[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 15, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 15, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


                 URBAN RECREATION AND AT RISK YOUTH ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 15, 1994

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the issue of crime, and 
especially juvenile crime, has understandably angered and outraged our 
Nation. Today, perhaps 60 percent of violent crimes are committed by 
young people between the ages of 10 and 20 years old. For millions of 
these young people, the only social network and family structure they 
know are the urban gangs that deal drugs, foster crime, and slaughter 
each other in our Nation's streets.
  Elsewhere on Capitol Hill this week, committees are preparing massive 
anticrime legislation. They, for the most part, are addressing the 
aftermath of crime.
  Today, however, I am introducing the Urban Recreation and At Risk 
Youth Act to provide young people with constructive, supportive 
alternatives to street life and gangs.
  In 1978, under the leadership of the late Rep. Phil Burton, The Urban 
Park and Recreation Recovery Program was authorized. It offers matching 
grants to cities to rehabilitate and repair parks, rec centers, playing 
fields and other facilities. When UPARR has been funded it has been 
enormously successful--hundreds of parks, rec centers, pools and other 
facilities that otherwise would have been unable to meet the needs of 
their neighborhoods or simply closed their doors have been at work in 
their communities.
  But UPARR is much more than bricks and mortar money. It also provides 
matching grants to cities, and through the mayors' offices to a wide 
range of nonprofit and government organizations for innovative programs 
targeted to youth at-risk. These programs are usually, but not always 
recreation oriented. They may be run by cities, schools or non-profit 
entities like the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Police Athletic League. 
What they all have in common is that they bring at-risk youth in 
contact with caring adult mentors who will teach them the kind of 
personal skills and job skills they need to stay out of the gangs and 
in school.
  At a hearing before the Committee on Natural Resources last week, I 
was deeply moved by the stories of our witnesses. People like Gil 
Walker, executive director of the National Association of Midnight 
Basketball Leagues, Carolyn McKenzie of Soccer in the Streets and Sgt. 
Frank Weirick of the Columbus, OH, Police Department told of the 
dramatic impact their work has had on life in urban neighborhoods when 
we in Congress provide them even modest means of support.
  In its 15 years, more than 500 cities across America have benefited 
from UPARR. Neighborhoods in big cities like New York, Chicago and Los 
Angeles, but also small and medium sized cities like Huntsville, AL and 
Oxnard, CA and Shreveport, LA, New Britain, CT and Pontiac, MI have 
been grant recipients.
  Since 1979, $192 million of the $725 million authorized for UPARR has 
been obligated. But despite a record of success and a huge backlog of 
applications, nothing at all was spent on UPARR from 1985 to 1990. And 
we haven't been doing much better since then, with only $5 million 
being appropriated this year. These meager amounts mean that program 
grants must remain small and on a one-time only basis, vastly limiting 
the effectiveness of the program.
  This bill I am introducing today builds on the proven record of 
success of the Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Act by expanding its 
focus to target urban neighborhoods with high crime rates, allowing 
innovative program grants to continue beyond the first year and making 
other needed refinements in UPARR.
  As the chairman of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and 
Families, I held several hearings on the subject of youth crime and 
violence. And what we see over and over is that most of these young 
people have no opportunities for constructive activity in their 
neighborhoods and their cities.
  No where is the need for accessible and well-maintained parks, open 
space and recreation centers greater than in urban neighborhoods. No 
where are there fewer of those parks and facilities, and no where are 
the ones that do exist in worse shape, than in urban neighborhoods.
  Public park and recreation facilities and services do more than just 
give young people something to do and a place to go. They are magnets 
that draw those young people into contact with adults who are mentors 
and programs that teach them important lessons in discipline, self-
respect and respect for others, personal responsibility and teamwork, 
as well as job skills and other practical tools for living.
  Accessible, well-maintained neighborhood parks are focal points of 
community pride and a place for youth to learn. Deteriorating parks are 
breeding grounds for crime and youth gangs and a visible symbol that 
nobody cares.
  Expanding and rehabilitating urban recreational sites is not a new 
idea, and the idea of investing in parks and recreation centers to held 
lead young people away from crime and violence is still a very good 
one.
  This Congress can make a significant contribution to the preventive 
and rehabilitative programs in our cities by revitalizing Phil Burton's 
idea. This is not about coddling criminals; it is about cost 
effectively giving our young people an alternative to gangs, to crime, 
and to jail. These programs work: the police say so, the experts say 
so, and the kids say so.

                          ____________________