III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 61 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 31, 2007 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Bond, Mr. Burr, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Reid, and Mr. Specter) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Designating January 2007 as National Mentoring Month.

Whereas mentoring is a long-standing tradition with modern applications in which an adult provides guidance, support, and encouragement to help with a young person’s social, emotional, and cognitive development; Whereas research provides strong evidence that mentoring can promote positive outcomes for young people, such as an increased sense of industry and competency, a boost in academic performance and self-esteem, and improved social and communications skills; Whereas studies of mentoring further show that a quality mentoring relationship successfully reduces the incidence of risky behaviors, delinquency, absenteeism, and academic failure; Whereas mentoring is a frequently used term and a well-accepted practice in many sectors of our society; Whereas thanks to the remarkable creativity, vigor, and resourcefulness of the thousands of mentoring programs and millions of volunteer mentors in communities throughout the Nation, quality mentoring has grown dramatically in the past 15 years, and there are now 3,000,000 young people in the United States who are being mentored; Whereas in spite of the strides made in the mentoring field, the Nation has a serious mentoring gap, with nearly 15,000,000 young people currently in need of mentors; Whereas a recent study confirmed that one of the most critical challenges that mentoring programs face is recruiting enough mentors to help close the mentoring gap; Whereas the designation of January 2007 as National Mentoring Month will help call attention to the critical role mentors play in helping young people realize their potential; Whereas the month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more organizations across the Nation, including schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations and faith institutions, foundations, and individuals to become engaged in mentoring; Whereas National Mentoring Month will, most importantly, build awareness of mentoring and encourage more individuals to become mentors, helping close the Nation’s mentoring gap; and Whereas the President has issued a proclamation declaring January 2007 to be National Mentoring Month and calling on the people of the United States to recognize the importance of mentoring, to look for opportunities to serve as mentors in their communities, and to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)designates the month of January 2007 as National Mentoring Month; (2)recognizes with gratitude the contributions of the millions of caring adults who are already serving as mentors and encourages more adults to volunteer as mentors; and (3)encourages the people of the United States to observe the month with appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote awareness of, and volunteer involvement with, youth mentoring.