[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 357 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 357

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                            youth violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 1999

  Mr. Gephardt (for himself, Mr. Frost, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Bonior, Mr. 
  Menendez, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Conyers, Mr. 
Rangel, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baird, Mr. Baldacci, Ms. Baldwin, 
Mr. Becerra, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Berry, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Boswell, Ms. Brown 
of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Cardin, Ms. 
 Carson, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. 
 DeGette, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Engel, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Farr of California, 
Mr. Forbes, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hill of Indiana, 
Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. Inslee, 
   Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. 
    Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Kind, Mr. 
Lampson, Mr. Larson, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Luther, Mrs. Maloney of New York, 
Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. McDermott, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Maloney of 
Connecticut, Mr. Mascara, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. George 
 Miller of California, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. Moore, Mr. Moran of 
 Virginia, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
Oberstar, Mr. Olver, Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. 
 Phelps, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Roemer, Mr. Rothman, Ms. Roybal-
    Allard, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Scott, Mr. 
   Sherman, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Stark, Mr. Stupak, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. 
Thompson of California, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Udall of 
 Colorado, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Underwood, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. 
 Visclosky, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weygand, Mr. Wynn, and Ms. Lee) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                            youth violence.

Whereas teenagers from throughout the United States gathered in Washington, 
        D.C., on October 19 and 20, 1999, to participate in the Voices Against 
        Violence teen conference;
Whereas the participation of youth in the conference indicates that youth 
        violence is of great concern to the Nation's youth;
Whereas youth today are growing up in a more violent society and need positive 
        role models and strong community and political leaders who will denounce 
        violence and promote policies that seek to reduce youth exposure to 
        violence;
Whereas young people possess the knowledge and resources necessary to help 
        identify and reduce juvenile violence;
Whereas youth violence is not isolated to a single community, but impacts every 
        segment of the Nation's population;
Whereas listening to the voices of the Nation's youth is critical to our 
        national effort to identify the causes of and reduce the instances of 
        youth violence;
Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe that the primary 
        causes of youth violence are--

    (1) parents' lack of positive parenting skills;

    (2) discrimination and intolerance towards others; and

    (3) lack of social and emotional skills, community morals, and self-
esteem;

Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe that the greatest 
        needs in America for reducing youth violence are--

    (1) positive after-school programming, including the arts;

    (2) more mentoring and open communication; and

    (3) character education; and

Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe that some of the 
        most effective ways to decrease the level of youth violence in our 
        schools and communities include--

    (1) increasing the number of youth programs (teen centers, job 
training, and conflict resolution);

    (2) increasing the support for peer mentoring and youth-adult 
mentoring; and

    (3) restricting access to weapons: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) applauds and supports the work of the young people from 
        across the United States who participated in the recent Voices 
        Against Violence teen conference held in Washington, D.C.;
            (2) recognizes the importance of youth involvement in the 
        development of national policy solutions to youth violence; and
            (3) encourages--
                    (A) the continued involvement of youth in their 
                schools and their communities to address youth 
                violence;
                    (B) its members to promote efforts in their 
                districts to end youth violence; and
                    (C) its members to take immediate action to 
                comprehensively address youth violence and actively 
                involve young people in the decision-making process.
                                 <all>