[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 14 (Wednesday, February 8, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H171-H174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH

  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 660) supporting the goals and ideals of 
National Mentoring Month.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 660

       Whereas youth mentoring is a centuries-old concept, through 
     which a dependable adult provides guidance, support, and 
     encouragement to help a young person become a responsible, 
     productive adult;
       Whereas mentoring, when done well, helps young people stay 
     in school and improve academically, boosts self-esteem and 
     communication skills, and improves the chances of going on to 
     higher education;
       Whereas there are thousands of mentoring programs in 
     communities of all sizes across the United States, focused on 
     building strong, effective relationships between caring and 
     responsible adults and young people who need positive adult 
     role models;
       Whereas in spite of the great benefits mentoring provides, 
     America has a serious mentoring gap, with more than 15 
     million young people currently in need of caring adult role 
     models;
       Whereas the demand for mentoring far exceeds the current 
     capacity of local mentoring programs and the number of adults 
     who currently volunteer as mentors;
       Whereas on December 22, 2005, the President designated 
     January 2006 as National Mentoring Month to focus the 
     Nation's attention on the essential role mentoring plays in 
     the lives of young people;
       Whereas the month-long celebration of mentoring will 
     encourage more individuals and organizations, including 
     schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, faith 
     institutions, and foundations, to become engaged in 
     mentoring; and
       Whereas National Mentoring Month will, most importantly, 
     build awareness of mentoring and recruit more individuals to 
     become mentors, helping close our Nation's mentoring gap: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of National Mentoring 
     Month;
       (2) acknowledges the hard work of individuals and groups 
     who promote mentoring and who are observing the month with 
     appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote awareness 
     of and volunteer involvement with youth mentoring; and
       (3) recognizes with gratitude the contributions of the 
     millions of caring adults who are already serving as mentors 
     and encourages more adults to volunteer as mentors.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).


                             General Leave

  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 660.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Nebraska?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in honor of National 
Mentoring Month, which actually was celebrated in January, but we were 
not here in January, so we are doing it a month late. I would like to 
honor the contributions of the thousands of mentors and mentoring 
programs across the country that work so hard to provide young people 
with support and assistance.
  And I would like to make a personal reference here, Mr. Speaker, in 
that I spent most of my previous career, 36 years, working with young 
people, and I saw many changes during that period of time, certainly 
great changes in the family. The out-of-wedlock birth rate was 5 
percent in 1960; today it is about 35 percent. So a huge increase.
  And at the time that I first started my coaching career, the number 
of children living with both biological parents was 90 percent. Today 
it is roughly 50 percent. And we currently

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have 22 million fatherless children in the United States today. And I 
worked with many young people who were without fathers, and I saw the 
devastation that this lack of a father caused in their lives.
  I also witnessed many cultural changes during that 36-year period. We 
have become the most violent Nation in the developed countries for 
young people, currently lead the world among developed nations in 
suicide and homicide rates. Certainly drug and alcohol abuse has 
increased dramatically. And, of course, gang activity, many people are 
aware of the increase there.
  And also some of the influences of the media have not all been that 
positive. Some of the television, some of the movies, some of the 
Internet activities, some video games certainly have been somewhat 
pernicious and not been helpful to our young people.
  So if we look at history, we realize that most great civilizations 
decline and fall due to internal factors, not external consequences. 
And so if we look at Rome, to some degree the British Empire, Soviet 
Union, we see some of those things occurring. And I think it is 
important that we not be caught off guard here in the United States.
  It is difficult to legislate or mandate solutions to some of the 
problems that I have outlined briefly here, but I would like to remind 
the fact that mentoring does work. An adult who has no vested interest 
in a young person, who is not a parent, not a grandparent not a 
teacher, no one who is paid to come and spend time with that child, 
makes a tremendous impact on that child's life if they simply care 
enough to show up and spend time, because it indicates to that young 
person that they are worth something, that they are worthwhile. And so 
we see some dramatic changes.
  My wife and I have been involved with a mentoring program which 
currently mentors 2,900 young people, mostly in the State of Nebraska. 
We have done some research through Gallup, the polling company, and 
they have found that absenteeism, in a good mentoring program, is 
reduced by 80 percent, absenteeism from school. We find that discipline 
referrals go down by about 70 percent, grades improve by 40 percent, 
and also pregnancy rates go down significantly. Substance abuse is 
decreased by 40 to 50 percent. Gang activity is reduced substantially.
  And some things improve and increase. Graduation rates go up. And 
personal hygiene and personal relationships with parents and peers also 
tends to improve.
  So a mentor is someone who cares. And we have so many young people in 
our country today who simply do not have an adult in their life that 
they can count on, somebody that cares about them unequivocally and 
will always be there for them.
  A mentor is also someone who affirms, who says, I believe in you, I 
see some talent, I see some possibility. A mentor is someone who 
provides a vision of what might be possible. So mentoring is critical. 
Mentoring does work.
  And Congress has responded. We had an amendment to No Child Left 
Behind called Mentoring For Success, which I was able to introduce. In 
the last 5 years we have provided $184 million of support for mentoring 
programs around the country. This is supported, of course, by Chairman 
Boehner.
  Another mentoring program was funded to the tune of $168 million, and 
this is for children of prisoners. It was through HHS and supported by 
the President. And currently it costs about $500 per mentoring match, 
and so we reach undoubtedly 600,000, 700,000 children through these 
programs.
  Mentoring is cost-effective. It costs $500 to mentor a child. It 
costs $25,000 to $30,000 to lock someone up in prison. And the average 
meth addict will cost the State that it resides in roughly $47,500 if 
they are addicted to meth because of crimes committed and other abuses.
  So at the present time, Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that we need 
roughly 18 million mentors in the United States, children who badly 
need somebody in their life. We currently are able to supply roughly 3 
million, so we are 15 million short. And what we have done in Congress 
is helped; certainly been a step in the right direction.
  So I am pleased that we can at least acknowledge what has been done, 
and National Mentoring Month has certainly increased awareness and 
shown the importance of mentoring and the need for more mentors across 
the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Nebraska for his 
leadership in bringing this resolution recognizing National Mentoring 
Month to the floor today. Since he arrived in Congress, the coach, as 
he is so often called, has worked to make youth issues a priority both 
on and off the field, and this resolution is another example of his 
dedication to this effort.
  As we celebrate mentoring today, I am reminded of the words of 
Coretta Scott King when she said: I am fulfilled in what I do. I never 
thought that a lot of money, nor fine clothes, the finer things in life 
would make you happy.
  Mentoring is not a material good. It does not involve lots of heavy 
spending or working long hours to achieve monetary greatness, but 
mentoring truly is one of the finer things in life. It is a valuable 
activity that gives all involved a sense of happiness and connection 
that material things cannot.
  A mentor, of course, is often an adult, who, along with parents, 
provides young people support, counsel, friendship, and a constructive 
example. The average mentor spends 8 to 10 hours a month with his or 
her mentee on activities such as reading a good book aloud, visiting 
museums or going to the playground.
  When a young person is matched with a caring, responsible individual, 
this relationship often makes a positive difference in the quality of 
life for that young person.
  For much too long we have focused on providing remedies to problems 
that only address negative behavior, rather than looking at ways to 
promote the positive and healthy development of our young people. This 
resolution directs us to focus on what children need in order to grow 
into healthy, safe and well-educated adults, making sure that children 
have access to a caring and responsible adult relationship.
  Mentoring opens young people's eyes to a brighter future, and every 
young person deserves that opportunity. Unfortunately at this time 
there are simply not enough mentors to go around. Only about 1,000 of 
the more than 1 million school-aged children in the Chicago area are 
fortunate enough to have a mentor. Nationally more than 15 million 
young people currently are in need of a caring adult role model.
  In Chicago and across the country, it is clear that the mentoring 
framework is in place. Now we just need more people to volunteer their 
time to help change the life of a child. Research shows that young 
people who are mentored have a stronger attachment to school, higher 
graduation rates, and decreased involvement with drugs, gangs and 
violence.
  This bill recognizes these positive outcomes and acknowledges the 
hard work of individuals and groups who promote mentoring. Mentoring is 
a strong investment in our children and in the future of our country. 
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I am indeed pleased to join with Representative 
Osborne and my colleagues in celebrating the essential role that 
mentoring plays in the lives of our young people.
  Again, I commend the gentleman from Nebraska for his outstanding 
leadership in bringing these kinds of issues to the forefront and to 
the attention of the Members of this body.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

                              {time}  1530

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
House Resolution 660. I want to thank my colleague from Nebraska for 
his work stressing the need for mentoring in our Nation. It has been a 
pleasure to work with Congressman Osborne over the years to emphasize 
this great need for mentors.
  Just yesterday a young woman from my San Diego community dropped by 
my office to share her story of how a

[[Page H173]]

mentoring program changed her life. She came from a difficult family 
situation as a teenager and sought help from the Turning Point program 
at the YMCA Youth and Family Services in San Diego. There she found the 
help and the guidance of mentors who helped her in turning her life 
around for the best and eventually enrolling in college and setting 
some very ambitious personal goals. With the help of mentors, she 
learned the skills and confidence needed to make it in life, including 
how to communicate and how to build self-esteem. And she also learned 
practical skills in the 18-month program such as how to budget finances 
and how to approach job interviews.
  Mr. Speaker, her story is a perfect example of the power and impact 
of mentoring. Those who receive the help and the support of a mentor 
are likely to help others and to do good. As an adult she now works as 
a staff member of the Turning Point program, returning the gift of 
mentoring to young at-risk youth who face similar circumstances. Her 
experience also shows that mentoring is not only about helping people 
facing difficulties, but giving them the strength and the drive to 
chart their own course and to discover their own strength and talents. 
Her talent now is helping others change their lives for the better.
  We are hearing a lot right now about the need to make our young 
people competitive and to push academic standards, but let us also 
guide our children and give them the self-esteem and the courage to 
face the world and all its obstacles, particularly those young people 
who face substantial obstacles. Our children need the wisdom and 
strength of someone who cares. And I know as a school board member I 
would often run into teachers and principals who came from what we 
would call tough neighborhoods, and I would ask them what made the 
difference, because they would share with me that a lot of children 
they grew up with were in jail, and some had died, young people, and 
they shared that the one person, that one teacher that showed an 
interest, that one community member who always looked out for them, 
that one member who really would not let them get away with things 
growing up. It is always important to have that special someone there 
who cares.
  As a proud sponsor to H.R. 660, I want to urge my colleagues to 
support the resolution before us today and to recognize the need to 
promote mentoring.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 
proposed bill, H. Res. 660, ``Supporting the goals and ideals of 
National Mentoring Month.''
  In 2002, January was deemed National Mentoring Month to recognize the 
importance that mentoring has on our Nation's youth. The demand for 
mentors stems from the growing need of our Nation's youth to have 
positive role models in their life that can provide them with the 
critical support and guidance necessary for them to succeed.
  Without external support they are less likely to graduate from high 
school, and more likely to engage in criminal behavior. In contrast, 
youth matched in mentoring programs are 46 percent less likely to use 
illegal drugs and 37 percent less likely to skip a day of class. 
Additionally, youth in mentoring programs show increased self-esteem, 
self-confidence and self-worth.
  The benefits of mentoring do not stop with the youth. Research by the 
Commonwealth Fund shows that 83 percent of adult mentors ``learned or 
gained something personally from their mentoring experience,'' 
suggesting that mentoring is a positive experience for the both the 
mentor and the youth.
  Further, by involving individuals and organizations, such as non-
profits, faith-based institutions and businesses, we strengthen our 
communities--something that each of us works diligently to accomplish 
on a daily basis.
  In my district in Houston, we have worked to foster this relationship 
through several mentoring programs. Two key institutions are the 
Volunteer Houston Mentoring Institute and the National Big Brothers, 
Big Sisters Program, both of which are working with area schools to 
administer successful programs. Volunteer Houston and the Houston 
Independent School District entered into a partnership to ensure that 
at-risk high school students have mentors to help them achieve academic 
success. Last year, the national Big Brothers, Big Sisters Program 
matched 225,000 youth with mentors, 1,500 of which are in the Houston 
program.
  Both of these programs illustrate that significant progress has been 
made, but there is still much to be done. Nationally, there are as many 
as 15 million young people that make up what is known as the mentoring 
gap, or youth in need of mentors. In my district this is of 
particularly grave concern, as 5,300 youth displaced by hurricane 
Katrina are enrolled in the Houston Independent School District. They 
have sustained both psychological and emotional burdens, and could 
immediately benefit from a mentoring program.
  In order to extend the great benefits of mentoring to all of those in 
need of services it is important to recruit new volunteers and expand 
the scope of operations.
  With that said, I join my colleagues in supporting the goals and 
ideals of National Mentoring Month, recognize the need for increased 
awareness, and stand to recognize those self-less individuals and 
organizations that make mentoring a priority, often without the praise 
they deserve.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I am so glad to be here with my colleagues 
Supporting Goals and Ideals of National Mentoring Month.
  As House Resolution 660 so accurately states, ``mentoring is a 
centries-old concept, through which a dependable adult provides 
guidance, support, and encouragement to help a young become a 
responsible, productive adult.'' It goes on to conclude that when 
properly carried out mentoring ``helps young people stay in school and 
improve academically, boosts self-esteem and communication skills, and 
improves the chances of going on to higher education.'' I could not 
agree more.
  In Michigan, we proudly recognize the contributions made by Mentor 
Michigan, led by Governor Jennifer Granholm, and the First Gentleman 
Dan Mulhern. Two individuals who lead by example and serve as mentors 
themselves. I was recently privileged to join the First Gentleman at a 
presentation on mentoring at the First Presbyterian Church in Mt. 
Clemens, Michigan where he spoke passionately and effectively not only 
about the meaning of mentoring in his own life but the broader impact 
it has for our Michigan community.
  This program exemplifies what happens when government and community 
actively work to make certain all of our youth develop lasting 
relationships with individuals who are stable and caring. By developing 
a state-wide network of mentoring programs, Mentor Michigan has 
fostered support and unity among programs that accomplish what so often 
gets overlooked, encouragement and guidance of youth. Mentoring 
programs throughout the state are work in conjunction with Mentor 
Michigan to promote three simple values.
  First, that every child has the right to a stable, caring adult in 
his or her life. It is so easy to take this for granted. In Michigan, 
over 237 programs connect youth with high quality mentors that are 
dedicated to helping children reach their aspirations and guiding them 
through fulfilling their needs. Mentor Michigan recruits and connects 
dedicated mentors with effective programs.
  Second, everyone is responsible for the well being of our children 
including individuals, businesses, nonprofit and faith-based 
organizations, education institutions, and government. ``It takes a 
village to raise a child,'' says an old African proverb, and Mentor 
Michigan knows that a safe, well developed network of resources is a 
vital way to show that community involvement matters in shaping the way 
young people see the world. Mentors satisfy needs and programs that 
value mentors such as Mentor Michigan should be commended.
  Third, volunteering is a significant way for people to enrich their 
lives by giving of themselves to children in their community. Youth 
energize the world around them and working with youth energizes the 
individuals who take up the challenge. Over 99 percent of Michigan's 
mentors have recommended mentoring to others. Mentor Michigan programs 
provide Americans the opportunity to develop young leaders of tomorrow.
  Michigan is the only state with such a focus on tracking and 
assessing its mentoring programs. It is estimated that over 30,000 
Michigan youth benefitted from having a mentor in 2005. I feel 
privileged to know such outstanding devotion to the generation of 
tomorrow and very proud to honor it today.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the 
great contributions mentoring programs make every day to a better 
America of tomorrow.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H. Res. 660. I want to 
thank Mr. Davis of Illinois for his support.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 660.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof)

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the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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