[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR FULL FISCAL YEAR 2007 FUNDING OF THE NATIONAL 
YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM/RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING WORK OF THE MOREHOUSE 
                 COLLEGE NATIONAL YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOHN LEWIS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2006

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in vehement opposition to 
the proposed elimination of National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) 
funding, contained in the President's Budget Request, for the second 
year in a row. I am concerned that some of my colleagues may not 
understand the severity of the situation that NYSP is facing. If 
Congress does not provide full FY07 funding for NYSP, the program will 
be forced to close its doors. This will result in 75,000 of our 
nation's most vulnerable youth, being left behind next summer.
  NYSP uses sports instruction and competition, as a vehicle to enhance 
self-esteem and respect, among boys and girls from low-income 
households. Established in 1969, with a $3 million funding commitment 
from the White House, NYSP has provided over 2 million participants 
with instruction in career and educational opportunities, and exposure 
to the college environment for nearly four decades.
  Because I have witnessed, firsthand, the difference that the NYSP 
program has made in the lives of under served youth in my Congressional 
District I cannot, in good conscience, sit idly by as this essential 
program is dismantled. In my Congressional District, Morehouse College 
has done an outstanding job of running the NYSP program for nearly four 
decades, serving over 10,000 children throughout Atlanta. The Morehouse 
College NYSP program is unique, because it has taken great pains to 
maintain a balance between athletics and academics. Similar to NYSP 
programs throughout the nation, Morehouse College offers instruction 
focusing on sports. However, it also includes additional instruction in 
areas such as: nutrition, drug awareness and prevention, creative 
writing, and leadership development.
  The NYSP program has a tremendous impact on the youth that it serves 
in my Congressional District. By placing NYSP participants in academic 
settings, where they receive hundreds of hours of exposure to the 
benefits of higher education, the participants begin to believe that 
they, too, can succeed in college and beyond. Furthermore, the 
mentoring relationships established between the teaching/coaching 
staff, college student volunteers, and NYSP participants, have resulted 
in hundreds of former NYSP participants returning to work in the 
program at Morehouse College as student volunteers.
  Mr. Speaker, NYSP is not asking for a handout from Congress. In fact, 
in 2005 NYSP secured two-thirds of its operating expenses from other 
public and private sources, such as the National Collegiate Athletic 
Association (NCAA) and the 202 selected institutions of higher 
education with which it partners. The Administration knows that NYSP 
works. Congress knows that NYSP works. Institutions of higher learning 
in 47 states and the District of Columbia know that NYSP works. Most 
important, over 2 million NYSP participants, and their families, know 
that it works.
  I strongly encourage all of my colleagues, especially those serving 
on the budget and appropriations committees, to reject the President's 
proposed elimination of the NYSP program, and provide full funding for 
FY07.

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