Representative Henry Waxman Leads Charge to Kill Funding for Abstinence Education — As Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Waxman initiated a congressional hearing held on April 23 2008 to gain sufficient support to eliminate federal funding for abstinence education. Using a stacked panel of witnesses, seven of whom were comprehensive advocates vs. two who were in favor of abstinence, Waxman attempted to discredit abstinence education while bolstering support for comprehensive sex education. Rep. Waxman is a long-standing and aggressive opponent of abstinence education, even prior to 2004, when he first attempted to discredit the nation’s most popular abstinence programs by having his staff conduct an evaluation of several popular abstinence curricula. Waxman’s report claimed that abstinence programs were medically inaccurate and didn’t work. In October of 2006, a congressional review of Waxman’s evaluation stated that “it [the Waxman report] fails to offer a fair and accurate assessment of abstinence education programs” and is “riddled with errors, half-truths, and mischaracterizations.” Although the Waxman report has been discredited as biased and inaccurate, it’s findings were widely reported in the press and continue to be referenced by those seeking to eliminate abstinence education.