[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 491 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 491

Honoring individuals who are mentors and supporting efforts to recruit 
                             more mentors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 20, 2004

   Mr. Osborne (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Petri, Mr. McKeon, Mr. 
Platts, Mr. Keller, Mrs. Davis of California, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Owens, 
Mr. Schiff, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Waxman, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Crenshaw, 
 Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Terry, and Mr. King of Iowa) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                     on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Honoring individuals who are mentors and supporting efforts to recruit 
                             more mentors.

Whereas mentoring is a strategy for motivating and helping young people succeed 
        in life by bringing them together in structured and trusting 
        relationships with caring adults who provide guidance, support, and 
        encouragement;
Whereas mentoring offers a supportive environment in which young people can 
        grow, expand their vision, learn necessary skills, and achieve a future 
        that they may never have thought possible;
Whereas a growing body of research shows that mentoring benefits young people in 
        numerous ways, including improvements in school performance and 
        attendance, self-confidence, attitudes toward and relationships with 
        adults, and motivation to reach their potential;
Whereas mentoring is an adaptable, flexible approach that can be tailored to 
        help children with academics, social support, career preparation, or 
        leadership development;
Whereas there is in this Nation a mentoring gap, consisting of over 15,000,000 
        young people who need mentors but do not have them;
Whereas, in an effort to begin closing the mentoring gap, the House of 
        Representatives on December 8, 2003, approved a measure to significantly 
        increase Federal grant funding for local mentoring organizations to 
        $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
Whereas the recipients of those grants and other mentoring programs all across 
        the country rely principally on volunteer mentors and will need an 
        influx of volunteers to meet the growing demand for mentoring;
Whereas nonprofit groups and leading media companies have joined together to 
        designate January 2004 as National Mentoring Month in an effort to 
        recruit more mentors for young people;
Whereas the monthlong celebration of mentoring will encourage more adults to 
        volunteer their time as mentors for young people and will enlist the 
        involvement of nonprofit organizations, schools, businesses, faith 
        communities, and government agencies in the mentoring movement; and
Whereas on January 9, 2004, President George W. Bush signed a proclamation 
        designating January 2004 as National Mentoring Month and called upon the 
        people of the United States to recognize the importance of being role 
        models for youth, to look for mentoring opportunities in their 
        communities, and to celebrate this month with appropriate ceremonies, 
        activities, and programs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) praises those individuals who have already given their 
        time to mentor a child; and
            (2) supports efforts to recruit more mentors in the United 
        States.
                                 <all>