[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 20 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 20

       Designating January 2005 as ``National Mentoring Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 28, 2005

  Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. DeWine, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
 Bayh, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Levin, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dayton, Ms. Landrieu, 
 Mr. Johnson, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Ms. Stabenow, and Mrs. Clinton) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
       Designating January 2005 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

Whereas mentors serve as role models, advocates, friends, and advisors to youth 
        in need;
Whereas mentoring is a proven, effective strategy to enable caring, responsible 
        adults to provide guidance and build confidence, stability, and 
        direction for individual children;
Whereas research demonstrates that mentoring has a positive impact on students 
        by increasing attendance at school, improving rates of high-school 
        graduation and college attendance, and reducing involvement with drugs, 
        alcohol, and violent behavior;
Whereas over 17,000,000 children in the United States today need or want a 
        mentor, but only 2,000,000 are in mentoring relationships, leaving a 
        ``mentoring gap'' of 15,000,000 young people;
Whereas the establishment of a National Mentoring Month will emphasize the 
        importance of mentoring and pay tribute to the many Americans already 
        involved in mentoring;
Whereas a month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more organizations, 
        such as schools, businesses, faith communities, and individuals to get 
        involved in mentoring; and
Whereas celebrations of mentoring would encourage more individuals to volunteer 
        as mentors and help close the mentoring gap: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) proclaims the month of January 2005 as ``National 
        Mentoring Month'';
            (2) recognizes that the President issued a proclamation 
        calling upon the people of the United States and interested 
        groups to observe the month with appropriate ceremonies and 
        activities to promote awareness of mentoring and to encourage 
        many more Americans to participate in mentoring; and
            (3) recognizes with great appreciation the contributions of 
        millions of caring adults who now serve as mentors and 
        encourages more adults to give of their time and become mentors 
        as an essential part of school reform.
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