be involved in the decisions of their minor daughters in the situation of abortion and will continue to support parental notification on this matter.

* Provide Mentoring for Children of Prisoners - In 2003, the President made a commitment to mentoring children of prisoners by calling for grants for faith-based and community organizations to provide mentors to children of prisoners. This three-year, $150 million initiative is focused on providing 100,000 new mentors for some of the two million at-risk children with one or more parents in prison.

President Bush also realizes how important family and values are to the American people and in an attempt to bring more order to households and America in general Bush plans to:

* Support Military Families - The President's budgets are: providing a 21 percent increase in basic pay for men and women in uniform; improving military housing for families living on base; and reducing average housing expenses to zero for military families living off base.

* Prevent Human Cloning - President Bush will work to pass a law banning all human cloning; however he does plan to support Ethical Stem Cell Research. President Bush will continue to explore the potential of adult and embryonic stem cell research without encouraging the further destruction of human embryos.

* Further Reform Welfare - Welfare reform has provided the largest welfare caseload decline in history, with the caseload falling 60 percent between 1996 and 2003. The child poverty rate remains near its lowest point in two decades. With caseloads falling, America has been able to provide more assistance to needy families - cash assistance and child care funding

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