[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E4-E5]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         YOUNGER AMERICANS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 3, 2001

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, on December 16, 2000, in accepting his 
appointment as Secretary of State, Colin Powell urged America to invest 
in its youth. He said, ``We have nothing more valuable as a national 
asset in anyone's country than the young people.'' Today, I rise to 
introduce the Younger Americans Act, a comprehensive, coordinated, 
community-based approach to youth development. This legislation, which 
is based on the principles promoted by General Powell's America's 
Promise group, is a major investment in the youth of this country.
  Mr. Speaker, as General Powell has said, now is the time to invest in 
America's youth. This effort is long overdue. Too many of our programs 
for youth focus on problems after the fact. The Younger Americans Act 
is intended to help our young people stay on the road to success and 
survive the challenges along the way. This legislation is designed to 
provide additional resources for programs that prepare youth for 
adulthood. This is ``preventive medicine'' that will keep good youth 
from becoming ``problem youths.''
  President-elect George W. Bush has urged this Nation's leaders and 
policymakers to ``leave no child behind.'' The Younger Americans Act is 
a bold, new investment in America's young people, providing the 
critical resources they need to develop skills, contribute to their 
communities, and build a better future for themselves and the Nation.
  This legislation establishes, for the first time in our Nation's 
history, a comprehensive, coordinated national youth policy. The 
programs developed under the legislation will follow the five core 
principles of America's Promise, the organization founded by General 
Colin Powell to strengthen the ``character and competence'' of 
America's youth.
  Ongoing relationships with caring adults--parents, mentors, tutors, 
or coaches.
  Safe places with structured activities during non-school hours.
  Access to services that promote healthy lifestyles, including those 
designed to improve physical and mental health.
  Opportunities to acquire marketable skills through effective 
education.
  Opportunities to give back through community service and civic 
participation.
  Fulfilling these five promises will help prepare young people to be 
the parents, workers, voters, and leaders of the future. Under the 
Younger Americans Act, our national youth policy will not regard young 
people as problems or only seek to prevent risky behaviors such as 
delinquency, truancy, and drug abuse--as do most existing Federal 
programs for youth. Rather, it will support positive youth development 
efforts, creating positive goals and outcomes for all our country's 
youth. It will also ensure that young people are involved in the 
planning, implementation, and evaluation of efforts directed toward 
youth.
  One key component of the bill is that mental health screening and 
services are made available to young people. Many youth who may be 
headed toward school violence or other tragedies can be helped if we 
identify their early symptoms. Just today, David Satcher, Assistant 
Secretary for Health and Surgeon General, released a National Action 
Agenda for Children's Mental Health, in which it was found that the 
Nation is facing a public crisis in mental health for children and 
adolescents. According to the report, while 1 in 10 children and 
adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause some 
level of impairment, fewer than 1 in 5 of these children received 
needed treatment. Dr. Satcher urged that ``we must educate all persons 
who are involved in the care of children on how to identify early 
indicators for potential mental health problems.'' In fact, a tragedy 
of contemporary youth is the significant rise we have seen in suicide 
rates.
  According to Dr. Satcher, ``the burden of suffering by children with 
mental health needs and their families has created a health crisis in 
this country. Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly 
because their emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not 
being met by the very institutions and systems that were created to 
take care of them.'' This bill provides an important step in ensuring 
that children with mental health needs are identified early and 
provided with the services they so desperately need to help them 
succeed in school and become healthy and contributing members of 
society.
  This bill provides resources for after-school programs, to ensure 
that youth have access to positive activities that promote their 
development. I was a member of the Bipartisan Working Group on Youth 
Violence in the 106th Congress. The findings of this group, and 
numerous studies, have indicated that charitable and community 
initiatives should promote access to after-school programs during the 
peak hours for youth crime of 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Too often, children 
return after school to an empty home or to the streets. An estimated 5 
to 7

[[Page E5]]

million ``latchkey'' children go home alone after school. Children who 
are unsupervised during the after-school hours are more likely to 
engage in delinquent and other high-risk behaviors, such as alcohol and 
drug use. After school programs can provide safe, drug-free, supervised 
and cost-effective havens for children. Quality after-school programs 
can provide adult supervision of children during after-school hours, 
and they can provide children with healthy alternatives to and 
insulation from risk-taking and delinquent behavior. Students should be 
encouraged to participate in extra-curricular school activities. 
Studies have shown that a student in one after school activity is 
almost 50 times less likely to commit crime.
  One important aspect of the bill is the collaboration of public and 
private local organizations. I am pleased that faith based 
organizations have been included in the bill as collaborators in youth 
development activities. These organizations have proven effective in 
addressing the needs of youth and it is important that we have the 
benefit of their expertise when creating youth development programs.
  Finally, let me say that there is no ``one size fits all'' way to 
helping our children become productive members of our society. We must 
allow for an array of programs to address the variety of youth in a 
variety of communities. This bill provides the flexibility necessary to 
allow each community to tailor their youth development efforts to their 
specific needs.
  Investing wisely in children and youth by engaging them in positive 
activities is more effective and much less costly than waiting until 
young lives have taken a bad turn. The Younger American's Act is a 
common sense approach to what should be a high national priority. Young 
people are 23 percent of our population, but 100 percent of our future. 
This bill will help them achieve their full potential and their 
rightful place as valued--and valuable--members of their communities.
  Let's make sure that ``we leave no child behind.'' General Powell has 
promised to use his new role as Secretary of State to spread the 
America's Promise message on the value of youth around the world. Let's 
be certain that his message is heard and taken to heart in the U.S. 
Congress.

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