[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 28, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF AMERICA REAUTHORIZATION

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to note that this evening the 
House of Representatives has considered and passed legislation that 
Senator Hatch and I introduced together to reauthorize and expand the 
Department of Justice grant program for the Boys & Girls Clubs of 
America. I thank Senator Hatch for his longtime commitment to our 
bipartisan legislation and thank the 46 Senators from both sides of the 
aisle who are cosponsors of our legislation to support the Boys & Girls 
Clubs of America.
  I pay special thanks to House Judiciary Committee Chairman 
Sensenbrenner and Ranking Member Conyers for their leadership and 
commitment to shepherding this bill through the House and sending it to 
the President's desk for enactment into law.
  Too often the public sees Republicans and Democrats disagreeing. But 
when it comes to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America there is no doubt 
that we see eye to eye: This bill shows the unified support of 
Republicans and Democrats for the good works of Boys & Girls Clubs 
across the Nation.
  Children are the future of our country, and we have a responsibility 
to make sure they are safe and secure. I know firsthand how well Boys & 
Girls Clubs work and what topnotch organizations they are. When I was a 
prosecutor in Vermont, I was convinced of the great need for Boys & 
Girls Clubs because we rarely encountered children from these kinds of 
programs. In fact, after I became a U.S. Senator, a police chief was 
such a big fan that he asked me to help fund a Boys & Girls Club in his 
district rather than helping him get a couple more police officers.
  In Vermont, Boys & Girls Clubs have succeeded in preventing crime and 
supporting our children. The first club was established in Burlington 
62 years go. Now we have 20 club sites operating throughout the State 
in Addison, Chittenden, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham and 
Windsor Counties. There are also four new Boys & Girls Clubs in the 
works in Winooski, Brattleboro, Barre and Vergennnes. These clubs will 
serve well over 10,000 kids statewide.
  As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have 
pushed for more Federal funding for Boys & Girls Clubs. Since 1998, 
Congress has increased Federal support for Boys & Girls Clubs from $20 
million to $80 million in this year. Due in large part to this increase 
in funding, there now exist 3,300 Boys & Girls Clubs in all 50 States 
serving more than 3.6 million young people. Because of these successes, 
I was both surprised and disappointed to see that the President 
requested a reduction of $20 million for fiscal year 2005. That request 
will leave thousands of children and their clubs behind and we cannot 
allow such a thing to happen.

  In the 107th Congress, Senator Hatch and I worked together to pass 
the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization 
Act, which included a provision to reauthorize Justice Department 
grants to establish new Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. By authorizing 
$80 million in DOJ grants for each of the fiscal years through 2005, we 
sought to establish 1,200 additional Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. 
This was to bring the number of Boys & Girls Clubs to 4,000, serving no 
less than 5 million young people.
  The bill the House will pass today builds upon this: We authorize 
Justice Department grants at $80 million for fiscal year 2006, $85 
million for fiscal year 2007, $90 million for fiscal year 2008, $95 
million for fiscal year 2009 and $100 million for fiscal year 2010 to 
Boys & Girls Clubs to help establish 1,500 additional Boys & Girls 
Clubs across the Nation with the goal of having 5,000 Boys & Girls 
Clubs in operation by December 31, 2010.
  If we had a Boys & Girls Club in every community, prosecutors in our 
country would have a lot less work to do because of the values that are 
being instilled in children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. 
Each time I visit a club in Vermont, I am approached by parents, 
educators, teachers, grandparents and law enforcement officers who tell 
me ``Keep doing this! These clubs give our children the chance to grow 
up free of drugs, gangs and crime.''
  You cannot argue that these are just Democratic or Republican ideas, 
or conservative or liberal ideas--they are simply good sense ideas. We 
need safe havens where our youth--the future of our country--can learn 
and grow up free from the influences of drugs, gangs and crime. That is 
why Boys & Girls Clubs are so important to our children.
  I look forward to the President signing into law as soon as possible 
our bipartisan bill to expand Federal support for the Boys & Girls 
Clubs of America. Our country's strength and ultimate success lies with 
our children. Our greatest responsibility is to help them inhabit this 
century the best way possible and we can help do that by supporting the 
Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

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