[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7493-S7494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. 
        Bunning, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Roberts, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Smith, Ms. 
        Landrieu, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Daschle, and Mrs. 
        Lincoln):
  S. 1201. A bill to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent unhealthy, 
risky behaviors among teenage youth; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, today I am happy to be joining my 
colleague Senator Lindsey Graham in introducing the YMCA Healthy Teen 
Act. Senator Graham and I are introducing this bill along with Senators 
Bunning, Corzine, Daschle, DeWine, Durbin, Landrieu, Lincoln, Murray, 
Roberts, and Smith. This bipartisan legislation will address a critical 
issue for our Nation's future: the health of our children.
  Unfortunately, there has been an alarming trend in recent years 
towards increased obesity in our Nation's youth. On average, America's 
young people spend 4 hours a day watching television, 1 and \1/2\ hours 
a day listening to music, 30 minutes watching videos, and 20 minutes 
playing video games. Only 13 percent of students walk or bike to 
school. Only one State, Illinois, requires daily physical education in 
schools. The Surgeon General has reported that 13 percent of children 
and adolescents are overweight, more than double the number who were 
overweight in 1970.
  We are rapidly becoming a country of the unfit, the inactive, and the 
unhealthy--and our young people are suffering the consequences of a 
sedentary lifestyle. If ignored, obesity in children leads to obesity 
in adulthood--and the numerous health problems that come with it 
including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive 
pulmonary disease, and cancer. These five diseases alone account for 
more than two-thirds of all deaths in the United States, and caring for 
them comes at a tremendous cost to society--close to $117 billion 
annually.
  On top of the need for increased physical activity and healthier 
lifestyles, the evidence is all around us that our young people today 
also need some extra care and support. Kids today face challenges and 
obstacles that I never dreamed about when I was growing up in Regent. 
Although recent promising evidence show that rates of smoking, drinking 
and the use of illegal drugs among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders fell 
simultaneously in 2002, still half of all high school seniors have 
reported using illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime.
  These challenges arise in part from the temptations kids face when 
they have too much idle time on their own. Every day, millions of 
American teens are left unsupervised after school. Studies have shown 
that teens left unsupervised during those hours are more likely to 
smoke, drink alcohol, engage in sexual activity, and become involved in 
delinquent behavior than teens who participate in structured, 
supervised afterschool activities. Also, nearly 80 percent of teens who 
are involved in afterschool activities are A or B students, while only 
half of those who are not involved earn those grades.
  To address these crucial issues facing America's youth, I propose we 
turn to an exemplary organization dedicated to improving kids' lives, 
the YMCA. Nearly 2.4 million teenagers--1 out of every 10--are involved 
in a program offered by their local YMCA. In 2001, total membership 
rolls reached their highest level in history, with 18.3 million men, 
women, and children--half of them under 18--receiving a vast range of 
services from their local YMCAs.

  In the past year and a half, I visited three of the six YMCAs that 
serve

[[Page S7494]]

North Dakota teens. Through programs focused on education, healthy 
lifestyles, physical activity, leadership, and service learning, these 
North Dakota YMCAs helped 12,500 teens in my State develop character, 
build confidence, and become healthier within the last year alone.
  I have seen firsthand what a difference a safe, structured, and 
healthy afterschool environment can make for our youth. In those 
communities in North Dakota and across the country, the YMCA is a place 
to learn, a place to play sports, a place to meet friends, and a place 
to simply shed the problems that youths face every day in school and at 
home and just have some fun. North Dakota teens embrace the countless 
opportunities presented to them at their YMCAs with enthusiasm, and I 
have no doubt they are not alone.
  While the YMCA is national in scope, they are local in control and 
every program is designed and evaluated to meet the communities' unique 
needs. I am confident that this bill will help the YMCA to reach more 
teens and continue to provide successful solutions for our Nation's 
teens and families.
  To serve more teens in need of healthier lifestyles and safe and 
structured afterschool programs, the YMCA has set the goal of doubling 
the number of teens served to one in five teens by 2005. This ambitious 
campaign is called the Teen Action Agenda.
  The bill that Senator Graham and I offer today provides funding to 
help the YMCA reach teens who need safe and structured activities that 
will promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles. This piece of 
legislation authorizes Federal appropriations of $20 million per year 
for fiscal years 2004 through 2008 for the YMCA to implement its Teen 
Action Agenda. This funding would in turn be distributed to local YMCAs 
that are located in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Similar 
legislation was passed in the 105th Congress for the Boys and Girls 
Club and in the 106th Congress for the Police Athletic League to aid in 
their efforts to reach out to youth.
  Each program funded through this initiative would include physical 
activity and nutritional education components, and could also focus on 
other health risks faced by teenage youths, such as tobacco, drugs, and 
risky behaviors that lead to injury and violence.
  This bill will encourage public-private partnerships and leverage 
additional funding for teen programs. It contains a matching component 
that will be met by the YMCA through local and private support. The 
YMCA in 2001 raised $777 million in public contributions, double the 
annual contribution levels of a decade ago, and continues to grow and 
gain support from communities for its work. The matching component, 
along with the support the YMCA programs receive from national 
corporate sponsors, will turn $20 million in Federal funds into $50 
million that will be invested in proven programs that serve teens who 
are most in need.
  Adolescence is an opportune time to instill in children positive 
eating habits and exercise routines that will carry over into 
adulthood. The YMCA is an established and proven organization that is 
in the position to reach out and influence thousands of teenagers. This 
legislation is an opportunity for us to do something for the health of 
our Nation's teenagers, when they now face greater risks and challenges 
than ever before. Again, for the sake of our children's future, I urge 
my Senate colleagues to join Senator Graham and me in cosponsoring this 
piece of legislation.
                                 ______