[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 79 (Monday, June 19, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H4196-H4197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT A NATIONAL
YOUTH SPORTS WEEK SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 826) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be
established.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 826
Whereas about 42 million children participate in organized
sports each year;
Whereas children participating in organized sports tend to
perform better in school, develop excellent interpersonal
skills, and lead healthier lives;
Whereas organized youth sports help children increase their
self-esteem, develop an appreciation of health and fitness,
and become leaders within the community;
Whereas organized youth sports provide for regular physical
activity and help combat increasing rates of childhood
obesity;
Whereas the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports was
created, with great help and support from the Citizenship
Through Sports Alliance, Positive Coaching Alliance, and
National Recreation and Park Association, to restore the
focus in youth sports on the child's experience and character
development;
Whereas far too many children quit participating in youth
sports at a young age, many telling coaches and parents, ``It
just wasn't fun anymore'';
Whereas the National Recreation and Park Association has
designated July as Parks and Recreation Month;
Whereas many youth sports organizations gather at local
parks and recreation facilities across the country; and
Whereas designating the second week in July as National
Youth Sports Week would raise awareness of the important
physical and emotional benefits of participating in youth
sports and the need to promote sportsmanship among players,
parents, coaches, and officials: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be
established to promote awareness of the importance of youth
sports and the need to restore the focus in youth sports on
the child's experience and character development.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and the gentlewoman from the District of
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Ms. FOXX. 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 the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 826, offered by the distinguished gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), would express the sense of the House
that a National Youth Sports Week should be established.
Because children are our country's most valuable resource, it is
important that we do all we can to provide them with positive learning
experiences, quality role models, and all the enjoyment that comes with
participating in organized sports.
Statistics show that approximately 42 million kids play youth sports
each year. Children that partake in these activities tend to have
better personal skills, lead healthier lives, and are more successful
in school. The competitive spirit and character-building camaraderie
that sports provide are essential for teaching our children to follow
their dreams while working with others to build lasting relationships.
It is important that we all do our part to encourage our children to
embrace the experience of teamwork; and for that reason, I urge all
Members to come together to support H. Res. 826.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H. Res. 826. Youth sports are much
more than just an afterschool activity or a great way for young people
to spend their energy and free time. Youth sports can help enrich a
child's life; and, Mr. Speaker, they serve a much more important role
today when so many youth have become voyeurs of sports and not
participants in sports. H. Res. 826 is sponsored by Representative Mike
McIntyre.
Youth sporting leagues and activities, when combined with healthy
parenting and responsible coaching, help children to grow emotionally,
socially, and physically. Teamwork, discipline, and the value of hard
work that goes with them are important lessons for children to learn.
In addition, there are clear physical and health benefits for children
who participate in youth sports.
Mr. Speaker, obesity has become a major problem of young people in
the United States. This week I am introducing a bill that would allow
the FCC to regulate junk food advertising on TV which is so out of hand
that physicians and other health care providers have focused in on this
advertising in particular.
I am pleased that before Representative Jon Porter, former chair of
the HHS subcommittee, left, I was a cosponsor of a bill that has been
funded now for the last 5 years with him to establish a program that
was extraordinarily successful, as it turns out and according to
studies, in getting young people out and active. It was the VERB
program. I regret very much that thus far this program has not been
funded this year by the committee. I am hoping that it will be funded
by Congress before we go home.
No health issue is more pervasive among young people than obesity and
being overweight. We appear to be raising a generation that is losing
interest in physical activity and, in addition, is consuming
nutritionally deficient foods that will guarantee that they have health
problems for the rest of their lives.
We have an epidemic of the type II diabetes for the first time in the
history of this country. This is not the kind of diabetes people are
born with. This is the kind of diabetes people get as a result of
lifestyle, and the notion that youngsters now are the fastest growing
group of those with type II diabetes should concern all of us and
should get us to doing whatever we can to bring this matter to the
attention of their parents and their communities. What Representative
Mike McIntyre's resolution does in this regard may seem small, but
everything we can do we should now be doing.
Children who are not active and maintain poor diets develop health
problems that we now know will be with them for their entire lives. The
notion that high blood pressure, pediatricians tell us, now starts for
many children when they are in elementary school, for example.
{time} 1430
Youth sports helps counteract this behavior by encouraging physical
activity and healthier diets.
Internationally, many organizations use youth sports to help remove
barriers between culturally diverse communities. Basketball and soccer
leagues have been successfully used in South America and Northern
Ireland to foster reconciliation among troubled youth. Youth sports
help train children to become productive citizens and future leaders.
Youth Sports Week, which will be celebrated during the second week of
July, will raise awareness of the existence of sports leagues around
the country and promote sportsmanship among players, parents, coaches,
and officials. I very much urge Members to support this resolution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I can share many of the concerns and feelings
that my colleague from across the aisle has expressed. When we were
growing up, we didn't need a lot of organized sports
[[Page H4197]]
to keep us busy, it did not seem. There were plenty of activities in
the summer to keep us active; and when we were in school during the
year, there were activities to keep us active.
But nowadays it seems it is very difficult to keep children active in
sports-related activities unless those are around organized activities.
As the grandparent of two who are involved in lots of activities
themselves, I see very much the benefits to them from being involved in
baseball and in basketball and in Kung Fu and other things that teach
them skills that will be useful to them all their lives, including
team-building skills.
It is very important, I think, that we keep our young people active
and that we do all that we can to help them fight against the trends
toward obesity that we are seeing in our culture and the trends toward
inactivity, with children being drawn to watching television and
playing on computers instead of getting outside and being involved in
great activities that could help them in all manners of their lives.
So I very much support this resolution, and I urge all Members to
support the adoption of H. Res. 826.
Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 826,
legislation to designate the second week of July as ``National Youth
Sports Week.''
Many thanks to the cochair of the Youth Sports Caucus, Congressman
Kenny Hulshof, and all of the Members of the Youth Sports Caucus for
their work on this bill.
Additionally, I would also like to thank the Government Reform
Committee, particularly Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Waxman for
their swift support in bringing this bill to the House floor.
Having coached youth sports for 7 years as a volunteer coach in my
hometown of Lumberton, NC, I recently created the Congressional Caucus
on Youth Sports in response to the release of the first-ever Report
Card on Youth Sports in America.
The report card, compiled by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance,
revealed alarming deficiencies in child-centered philosophy, coaching,
health and safety, officiating and parental behavior and involvement in
youth sports in America.
Youth sports are the largest youth organization in the United States.
In fact, more than 42 million children play sports each year with tens
of thousands of volunteers, parents, coaches, and officials joining in
to help.
Therefore, we must ensure that our Nation's children have a positive
experience playing youth sports, and we must restore the focus of youth
sports on character development.
The benefits of children's involvement in youth sports go far beyond
the playing field. Children who participate in organized sports tend to
achieve better results in school, develop excellent interpersonal
skills and increased self-esteem.
During my years as a youth sports coach with my sons, Joshua and
Stephen, I saw the positive impact of sports on our youth and in our
community, as well as in other communities. I know first-head the
positive impact youth sports have had on my life growing up and not
only on my sons' lives but also on the lives of countless other young
people--both boys and girls--across America.
H. Res. 826 raises awareness about the important and long-term
physical and emotion benefits of participating in youth sports and the
need to promote sportsmanship among players, parents, coaches and
officials.
This bill is supported by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance,
Positive Coaching Alliance, and the National Recreation and Park
Association. The month of July has been designated by the National
Recreation and Park Association as Parks and Recreation month, and the
second week of July to celebrate youth sports would complement this
celebration.
Please join me in passing this legislation and helping to ensure that
our Nation's children reap the positive affects of involvement in youth
sports, and that this crucial part of children's lives remains a source
of enjoyment and character-building.
June 19, 2006.
Re National Youth Sports Week Resolution (H. Res. 826)
Hon. Mike McIntyre,
Rayburn House Office Building, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
I am writing this letter to offer you the full support and
endorsement of the National Recreation and Park Association
(NRPA) as you seek passage of the National Youth Sports Week
Resolution.
Public park and recreation agencies are the largest
provider and facilitator of community based youth sport
opportunities in America. Not only do park and recreation
agencies provide instructional programs and coordinate youth
sport leagues, they manage an estimated 500,000 facilities
that are permitted to independent youth sport organizations
to conduct their own programs and leagues. Public park and
recreation agencies lead the way in identifying needs and
offering solutions to improve youth sports. Our collective
influence regarding public policy associated with quality
sports, development of practice standards and leadership
around improving the quality of youth sports reflect our
commitment to the work of the Congressional Youth Sports
Caucus.
Since 1998, the National Recreation and Park Association
(NRPA) has engaged national partners and local park and
recreation agencies to improve the quality of youth sports
nationwide. NRPA partnerships have focused on expanding and
improving programming in tennis, basketball, baseball,
football as well as many other sports to increase
participation among youth and adults.
NRPA was selected by Sports Illustrated in 2002 to
celebrate its 50th Anniversary by designating one community
in each state as the Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary
Sportstown. This nationwide competition attracted
applications from 250 communities in all 50 states. The
National Football League Youth Football Fund allowed us to
take this project to the next level by engaging thirty-eight
communities to demonstrate a new leadership model for
improving the quality of youth sports.
At the conclusion of the demonstration project, NRPA
launched the Sports Illustrated GOOD SPORTS TM
initiative in 2005. Over 1,400 communities joined the
initiative to improve youth sports through the following
elements:
Teach life skills through sports;
Empower success among youth through sports;
Promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles through
sports; and
Strengthen communities through youth sports.
NRPA brought our expertise in the field and our community
perspective to assist in the development of the Citizenship
through Sports Alliance's (CTSA) National Youth Sports Report
Card. We recently moved this partnership forward by working
with CTSA to conduct a Grassroots Report Card of Youth Sports
in America in coordination with the Congressional Caucus on
Youth Sports. We are currently assisting local community
efforts to benchmark their grassroots report card against the
national findings.
NRPA looks forward to collaborating with the Congressional
Youth Sports Caucus to work in a bi-partisan fashion to
promote the values of sportsmanship, civility, respect,
health, safety, fun and physical activity among players and
leaders, including coaches, parents and officials. We are
pleased that the National Youth Sports Week will take place
during the second week of July to coincide and compliment
National Recreation and Parks month.
The leadership role of parks and recreation in advancing
child-centered youth sports is increasingly evident.
Convening community stakeholders and engaging partners to
improve programs, policies and practices around all of youth
sports is imperative. Park and recreation agencies sit at the
crossroads of responsibility and opportunity to elevate the
practice and to develop new standards for the benefit of all
children. NRPA will continue to develop public policy
recommendations to support the leadership role of parks and
recreation to improve the quality of youth sports nationwide.
We applaud your leadership and dedication and that of the
co-sponsors to the improvement of youth sports in America by
designating a National Youth Sports Week.
Sincerely,
John Thorner,
Executive Director,
National Recreation and Park Assoc., Ashburn, VA.
Ms. FOXX. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 826.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
____________________