[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 16, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Clinton, 
        and Mr. Daschle):
  S. 1419. A bill to support the establishment or expansion and 
operation of programs using a network of public and private community 
entities to provide mentoring for children in foster care; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I send a bill to the desk and ask for 
its appropriate referral. I send this bill to the desk on behalf of 
myself, the Senator from Indiana, Senator Bayh, Senator Kerry, and 
Senator Clinton.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be received and appropriately 
referred.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I appreciate the Democratic leader's 
generosity, to give some of his time for the introduction of this very 
important bill. I thank the Senator from South Dakota.
  This particular measure is called the Foster Mentoring Act of 2003. I 
have spoken many times on the floor about the issue of foster care and 
adoption, and our efforts as a Congress to try to keep our families 
intact and to provide the economic systems in the country, as well as 
the social systems from the Federal, State, and local level, to try to 
help support our families in a way that will get them through crises 
that all families experience.
  It would be our goal as a nation to see that every child born in a 
family gets to stay within that family and is loved and nurtured within 
that family unit, either the immediate family or extended family. But 
when family ties break down beyond the ability to repair them even with 
the best efforts made by the churches and synagogues and mosques and 
faith-based organizations as well as the Government, then we have to 
create a system out-of-home care, or foster care.
  We have done that. We have created a system, but we have to fix a 
system that is now broken and in great need of repair. Many of us have 
been working diligently over the past few years to do that. Some great 
progress has been made.
  Until the system can be reformed in its entirety, there are some 
things we can do now, we can do immediately. Passing this Foster 
Mentoring Act is one of these things. It would provide a $15 million 
grant to States to provide foster care mentoring programs, provides $4 
million for a public awareness campaign for the need for mentors for 
the over 500,000 children who are in foster care in the United States 
today, and it would provide, most significantly, up to $20,000 for loan 
forgiveness for anyone who would mentor a foster care child.
  You ask me have we done this before? Yes, in California, represented 
by a list of advocates I will submit, Children Uniting Nations is the 
lead nonprofit organization organizing this effort. Under the direction 
of Governor Gray Davis and his wife, Sharon, they have been a 
successful pilot for this kind of program in the United States.
  This bill attempts to take what is working in California and expand 
it nationally and provide foster care mentoring opportunities to 
children in foster care.
  I ask unanimous consent, because my time is short, to have printed in 
the Record a letter from the former majority leader, Dick Armey, who 
supports this initiative and really encourages the Congress to take a 
serious look.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
                                                 Richard K. Armey,


                                       Former Majority Leader,

                                    Washington, DC, July 16, 2003.
     Hon. Mary Landrieu,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Landrieu: I understand you are introducing 
     legislation designed to promote mentoring for foster 
     children. I am writing to applaud your effort and objective. 
     Based on my own experience, mentoring works.
       My own experience with mentoring convinces me that it 
     affords an opportunity for learning and encouragement to 
     children that is all too often not otherwise available. For 
     the past ten years I have sponsored a program, which we 
     called, Tools for Tomorrow in which we arranged scholarships 
     and mentors fifteen deserving children. I have seen first 
     hand how they blossomed through the experience and I have 
     enjoyed the special relationship between the children and 
     their mentors. Mentoring works in the lives of the children.
       In addition to applauding your active leadership and 
     efforts with respect to mentoring for foster children I also 
     want to commend Daphna Ziman, and Children Using Nations for 
     their support and activities in the private sector. Daphna 
     Ziman, Chairperson of Children Uniting Nations, is a 
     recognized leader who gives much of herself in the tireless 
     pursuit of helping foster children. Her efforts and other 
     private sector initiatives play a critical role in advancing 
     this important cause.
           With kind regards,
                                                       Dick Armey.

  Ms. LANDRIEU. I urge my colleagues to take this issue, as I know they 
will, quite seriously, to do what we can now to provide the hundreds of 
thousands of children who are looking for mentorship and stability the 
benefit of this act and, as quickly as we can, take it up in the 
Senate. Of course, we urge our leadership to do so.
  Finally, I thank Senator Daschle for giving me the minutes before his 
amendment to offer this important legislation.
  I yield any time remaining.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I complement the distinguished Senator 
from Louisiana for her bill and her leadership on the issue of 
mentoring. She knows a great deal about foster care. I am grateful to 
her for the commitment she had made to the issue.
  Recent statistics have shown that 45 percent of those children who 
are in foster care are less likely to begin using drugs; 59 percent do 
better academically; 73 percent set and attain a higher life 
achievement goal. So there is a lot to be said for fostering. I believe 
the Foster Care Mentoring Act that she has now just introduced is 
meritorious and certainly deserves our support.
  I ask to be a cosponsor.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
                                 ______