[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2562-S2563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Gregg and 
        Mr. Kohl):
  S. 476. A bill to provide for the establishment of not less than 
2,500 Boys and Girls Clubs of America facilities by the year 2000; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.


              BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA LEGISLATION

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a measure to 
further the commitment of the Republican Congress to support the 
expansion of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, one of the best 
examples of proven youth crime prevention. I am pleased to be joined in 
introducing this bill by a bipartisan group of Senators, including 
Senator Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Youth Violence Subcommittee, 
Senator Stevens, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, 
Senator Gregg, the chairman of the Commerce, Justice, State 
Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator Kohl, who serves on the 
Judiciary Committee.
  Our legislation addresses our continuing initiative to ensure that, 
with Federal seed money, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America are able 
to expand to serve an additional 1 million young people through at 
least 2,500 clubs by the year 2000. The dedication of all of these 
Members demonstrates our commitment to both authorize and fund this 
effort.
  Last year, in a bipartisan effort, the Republican Congress enacted 
legislation I authored to authorize $100 million in Federal seed money 
over 5 years to establish and expand Boys and Girls Clubs in public 
housing and distressed areas throughout our country. With the help of 
the Appropriations Committee, we have fully funded this initiative.
  The bill we are introducing today streamlines the application process 
for these funds, and permits a small amount of the funds to be used to 
establish a role model speakers' program to encourage and motivate 
young people nationwide.
  It is important to note that what we are providing is seed money for 
the construction and expansion of clubs to serve our young people. This 
is bricks and mortar money to open clubs, and after they are opened 
they will operate without any significant Federal funds. In my view, 
this is a model for the proper role of the Federal Government in crime 
prevention. The days are over when we can afford vast never-ending 
federally run programs. According to a GAO report last year, over the 
past 30 years, Congress has created 131 separate Federal programs, 
administered by 16 different agencies, to serve delinquent and at-risk 
youth. These programs cost $4 billion in fiscal year 1995. Yet we have 
not made significant progress in keeping our young people away from 
crime and drugs.

  What we can and must afford is short-term, solid support for proven 
private sector programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs that really do 
make a difference. Boys and Girls Clubs are among the most effective 
nationwide programs to assist youth to grow into honest, caring, 
involved, and law-abiding adults.
  We know that Boys and Girls Clubs work. Researchers at Columbia 
University found that public housing developments in which there was an 
active Boys and Girls Club had a 25 percent reduction in the presence 
of crack cocaine, a 22 percent reduction in overall drug activity, and 
a 13 percent reduction in juvenile crime. Members of Boys and Girls 
Clubs also do better in school, are less attracted to gangs, and feel 
better about themselves.
  Distinguished alumni of Boys and Girls Clubs include role models such 
as actor Denzel Washington, basketball superstar Michael Jordan, and 
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young.
  More important, however, are the uncelebrated success stories--the 
miracles performed by Boys and Girls Clubs every day. At a Judiciary 
Committee hearing today, we have some of these miracles with us. Amador 
Guzman, from my State of Utah, told us how he believes the club in his 
neighborhood saved his life, by keeping him from gangs, drugs, and 
violence.
  The reason Boys and Girls Clubs work, and the Republican Congress 
wants to do more for them is because they are locally run, and depend 
mostly on community involvement for their success.
  Never have our youth had a greater need for the positive influence of 
Boys and Girls Clubs, and never has the work of the clubs been more 
critical. Our young people are being assaulted from all sides with 
destructive messages. For instance, drug use is on the rise. Recent 
statistics reconfirm that drugs are ensnaring young people as never 
before. Overall drug use by youth ages 12 to 17 rose 105 percent 
between 1992 and 1995, and 33 percent between 1994 and 1995; 10.9 
percent of our young people now use drugs on a monthly basis, and 
monthly use of marijuana is up 37 percent, monthly use of LSD is up 54 
percent, and monthly cocaine use by youth is up 166 percent between 
1994 and 1995.
  Our young people are also being assaulted by gangs. By some 
estimates, there are more than 3,875 youth gangs, with 200,000 members, 
in the Nation's 79 largest cities, and the numbers are going up. Even 
my State of Utah has not been immune from this scourge. In Salt Lake 
City, since 1992, the number of identified gangs has increased 55 
percent, from 185 to 288. The number of gang members has increased 146 
percent, from 1,438 to 3545; and the number of gang-related crimes has 
increased a staggering 279 percent, from 1741 in 1992 to 6611 in 1996. 
Shockingly, 208 of these involved drive-by shootings.
  Every day, our young people are being bombarded with cultural 
messages in music, movies, and television that undermine the 
development of core values of citizenship. Popular culture and the 
media glorify drug use, meaningless violence, and sex without 
commitment.
  The importance of Boys and Girls Clubs in fighting drug abuse, gang 
recruitment, and moral poverty cannot

[[Page S2563]]

be overstated. The clubs across the country are a bulwark for our young 
people and deserve all the support we can give.
  Indeed, Federal efforts are already paying off. Using over $15 
million in seed money appropriated for fiscal year 1996, the Boys and 
Girls Clubs of America opened 208 new clubs in 1996. These clubs are 
providing positive places of hope, safety, learning, and encouragement 
for about 180,000 more kids today than in 1995. In my state of Utah, 
these funds have helped keep an additional 6,573 kids away from gangs, 
drugs, and crime.
  The $20 million appropriated for fiscal year 1997 is expected to 
result in another 200 clubs and 200,000 more kids involved in clubs. We 
need now to redouble our efforts. The legislation we introduce today 
demonstrates our commitment to do that. I urge my colleagues to support 
it.
                                 ______