[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 23, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H9-H15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REGARDING BENEFITS OF
MENTORING
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 330) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding the benefits of mentoring.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 330
Whereas the future course of the United States depends on
its children and youth;
Whereas educated, confident, and nurtured children will
make our Nation stronger;
Whereas research has shown that mentoring measurably
affects young people by increasing school attendance,
improving rates of secondary school graduation and college
attendance, decreasing involvement with drugs and alcohol,
and decreasing violent behavior;
Whereas considerable numbers of our Nation's children face
difficult circumstances: 1 out of 4 children lives with only
1 parent; 1 out of 10 children is born to teenaged parents; 1
out of 5 children lives in poverty; and 1 out of 10 children
will not finish secondary school;
Whereas mentoring is a proven, effective strategy to combat
such circumstances by matching a caring, responsible adult
with a child to provide guidance, stability, and direction to
the child and to build the child's confidence;
Whereas it is estimated that more than 16,000,000 children
in the United States need or want a mentor but mentoring
programs nationwide serve at most 750,000 of such children;
Whereas a coalition of mentoring organizations have
designated January as National Mentoring Month;
Whereas the establishment of a National Mentoring Month
would emphasize the importance of mentoring and recognize
with praise and gratitude the many individuals in the United
States who are involved with mentoring; and
Whereas the establishment of a National Mentoring Month
would encourage more individuals to volunteer as mentors, to
the benefit of our Nation's children: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that mentoring relationships can benefit
America's youth and result in improved school attendance and
academic achievement.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Delaware (Mr. Castle) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).
General Leave
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
H. Res. 330.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Delaware?
There was no objection.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 330, the legislation
recognizing the importance of mentoring. The resolution, introduced by
the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), reminds us all of the
important role that caring adults play in the lives of our Nation's
youth; and I thank the gentleman for his work in Congress as well as
his work with his own mentoring organization, TeamMates of Nebraska, on
this important issue.
Today's teens cope with major physical changes, emotional ups and
downs, peer pressures, and a changing identity; but they are also
confronted by a more complex and impersonal society where drugs and
alcohol are easily available and tragedies such as AIDS and violence
strike too close to home. In this time of growth and uncertainty, our
children need positive role models or mentors in their lives.
Simply, a mentor is an adult who, along with parents, provide young
people with support, counsel, and friendship. Most importantly, mentors
are people who care. And for many people, that makes all the
difference.
According to recent research, children with mentors are 46 percent
less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 52 percent less likely to
skip school, and 33 percent less likely to get into fights. In
addition, children of mentors reported greater confidence in their
performance at school and better relationships with their families.
{time} 1315
Despite these positive outcomes, too many children who need a mentor
do not have one. In my State of Delaware alone, an estimated 10,000
young people could benefit from a positive, supportive relationship
with an adult; but only 7,000 are currently served.
Nationally, more than 16 million children need a mentor, but current
programs reach only 750,000. It is, therefore, appropriate that this
January, the inaugural National Mentoring Month, we encourage caring
adults to reach out to the children and youth in their communities. In
Delaware, everyone from the Governor and the Delaware Mentoring Council
to local businesses will be working hard to recruit 1,000 new mentors.
It is my hope that other States will rise to the challenge to connect
each of our Nation's children with caring adults.
As part of that effort, I want to recognize the many businesses,
churches, and community groups that partner with our schools to provide
mentors to children in need as well as the informal mentoring
relationships that exist between teachers, coaches, and neighbors. I
also want to recognize those who lend their expertise or contribute
financially to mentoring organizations. Their support is as important
as volunteering to become a mentor.
The events of September 11, as tragic as they were, taught us about
charity, heroism, and our own capacity to care about others. As we
pause to recall the teacher, neighbor, or coach who made a positive
impression on our lives, I hope
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we will return the favor by becoming a mentor to a child in need.
Together we can guide our Nation's youth into adulthood, helping them
reach their fullest potential. I cannot imagine a greater gift.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his resolution, and I urge an
``aye'' vote.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
(Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Delaware (Mr. Castle) for this opportunity to join him in support of
National Mentoring Month. Hundreds of thousands of children each year
have an opportunity to grow into stronger young people and adults
because of the caring attention of an older person. This relationship
can move a child's life in important directions; but we need not just
hundreds of thousands, but millions, of volunteers to address the lives
of those young people who would benefit from this personal attention.
The gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) expressed the dimensions of
the need. It is our hope that National Mentoring Month will focus many
more people on this opportunity. I would like to take a few minutes to
share my own experiences with a variety of mentoring programs. As a
school board member in San Diego, we approved programs which encouraged
older students to act as mentors to younger ones. For example, a fifth
grade student might meet regularly with a first grader to read with
her. Eighth grade students might write stories in their creative
writing class and present them to third graders. These can be quality
learning experiences for each pair of young people.
There are programs like Rolling Readers that coordinate regular
pairing of children and volunteer adults to coach reading skills. These
volunteers may be retired or working, but can be flexible in their
hours; and I am proud that one of my staff members, Carla Meyers, has
been a lunchtime volunteer, meeting once a week, to read with a student
in a Capitol Hill elementary school.
In San Diego we have an award winning school, the Monarch School,
which brings homeless children who often have not been in school into
an educational setting. The Downtown Rotary Club recruits its members
on one-on-one mentors to spend regular time with these needy young
people, often in after-school hours.
Coming from San Diego with its large military population, I took the
opportunity to sponsor an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Bill to
encourage one-on-one mentoring programs for at-risk juveniles with the
Department of Defense personnel. There are several military mentoring
programs which are making a real difference. For example, the
Department of Military Affairs and the Florida National Guard, in
conjunction with the State of Florida, has designed a program called
About Face, which brings low-income, at-risk kids into National Guard
armory facilities to increase their functional life skills, to improve
their basic skills, teach computer literacy, and help them with their
homework. More importantly, they teach kids that someone cares about
them and their future.
Personally, I had the wonderful opportunity to be the first executive
director of the Aaron Price Fellows program. I developed an educational
enrichment program focused on civic responsibility with a group of 40
young people of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds drawn from
several local high schools each year. Each student was involved in the
program for 3 years, and what they learned from one another and the
people with whom they met throughout the city gave them lifelong
learning skills. One of the favorite trips for each class was coming to
Washington, D.C., where the students saw for themselves this political
process.
Did it make a difference in students lives? As they continued to keep
in touch with me, I see young people, many of whom came from lower-
economic circumstances, whose aspirations and educational achievement
have led them to become teachers and bankers, social workers,
international relief workers and even a town mayor.
I am honored to have two former fellows working on my staff. Jennette
Lawrence is a valued legislative assistant here. Todd Gloria, a field
representative in the district, earned a Truman Fellowship to go to
graduate school, but wanted first to be part of our political process.
After being an intern in my office and then graduating from UCSD, Arzo
Mansury chose to work resettling new Afghan refugees, people from her
birth country, and now hopes to be part of the rehabilitation process
of that country.
The stories are legion, but I would like to close with the memory of
a very special young man, Willie Jones. Living in a low-income area
punctuated by gangs and drugs, Willie became a model citizen, a fine
student, and a neighborhood leader in urging others to leave gangs.
Unfortunately, as he prepared to leave for a 4-year scholarship at
Cornell, where he would study to be a doctor, Willie was gunned down in
a drive-by shooting.
Rather than focus on his death, I like to think that my mentoring
helped Willie become the outstanding young man that he was; and in his
own short years, his mentoring had led other young people to stronger
adult lives.
When I meet successful adults from challenging backgrounds and ask
them what made the difference in their lives, it is always an adult,
usually not a family member, who saw something special in them and
mentored them. Everyone can be that life-changing influence in a young
person's future.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).
Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for bringing this
resolution to the floor today.
We all know that far too many children in our society do not have
strong role models at home. Parents are too busy; or in many
neighborhoods, parents may not even exist. What we have found around
the country is that mentoring really does work. It provides a role
model for many of these children that they do not see on a day-to-day
basis in their own lives. I congratulate the gentleman from Nebraska
(Mr. Osborne), the coach, as we call him, for bringing this resolution
to the floor and keeping our attention focused on mentoring. As the
chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the gentleman
from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) has not let a week go in the last year when
he did not talk to me about the need to promote mentoring.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1, which we passed last December and the President
signed into law several weeks ago, contains a significant amount of
funding for a new mentoring program to provide seed money to generate
more mentors around the country. During the signing of the bill, the
President himself talked about the need for mentoring, and suggested to
people if they really wanted to do something and help young people in
need, go to a school and become a mentor.
I think that action and the action we are taking today will help
bring this to more people's attention. It will help children. But as
important as it is for us to help children, I also think that mentors
themselves get an awful lot out of mentoring. I think the gentlewoman
from San Diego just demonstrated to us what it meant her to be a mentor
to this young man.
I have people in my district who are mentors. And I remember one
specifically, Mr. Richard Scott from Sidney, Ohio, a retired
construction company executive. He and his wife are mentors in an
elementary school in Sidney, and the richness they get out of helping
young people is something that enriches their lives by reaching out to
help others.
Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate all those today who are mentoring
around the country, and let us encourage more of our fellow citizens to
take an hour a week or two hours a week and go to a local school and
help one young person in America get a better life.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution and urge
my
[[Page H11]]
fellow citizens to join the mentoring program near where they live.
Several years ago when I was a State senator in Sacramento, we had a
hearing at which Father Greg Boyle testified. Father Boyle works with
at-risk youth in Los Angeles, and he was asked if he could point to any
one thing that distinguished those young people from at-risk
backgrounds that led to their success, that was a cause for their high
achievement; and he said that they all had two common characteristics:
they got a job, and they had a mentor. They had the dignity, the
discipline, the hope that comes from work; and they had a mentor,
someone who cared whether they succeeded or failed. It might have been
a member of the clergy, a parent, a grandparent, a probation officer or
a teacher, but someone who cared about what happened to that child's
life. Those words had such an air of truth about them, I have kept them
with me to this day.
Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago I became a mentor. I walked into the Big
Brothers of Greater Los Angeles; and I was matched with a young man,
then 7 years old, David McMillan. It was one of the best days of my
life when I became a Big Brother. We started out going to the beach,
the movies, roller skating and going to the park, or reading or talking
with each other. He would give me criticism of my music taste, and I
would accept it. We would spend time just catching up on each other's
lives; and we have become in a very short space of time, family to each
other, and we have shared in each other's successes and failures and
trials and tribulations. It has been one of the best additions to my
life.
So while I cannot speak from the point of view of a mentee, I can
speak from the point of view of a mentor about how it enriches the life
of the mentor.
David is doing phenomenally well. He graduated from Yale University
and is now a graduate student at USC where he is an aspiring film
maker. I am frequently asked whether, but for my influence in David's
life, do I think he would have gone on to Yale University. And after
much reflection, I have to say no. I think he would have gone on to
Harvard University, which is, of course, the cruelest thing one can say
to a Yalie. So if David is watching, I got him again. But this has more
than a grain of truth in it. David is an exceptional young man, and he
comes from an exceptional family.
David would have done well under any circumstance; but there are
many, many young people who really need the benefit of a mentor, need
the benefit of someone in their lives to help them gain direction, gain
a sense of self-worth, a sense of purpose, and most important of all, a
sense of being loved by someone else.
I hope this resolution today will encourage more Americans to become
mentors to make a contribution. Much of what we do, whether in Congress
or in our private jobs or in teaching or in any profession, we hope
makes a positive difference in lives; but the result is often
intangible and unknown. I encourage my colleagues to become a mentor
because the results are very tangible, seen every day in the face of
the young person mentored.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and
the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) for being our Democratic
floor manager.
{time} 1330
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman
from California for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I want to
take the time to salute the many youth organizations and groups, and
not just youth organizations and groups but adult organizations and
groups; and salute all of the mentors, people who are making a
difference in the lives of our children, our young people.
This is a time to salute groups such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, Big
Brothers and Big Sisters and groups and organizations like the 100
Black Men of America for their commitment and dedication to mentoring
by ensuring that all children and young people have valuable skills.
This sense of caring, this sense of sharing, this sense of giving of
ourselves to help others, sometimes as a mentor, as some have stated
much earlier, you learn more and you probably receive more than you
actually give. It is part of the American tradition that we participate
in a sense of caring and sharing, for our young people, for our
children to have a relationship with adults, to have safe places to go
after school hours.
There are so many organizations and so many groups all across America
that are doing tremendous, unbelievable things to help mold and shape
our young people, which is so necessary during this time in our
history.
Mentoring not only gives children a head start but also meets the
serious public responsibility of protecting our young people, showing
our young people a different way, a better way, a more excellent way.
So many children and so many young people in so many troubled
communities need someone to hold their hand, to show them the way, to
show them the light. These mentoring relationships benefit American
children, and in so many instances it improves the larger community and
creates a greater sense of community, a greater sense of family, a
greater sense of what I like to call one house, that we all are in the
same house, that we all are in this thing together.
I think in a city like Atlanta, my city, and in other places where
you have mentors working, it improves school attendance, academic
achievement, encourages young people not just to watch television but
to read a book, to go out and help someone, to provide some service.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this very important
resolution. It means so much. It will send a strong message that will
urge other Americans to give a little time, to share a little time, to
give of yourself. That is what life is all about, helping others,
especially those that have been sort of left out and do not have the
benefits of maybe a wonderful, loving family, maybe do not have the
benefit of a good head start. I think mentoring helps people to catch
up, helps those that have been left out and left behind.
I urge my colleagues to support this very important resolution. I
thank my friends on both sides of the aisle for bringing this
resolution before us.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest).
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Delaware for
yielding me this time, and I want to thank the gentleman from Nebraska
(Mr. Osborne) for offering this legislation, this resolution, to us
this afternoon and to all those people who this afternoon have
participated in this discussion and expressed their feelings on the
concept of mentoring and the benefit that is the result.
A number of us in here, I am sure, have done some type of mentoring
throughout our adult years and have found that specific relationships
between adults and children are generally, especially in the context of
mentoring, long lasting, they provide friendship between the mentor and
the child that is being mentored, they provide an avenue, an
opportunity for the child to understand what is beyond the next curve,
what are the opportunities that are out there, what are the fears that
I have for the future or my present circumstance. Mentoring is an
extraordinary opportunity to do a number of very positive things.
A number of years ago, shortly after I got out of the service and I
was in my early twenties, and I thought I was quite old when I was in
my early twenties, myself, some of my brothers and some friends who had
recently come back from Vietnam or were starting college got together
with a lawyer and a minister to create a Boy Scout troop for designated
legally, judicially designated juvenile delinquents. We had 20 young
teenagers in that troop. Ten were white and 10 were black. None of us
had a college education, but we understood the relationship between
young people and responsible adults to open an avenue of opportunity.
We stayed with those teenagers for about a year; then we all went off
to college or we got married or we went someplace else.
Mr. Speaker, those teenagers are now in their forties. They are not
young adults. They are middle-aged adults.
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Whenever we run into them periodically, they still talk about the
first time that they caught a fish, the first time they built a
campfire, the first time they went on a long hike, the first time they
actually sat with an adult and read a book. The idea of mentoring is a
long-term idea; and the positive benefits to the child, the teenager,
the young adult and the adult that is involved is rather enormous.
Mr. Speaker, I will close with this statement: there are many
Americans that have extraordinary talents. Those talents are in music,
they are in art, they are in math, they are in the sciences, they are
just in being a human; and each one of those adults that has a specific
talent is unique. That unique person can give that young child a
perspective on the wonders of our country and the world, opportunities
that can be unmatched.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Keller).
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time. I rise today as a supporter and original cosponsor of Coach
Osborne's mentoring resolution, which honors National Mentoring Month
and recognizes the benefits of mentoring.
I would like to tell my colleagues a little bit about my background
and why mentoring is important for education. Before getting elected to
Congress, I had the happy privilege of serving as the volunteer
chairman of the Orlando/Orange County Compact Program, which is the
largest mentoring program for public schools in the State of Florida. I
also had the opportunity to serve as a mentor myself to two students at
Boone High School in Orlando. I learned firsthand how important that is
to education, particularly as it relates to preventing children from
dropping out of high school.
In the State of Florida, we had a big problem. Only 53 percent of our
children were graduating from high school, worst in the country. In
Orlando, my hometown, we decided to do something about it in 1988 by
creating the Orlando/Orange County Compact Program, which is a
mentoring program that matches up students at risk of dropping out of
high school with business people from the local community, sort of like
a Big Brothers/Big Sisters, program where they meet 1 hour a week. The
results of mentoring proved to be dramatic. Over the past 10 years, 98
percent of the students in the Compact program graduated from high
school, the number-one graduation rate in the United States. From worst
to first.
Let me just give one example why this was successful. There is a
young man named Lennard who is an African American student at Jones
High School, an inner city school in downtown Orlando. He was
struggling in school, making Ds and Fs, skipping school, had been
arrested for selling drugs. He was going to drop out. He agreed to have
a mentor on one condition. He said, ``Just don't give me a white guy.''
Naturally we matched him up with a white mentor, an AT&T executive
named Paul Hurling. He worked with him every week. They became friends.
To make a long story short, by the end of his high school career,
Lennard went on to become Orange County Student of the Year. He won two
tickets to an Orlando Magic basketball game through a school raffle. He
called up his mentor and said, ``I'm so excited, I won two front row
tickets.'' His mentor replied, ``That's great. Why don't you invite
your best friend.'' Lennard replied, ``That's why I called you.''
Mentoring literally makes a difference in people's lives.
I commend Coach Osborne for bringing forth this resolution. I urge
all my colleagues to support it. I know in Florida, Governor Jeb Bush
has just announced this week a mentoring initiative throughout the
entire State that is going to result in 115,000 people having mentors.
I think Congress is appropriately recognizing the importance of
National Mentoring Month. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this
important resolution.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), a member of the Committee on
Education and the Workforce, who had so much to do with H.R. 1 last
year.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Delaware for
yielding me this time.
I rise really to praise the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).
This is a man who has written a resolution that is a reflection of the
life that he has lived, by being a mentor to hundreds of young
athletes, being a father figure for those that did not have them, being
a person who demonstrated the difference in right and wrong. This House
is fortunate to have the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), and we
will be fortunate today to unanimously pass this resolution.
In John Kennedy's inauguration, there was a poem by Robert Frost read
which ended, ``Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I took the one
less traveled by and that made all the difference.''
For many of America's youngsters, what makes all the difference in
the road less traveled by is a positive mentor to show them the light,
show them the way, and show them the direction. I praise the author,
the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne). I am pleased to give my
support to this important resolution.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), the distinguished sponsor of the
resolution. I think the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson) said it
wonderfully well. The gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) came
obviously to Congress with a very distinguished background, recognized
by most people in this country for what he had done in his own form of
mentoring, which was coaching; but he had a strong bent for mentoring
which we heard about early and often since he has been here. He has
become the conscience of the House of Representatives with respect to
the subject of mentoring. He is clearly one of, if not the national
leader on the whole subject of mentoring in this country. We are
delighted that he was able to get here. He did have some transportation
problems and has just made it.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The gentleman from Nebraska
(Mr. Osborne) is recognized for 7 minutes.
Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kind comments of the
gentleman and rise in strong support of this resolution.
Over the last 36 years of my life, I was involved in coaching and
dealt with young people on a daily basis. I guess some of the
observations I had were not all positive. We saw some tremendous
changes in our culture, in our young people, over those 36 years. Some
of those changes had to do with family. I think many people can
intuitively understand those things that I am talking about. In the
early 1960s, we saw very few people that we were recruiting dealing
with living without both of their biological parents. Today, that
number is almost 50 percent, so there is a huge number have had some
dysfunction in their families.
We went from a 5 percent out-of-wedlock birthrate in 1960 to 33
percent today. Currently, we have 18 million fatherless children in our
country. I guess I saw firsthand that when your father is not around
and many times does not even care to stay around long enough to see
what you look like, it leaves a hole in your life. Usually, you are
spending the rest of your life somehow trying to fill that gap, and
sometimes it is with all the wrong things. There has been a tremendous
amount of change in our family structure.
We have also seen some significant changes in the culture. We
currently are the most violent country in the world for children in
regard to homicide and suicide. Second place is not even very close. We
have also seen some significant increases in drugs and alcohol. And, of
course, all of these things have been very harmful to our children.
I guess from my standpoint, the greatest threat to our country today
is not terrorism, it is not the economy, it is not Social Security, it
is not Medicare. Rather, it is what is happening to our young people,
because if our young people are not in good shape, do not have the
character, do not have the background to hold this country together, we
will go the way of many other civilizations.
{time} 1345
So, we cannot pass a law that is going to solve these problems,
unfortunately, but we can provide a mentor. A
[[Page H13]]
mentor is an adult who cares, who affirms, who supports and provides a
vision for young people. So many young people really do not have an
idea of what they could be or what they could accomplish, and that is
where a mentor oftentimes comes in.
Mentoring works. Studies, many studies, have shown these particular
data: A mentoring program will reduce absenteeism from school by more
than 50 percent, produces significantly better grades, higher
graduation rates. In addition, mentoring reduces drug abuse by nearly
50 percent and also significant reductions in alcohol abuse and also
reduces smoking. It also results in a significant reduction in teen
pregnancy and promiscuous behavior. It results in improved self-esteem,
personal hygiene and interpersonal relationships. Finally, a good
mentoring program reduces fighting, antisocial behavior and criminal
behavior by significant degrees.
Currently in the United States we are mentoring roughly 500,000 young
people, and it is estimated by school authorities and people who work
with young people we have approximately 20 million young people who are
desperately in need of a mentor. So we feel that this initiative is a
step in the right direction.
It is only a start. It can provide some significant data as to what
works, what is the best way to mentor, and we plan to have at least
some mentoring programs in every State in the Union that will give us
the data that we need to follow this valuable exercise.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the Committee on
Education and the Workforce for their support, and urge adoption of
this measure.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, which
recognizes the benefits of mentoring and the thoughtful investments in
mentoring programs that have been made across the country. I have
spoken of the benefits of mentoring many times on this floor and I am
pleased that the House is now considering this resolution.
On Monday of this week, I was in Omaha, NE, with Governor Mike
Johanns who signed a proclamation naming January as Mentoring Month in
Nebraska. Other States have held big kickoff events in January to
commemorate National Mentoring Month:
Minnesota held a kick-off event at the State Capitol building on
January 3 that included sports figures, political leaders, youth, and
media.
Delaware held an event announcing their commitment to recruit 1,000
new mentors for Delaware children.
Ohio had a televised Outstanding Mentor Awards event that included
State representatives, television personalities, and representatives
from the schools and volunteer commission as presenters and judges.
Boston had a roundtable on ``Who mentored you'' followed by a
``Mentoring Evening with the Boston Celtics.''
There are dozens of other events, including mentor recruitment fairs,
training events, fun events for mentors and the children they mentor
going on all around the country. In addition, last week, President Bush
signed a proclamation naming January National Mentoring Month. In
addition, a postage stamp promoting mentoring is now available through
the United States Postal Service.
So far, 29 States have officially created formal State mentoring
partnerships, which are bipartisan collaborative efforts of public and
private sector leaders to increase the number of young people with
mentors, increase resources dedicated to mentoring, ensure quality
standards, and expand mentor programming. Altogether, in the year 2000,
state mentoring partnerships:
Recruited over 66,000 mentors;
Trained nearly 25,000 mentors;
Provided technical assistance to over 3,300 organizations;
Responded to nearly 15,000 inquiries;
Leveraged over $11 million in new resources for mentoring; and
Partnered with over 2,800 program providers.
Two really excellent examples of States with a strong commitment to
mentoring are California and Florida.
In California, an executive order of Governor Pete Wilson launched
the Governor's Mentoring Partnership in 1995. The initial $10 million
investment made by the State has grown to $23.4 million per year, to
invest in grants to quality local mentoring programs. Further, the
initial goal of 250,000 young people in quality mentoring relationships
has grown to 1 million. In addition, California's initiative allows
release-time policy for State employees of 40 hours per year. Twenty-
nine local mentoring partnerships have been created throughout the
State and $800,000 is available per year for technical assistance.
Finally, to survive into the future, a private sector foundation
developed to secure private dollars for the initiative.
In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush launched the Governor's Mentoring
Initiative in 1999. It has a statewide goal to recruit 200,000 mentors.
Governor Bush signed an executive order allowing all executive officer
staff 1 paid hour of administrative leave, and the Florida Cabinet
passed an administrative order allowing State employees 1 paid hour of
administrative leave (as a result 1,800 mentored in May). The State of
Florida has committed over $12 million in direct support of mentoring
initiative through the legislature and a 13 percent increase to public
schools of tutoring and mentoring. Florida has also created a Corporate
Honor Role with over 60 businesses that support mentoring programs.
I am pleased that Congress has made the commitment to support
mentoring through authorization and appropriations for the Mentoring
for Success Program, which is authorized at $17.5 million for fiscal
year 2002. This tiny investment can reap huge dividends. Mentoring can
make such a difference in the lives of young people who need the
support of a strong role model in their lives. I hope that thousands of
children can benefit from mentors thanks to the strong support offered
for mentoring programs at the Federal, State, and local levels. Every
child deserves a chance to succeed, and, for many, mentoring can make
the difference. Please support this resolution to commend the hard work
of so many making a difference in the lives of our Nation's young
people.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure to be here today and to speak in
support of the National Mentoring Month. I want to thank my colleague
the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for his distinguished career
in working with young people. We really appreciate that. The gentleman
has been a great role model.
In closing, as we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, I
recall that he said, ``Everyone can be a drum major for peace.''
Paraphrasing him, everyone can be a drum major for mentoring.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in final closing, I would like to thank the gentlewoman
from California (Mrs. Davis) and also thank obviously the gentleman
from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), but also all the other speakers who spoke
here today.
All these individuals spoke of incidents from their own lives or
incidents in their lives and incidents they knew about in which young
people were helped by mentoring. I think any reasoning person who has
seen mentoring in action knows what a valuable substitute it can be
sometimes for what is missing in somebody's life to help them. For that
reason, I would hope we would all unanimously embrace this legislation
before us.
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of the resolution, this
Member wishes to add his strong support for H. Res. 330, which
expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that a National
Mentoring Month should be established. In addition to raising
awareness, a key goal of the effort is to encourage more individuals to
become mentors.
This Member would like to commend the distinguished gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the House Committee on Education
and the Workforce, and the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr.
Miller), the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the
Workforce for bringing this important resolution to the House floor
today. This Member would also like to commend the distinguished
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for sponsoring H. Res. 330 and
for his personal interest in establishing mentoring relationships
nationwide.
Many children throughout the United States face difficult
situations--and when matched with a caring and responsible adult,
positive results ensue. Research has shown that mentoring benefits
young people in a positive manner by increasing school attendance,
improving rates of secondary school graduation and college attendance,
decreasing involvement with drugs and alcohol, and reducing violent
behavior.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, this Member urges his colleagues to support
H. Res. 330.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to comment on the positive
attributes of mentoring. In the days of yesteryear, it was believed one
needed a toga to be mentor,
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whereas the proteges would sit at the feet of the wise one and learned
the mysteries of life. In our modern world, we have a more accurate
definition of contemporary trends in mentoring. Mentoring is known as
the most frequent and effective method of transmitting knowledge and
wisdom in society; virtually everyone has experienced it.
In an educational setting, mentoring has proven to be beneficial to
all parties, be it, new teachers learning from veteran professors or
students developing their perception of the world at large.
Considerable studies have indicated a lesser attrition rate among new
teachers whose induction program included mentoring. In 1998, a
National Association of State Boards of Education survey found that
among new special education teachers who continued to teach for a
second year, 20 percent noted that they stayed because of the mentoring
support they had received.
It is worth mentioning that both mentors and proteges responded
favorably to the mentoring process. The experienced teachers were
enthusiastic because they believed that mentoring allowed them to help
others improve themselves, receive respect and obtain fresh ideas and
energy from the new teachers. The proteges, on the other hand,
demonstrated more complete planning, more effective classroom
instruction, and more target goal setting.
Other studies on the same subject demonstrated the influence
mentoring can have on younger students. It gives them a head start to a
successful life. In a 1995 Impact Study by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of
America, we now know that 53 percent of these students were less likely
to skip school; 46 percent were less likely to begin using illegal
drugs; and 37 percent less likely to skip a class.
The Quantum Opportunity Program funded by the Ford Foundation showed
that high school students from families receiving public assistance who
had a mentor were more likely than others to graduate from high school
and enroll in college. They also had fewer arrests.
Mr. Speaker, mentoring is truly a valuable tool at the disposal of
anyone who is willing to assist those in need. Many successful people
started this way. I hope this tool will be used more readily across the
Nation.
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the
importance of mentoring. In today's society, our children face many
challenges and they need every bit of help that we can provide for
them. Mentors can provide that extra help for our children. Matching a
caring, responsible individual with a young person is a proven strategy
that improves the life of that person. A mentor's guidance helps to
build up their confidence, enthusiasm, and trust. Studies have shown
the positive impacts of mentoring, including increasing attendance at
school, improving rates of high-school graduation and college
attendance, and decreasing involvement with drugs and violent
behaviors. Research has shown that the positive impacts go both ways,
and that many mentors report having learned from their experience.
But mentors are in short supply; 16 million young people are
estimated to need mentors, and there simply are not enough to go
around. January has been designated as ``National Mentoring Month''. We
need to use this time to raise awareness of mentoring on a national
level and to empower and energize the programs that provide mentoring
programs in our local communities. The youth of America need positive
direction and mentoring is a great way to do this.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I want to first and
foremost thank my colleague from Nebraska, Tom Osborne, for bringing
this resolution to the floor. He is the author of the mentoring program
recently signed into law by the President as part of the No Child Left
Behind Act and he is also a cosponsor of my bill, the Younger Americans
Act, which would make youth development programs such as mentoring, a
national priority.
Mr. Speaker, consider the following:
Twenty-Two percent of violent crime victims in the United States are
juveniles and children under age 12 make up approximately one fourth of
all juvenile victims known to police. My State of California ranks 48th
among the 50 States and the District of Columbia for the percentage of
youth detained in the California Youth Authority (CYA), county camps,
juvenile halls, and private institutions.
Nationally, we know that alcohol and drug use among youth remains a
serious public health concern. In California, we are finding that while
self-reported teen drug use declined in the mid-eighties through the
early nineties, we are now experiencing a strong rebound. And, children
are using more dangerous drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines.
We also know that the need for adult-supervised environments in the
after school hours is significant. About half of all California
children ages 5 to 14 have both parents or a single parent working at
least 30 hours per week.
These numbers describe just some of the problems our children face.
For too long however, we have focused on providing remedies to these
problems that only address the negative behaviors instead of looking at
ways that promote the positive and healthy development of our youth.
This resolution takes us in this new direction where the focus is
placed squarely on what children need to grow into healthy, safe, and
well-educated adults. Making sure that all children have access to a
caring and responsible adult relationship through quality mentoring
programs is critical to this effort.
There is an overwhelming body of research to demonstrate the benefits
of programs that guide youth development in a positive manner.
According to a report released by Public/Private Ventures, a child's
involvement in a mentoring relationship with a caring and responsible
adult can reduce their participation in alcohol and drugs and increase
attendance in school. We also know that students with adult supervision
during after-school hours have better work habits, better relationships
with their peers and better emotional adjustment.
California has long recognized the need for mentoring programs and
since 1995 over 340,000 children have benefited from programs that
match youth with caring and responsible adult mentors through the
California Mentoring Initiative.
Volunteers in Probation and Families First Inc., represent just two
examples of outstanding programs in the Initiative that offer quality
mentoring relationships to youth in my district.
I want to applaud Mr. Osborne for bringing this resolution to the
floor and I look forward to working with him to expand the number of
mentoring programs across the country. I also invite him and the 72
cosponsors of the Younger Americans Act to work with me on getting that
bill passed. Only then will we have a national youth development policy
that assures all children and youth have access to the educational,
health, and economic resources they need to realize their full
potential.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon in
support of H. Res. 330, which expresses the sense of this body
regarding the benefits of mentoring.
Mentoring is a proven strategy that dramatically improves the lives
of young people by matching a caring, responsible individual with them.
A mentor's guidance helps a young person build confidence,
enthusiasm, and trust. Studies have shown that mentoring has a
definitive impact on young people by increasing attendance at school,
improving rates of high-school graduation and college attendance, and
decreasing involvement with drugs and violent behaviors. Mentoring
opens young people's eyes to a brighter future.
Research further indicates that mentors also benefit: One study found
that 75 percent of the mentors surveyed reported that their mentoring
experience had a ``very positive'' effect on their lives. And 83
percent indicated that they learned or gained personally from their
mentoring experience.
The biggest challenge facing mentoring, however, is that mentors are
in short supply. It is estimated that only 5 percent of the 16 million
young people who need or want mentors have them. There are simply not
enough mentors to go around.
Mentoring can occur in various forms. An adult can regularly
contribute one lunch hour a week to help a student strengthen reading
skills. A young person and her mentor can hang around once a week and
play basketball, go to a museum, or visit a historical site. Any amount
of consistent, quality time together will make a difference in the
lives of young people.
On January 18, President Bush proclaimed January 2002 as National
Mentoring Month and encouraged Americans to serve as role models for
our country's youth and to volunteer as mentors. Governors, Mayors, and
other government officials around the country have also passed similar
proclamations for their own communities.
As a concerned citizen and Chair of the Congressional Children's
Caucus, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to
continue our hard work to ensure that children have hope for a bright
future.
Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
important resolution recognizing the benefits of mentoring, and I also
want to commend Congressman Osborne for his hard work and initiative on
this issue.
Mr. Speaker, Webster's dictionary defines ``mentor'' as ``a trusted
friend or advisor.'' A mentor offers a child, or youth, support,
encouragement, and academic assistance.
Young people in America currently face overwhelming obstacles. Nearly
one-half of all children grow up without one biological parent or in
difficult home environments.
Others struggle socially, academically, or emotionally. Often, the
lack of a strong role model in a child's life creates a vacuum that the
child seeks to fill with drugs, alcohol, violence, or sex.
There is solid evidence that well-run mentoring programs can change a
young person's
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life, reduce drug and alcohol use and improve academic achievement.
Research has shown that mentoring reduces absenteeism from school and
drug and alcohol abuse by nearly 50 percent, and also substantially
reduces teen pregnancy violence.
Through mentoring, young people gain increased self-esteem and
motivation to succeed.
Mentors do not parent. A mentor provides stable, responsible guidance
to enable a child or youth to make good, positive decisions.
We should recognize all mentors including younger mentors involved in
peer mentoring. It is important to encourage not only adults to become
mentors, but also older youth.
When the mentor is an older student not too far in age from the
mentee, this transforming relationship affects both young people.
All of us have heard the expression that ``it is better to give than
to receive;' the mentoring relationship offers the opportunity to two
people to enter into this life-changing experience of giving and
receiving.
Mr. Speaker, we have both the ability and the responsibility to give
all of our children a chance to succeed. Mentoring provides this
chance. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the resolution
introduced by the gentleman from Nebraska, Mr. Osborne. This resolution
coincides with the President designating January, National Mentoring
month and I am pleased to lend my support to this important issue.
The future course of the United States depends on its children and
youth. Educated, confident, and nurtured children will make our Nation
stronger. Research has shown that mentoring measurably affects young
people by increasing school attendance, improving rates of secondary
school graduation and college attendance, decreasing involvement with
drugs and alcohol, and decreasing violent behavior. Considerable
numbers of our Nation's children face difficult circumstances: 1 out of
4 children lives with only 1 parent; 1 out of 10 children is born to
teenaged parents; 1 out of 5 children lives in poverty; and 1 out of 10
children will not finish secondary school.
Mentoring is a proven, effective strategy to combat such
circumstances by matching a caring, responsible adult with a child to
provide guidance, stability, and direction to the child and to build
the child's confidence. It is estimated that more than 16,000,000
children in the United States need or want a mentor but mentoring
programs nationwide serve at most 750,000 of such children.
Many children throughout the United States face difficult
circumstances in their lives and when matched with a caring and
responsible adult, positive results ensue. The effects of mentoring
include the improvement of school attendance and academic achievement,
decreased substance abuse, and reduced violent behavior.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution to help
create more awareness for the positive benefits of mentoring programs
in our Nation.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 330.
I have always believed that mentors and volunteers play an important
role in encouraging our nation's youth to excel in academics and in
life. Caring relationships with adults can nurture and empower a child
to succeed in areas which otherwise may threaten a child's ability to
overcome obstacles.
Mentors and volunteers bridge an important gap between a child's home
life and school. We all agree that parental involvement in a child's
education is critical to ensuring that student's academic achievement
and confidence, but unfortunately, not every child has a parent that is
actively involved in his or her life.
Having adult mentors and volunteers present in the schools signals
their concern and love for our nation's youth. I am proud to salute the
thousands of mentors and volunteers in my congressional district.
The numbers of adults committed to serving our children are
astounding--26,005 mentors and volunteers contributed 1,092,957 hours
in Pinellas County Schools in 2001. An additional 31,653 mentors and
volunteers spent 1,280,898 hours in Hillsborough County Schools, and
13,000 adults contributed over 300,000 hours in Pasco County Schools.
Mr. Speaker, we should do all that we can to encourage mentoring
relationships between adults and our nation's youth. The benefits of
mentoring relationships are numerous--mentors provide positive role
models for children in a world that desperately needs them. This
resolution recognizes the importance of mentoring, and I am glad that
my colleague has brought our attention to this issue today.
Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H. Res. 330, I
rise in strong support of this resolution to honor the community
service we know as mentoring.
This time-tested method of helping children--particularly at-risk
children--to grow and learn benefits all. As the parents of our, my
wife and I have been fully engaged as role models and mentors for our
own children. There is nothing more fulfilling for us than to work with
them to shape their futures and open their minds and hearts to all the
possibilities that lay before them. But far too many children do not
have this opportunity. One in four children has only one parent, who
may not have the time to spend with her son or daughter. One in ten
children is born to teenaged parents, who themselves need guidance.
These children need a helping hand to come from outside the home.
As we celebrate National Mentoring Month, we should honor the
commitment of the men and women who spend time with these kids and help
to give them hope for tomorrow. Working one child at a time, they make
a real difference in their communities. They keep children off of the
streets and out of trouble. They keep drug dealers from finding buyers.
They keep gang recruiters from finding new members.
We should also give thanks to those organizations that connect these
men and women to the children who need them. Some of these groups are
big names we all know and respect, like America's Promise and Big
Brothers, Big Sisters and Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Others
spring up in communities all across America. They may be a church group
or a women's club. Whether the group is large or small, the outcome is
the same--children who can smile at their futures again.
I urge all my colleagues to support the mentors in their communities
and to support this resolution.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 330.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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