There is another big rift in Washington, and while that may not surprise you, you may be surprised what it’s about: abstinence education. On one side are people who believe that when it comes to sex education, the only thing teens need is education about and access to contraception, especially condoms. On the other side are folks, like me, who believe that our youth need the education and support necessary to abstain from becoming sexually active. 

The president has requested increasing abstinence-education programs to $273 million in fiscal year 2005. He is not seeking to cut funding for contraception programs. Yet, the pro-contraception folks are up in arms. In a recent letter to Congress, the contraceptive lobby urged that Congress spend “no new money” on abstinence-education programs. That’s a shame, especially for America’s teens.

The sad thing is, there really doesn’t need to be a battle at all. In 2002, the federal and state governments spent an estimated $1.73 billion on a wide variety of contraception promotion and pregnancy prevention programs. More than a third of that money – $653 million – was spent specifically to fund contraceptive programs for teens. In contrast, programs teaching teens to abstain from sexual activity received only an estimated $144.1 million in 2002. Overall, the government spent $12 to promote contraception for every $1 spent to encourage abstinence.

When I was in the Virginia Senate I sponsored legislation to add abstinence education to Virginia’s school health curriculum. I was amazed at the controversy that ensued. There was one culminating statement that was made by the opposition. Somebody said we should not teach abstinence education because it would confuse our children too much. If you do not think that our children are confused, all you have to do is spend 24 hours with them, and you will find that they are pulled in every direction imaginable. What they often want most is not a greater discussion of their options, but rather a set of standards. 

We set standards every day for our children. Teachers demand academic standards. Parents demand personal responsibility standards. Coaches demand athletic standards. Pastors, leaders, even peers, demand standards of our children. When we set standards for our children, it’s not because we want to control them, it’s because we want what’s best for them. And when we set these standards, our children listen, and while they may not always follow, they at least know the direction in which to head. 

Imagine if our teachers set a standard of abstinence. While we know that not every child would reach that goal – just as every child does not reach the academic goals we set- we do know this about those who do abstain from sexual activity: That student will not develop a sexually transmitted disease because of their abstinence; that student will not get an unwanted pregnancy because of their abstinence; that student will not be kept from developing the career they had always dreamed of because of their decision regarding abstinence; that student will not be kept from going to college because of their decision to refrain from sex. Abstinence will certainly not cause them to suffer from the guilt of making a bad decision that could negatively impact them for the rest of their lives. 

The real question for us today is not whether abstinence works; it is whether or not we want it to work. The real question is not whether this standard is too high, it is whether we want a standard at all. We say this is a child problem. This is not a child problem, this is an adult problem.

I would argue, however, that despite all the efforts of lawmakers to bring abstinence to our schools, despite the President’s request to double abstinence funding, and despite all the discussions we have had and will continue to have on this issue, we are still missing a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to abstinence education. We will never reach the goal of having abstinence education in this country until parents stand up and demand a program that works and specify that the program that works is abstinence. And when parents demand this standard of legislators and teachers by saying it works, they are demanding it of their children by showing they care. 

::  Why Are We Paying Big at the Pump?  ::

In the last couple of weeks it has become less and less surprising that $20 is hardly sufficient to fill your tank at the gas station. This week, the price of gasoline has reached a new record high. Regular self-serve gasoline now costs an average of almost $1.80 a gallon, and in the nation's most expensive place to fill up your car, San Diego, California, prices hit a high of $2.22 a gallon. This is an increase of 2 1/2 cents a gallon in the past two weeks alone and an increase of 31 cents since December. Crude oil rose last week to over $37 a barrel. The question on my mind and the minds of Americans is: why?

Unfortunately, there’s no one reason why Americans are paying so much at the pump, but there are plenty of factors. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that when you pay for gasoline, typically your money is paying for the following four things:

1. Crude Oil - Crude oil is the largest portion of what you pay at the pump. In February, this was 46% of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The world’s crude-oil suppliers, particularly those nations in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC), determine the cost. 

2. Refining Costs - The refining of crude oil made up about 19% of the price of gasoline in February. 

3. Distribution and Marketing - Crude oil is transported to refineries, and gasoline is shipped from the refineries to distribution points and then to gas stations. These costs accounted for about 9% of the price of gasoline in February. 

4. Taxes - Federal and local taxes accounted for about 26% of the total price of gas in the United States during February. Federal excise taxes are 18.4 cents per gallon, and state excise taxes average 19.96 cents per gallon. 

So, given these four parts of the cost of gas, which fluctuates the most? 

Crude oil inventories consistently have the most dramatic effect on gas prices. Simply put, the more oil, the less it costs. And the single largest entity impacting how much oil the world has is OPEC, a consortium of 11 countries: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Combined, these 11 nations produce 40% of the world's oil production and hold roughly two-thirds of the world's oil reserves. When OPEC wants to raise the price of crude oil, it can simply reduce production. This causes gasoline prices to jump because of the short supply, but also because of the possibility of future reductions. Sometimes just the threat of oil reductions can raise gas prices. Since the United States depends heavily on foreign oil supplies, OPEC has a significant effect on what Americans pay for their gasoline.

While OPEC primarily determines oil supply, demand for oil can also affect gas prices. Extremely fast growth in China’s oil demand is also causing gas prices to rise – and may continue to do so in the coming future. Estimates of Chinese oil demand growth in the last year have been hovering around 8 – 10 %– up from an average growth rate of 6.5 percent from 1992 to 2002. By any measure, this growth is significant. If the Chinese demand for oil continues at this rate, which it is reasonably expected to do, the world will face significantly higher demand for oil, and Americans will continue to see higher gas prices. 

When foreign oil production decreases or when world oil demand rises, we often hear more about the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). SPR is a reservoir of oil that currently stores about 645 million barrels of oil in underground salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico. Given that the United States imports about half of its oil, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds about a 60-day supply of oil if all imports were suddenly and totally cut off. 

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush decided to fill the SPR to its authorized level of 700 million barrels. Since then, over 100 million barrels have been added, and the SPR now holds almost 650 million barrels. Since last April, following the start of the war in Iraq, the rate has averaged over 1 million barrels a week, or about 1 percent of U.S. crude oil demand. Other countries are also building their reserves, which may also be playing a role in the speculative fervor behind the oil-price rise.

Many other things also affect oil prices. Typically, the demand for gas spikes during the summer, especially around holidays, when lots of people go on vacation, pushing prices up. Price increases also occur when refineries perform spring maintenance, decreasing the amount of gas refineries can produce. Varying state and local taxes cause varying prices around the country. Gas station competition can play a part. Even the distance from which the gas station is located from the oil refinery can also affect prices because of transportation costs. 

Because there is no one factor influencing how much we are paying at the pump, there is clearly no one solution. Energy is the lifeblood of the economy, and gasoline prices are central to the cost of doing business in America. Farmers and small business owners are impacted especially hard when gas prices skyrocket. When energy prices rise and employers feel squeezed, or when dependence on foreign energy sources increases, Americans can run the risk of losing jobs.

Gas prices have always been volatile and, like any commodity on the world market, we can’t expect to control them completely. We can, however, work to ensure that the United States has adequate and affordable future energy supplies by increasing domestic production of oil, lowering fuel taxes, and continuing to search for other viable and cost-efficient fuel sources.