III 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 728 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 10, 2008 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Specter, Mrs. Lincoln, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Bayh, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Collins, Mr. Levin, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Pryor, and Mr. Isakson) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary December 11 (legislative day, December 10), 2008 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Designating January 2009 as National Mentoring Month.

Whereas mentoring is a longstanding tradition in which a dependable, caring adult provides guidance, support, and encouragement to facilitate a young person’s social, emotional, and cognitive development; Whereas continued research on mentoring shows that formal, high-quality mentoring focused on developing the competence and character of the mentee promotes positive outcomes, such as improved academic achievement, self-esteem, social skills, and career development; Whereas further research on mentoring provides strong evidence that mentoring successfully reduces substance use and abuse, academic failure, and delinquency; Whereas mentoring, in addition to preparing young people for school, work, and life, is extremely rewarding for those serving as mentors; Whereas more than 4,200 mentoring programs in communities of all sizes across the United States focus on building strong, effective relationships between mentors and mentees; Whereas approximately 3,000,000 young people in the United States are in solid mentoring relationships due to the remarkable vigor, creativity, and resourcefulness of the thousands of mentoring programs in communities throughout the Nation; Whereas, in spite of the progress made to increase mentoring, the Nation has a serious mentoring gap, with nearly 15,000,000 young people in need of mentors; Whereas mentoring partnerships between the public and private sectors bring State and local leaders together to support mentoring programs by preventing duplication of efforts, offering training in industry best practices, and making the most of limited resources to benefit young people in the United States; Whereas the designation of January 2009 as National Mentoring Month will help call attention to the critical role mentors play in helping young people realize their potential; Whereas a month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more individuals and organizations, including schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, faith institutions, and foundations, to become engaged in mentoring across the United States; and Whereas National Mentoring Month will, most significantly, build awareness of mentoring and encourage more people to become mentors and help close the mentoring gap in the United States: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)designates the month of January 2009 as National Mentoring Month; (2)recognizes with gratitude the contributions of the millions of caring adults and students who are already volunteering as mentors and encourages more adults and students to volunteer as mentors; and (3)encourages the people of the United States to observe National Mentoring Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote awareness of, and volunteer involvement with, youth mentoring.