[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H4078-H4079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE THAT SCHOOLS SHOULD CELEBRATE 
   NATIONAL GARDEN MONTH THROUGH A CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES OUTDOOR 
                                LEARNING

  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 292) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that schools should celebrate National Garden Month 
through a curriculum that includes outdoor learning.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 292

       Whereas individuals in the United States desire a healthy 
     environment for the future;
       Whereas teaching children to appreciate, respect, and 
     protect the environment will have long-term benefits because 
     children are the next generation of environmental stewards;
       Whereas greater exposure to nature through outdoor learning 
     and play is recognized as essential to the physical, 
     emotional, and mental development and health of children;
       Whereas gardening exposes children to the outdoors while 
     increasing their knowledge of plant cultivation and soil 
     ecosystems;
       Whereas research has shown that gardening positively 
     impacts not only environmental attitudes, but also 
     nutritional attitudes, interpersonal skills, and self-esteem; 
     and
       Whereas the National Gardening Association recognizes April 
     as National Garden Month: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that schools throughout the United States 
     should celebrate National Garden Month through a curriculum 
     that includes outdoor learning through gardening.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Clarke) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Wilson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.

                              {time}  1300


                             General Leave

  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which 
Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 292 into the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  (Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H. Res. 292 expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that 
schools should celebrate National Garden Month through a curriculum 
that includes outdoor learning.
  I would like to thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio, 
Representative Pryce, for bringing this resolution to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, the importance of getting children outside and involving 
them with the environment is critical to the survival of our planet, 
and this bill takes the first step in that direction. National Garden 
Month will introduce children, particularly children from the city, 
such as Brooklyn, where I represent, who would not be exposed to the 
outdoors an opportunity to involve themselves in gardening and the 
outdoors.
  This resolution is a small step in helping to further our survival. I 
urge my colleagues to support the environment by supporting this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as 
she may consume to the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Pryce).
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. I thank the gentleman, my friend Mr. Wilson, for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 292, legislation I 
introduced to encourage schools to celebrate National Garden Month by 
including outdoor learning in their curriculum.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to make special thanks to my friend, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) for cosponsoring this bill 
and helping me get it to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, the National Garden Association has designated April as 
National Gardening Month, during which people across the Nation take 
out time from their busy schedules to plant seeds and bulbs and trees 
to beautify their lawns and gardens and, ultimately, the communities in 
which they live. However, this annual ritual does more than just enrich 
the aesthetics of people's yards. Research has shown that gardening 
positively impacts environmental attitudes, interpersonal skills, self-
esteem and even nutritional attitudes. That is why it is important that 
we expose our children, especially school-age children, to the benefits 
of nature and gardening through outdoor learning.
  April is a fitting month for consideration of this measure as we 
celebrate both Earth Day, and in many States, Arbor Day. With 
conservation and environmental stewardship in the air, we should seize 
this opportunity to encourage children all across America to

[[Page H4079]]

step away from their televisions and turn off their X-Boxes, get 
outside, get some fresh air, and become the young scientists in the 
living laboratory that is all around us.
  More so than any one generation before it, children today are 
instilled with the values of environmentalism and conservation. H. Res. 
292 builds upon and nurtures this value system and serves as a win-win 
for all.
  With the long-term health of our environment becoming an increasingly 
hot topic, it is imperative that we teach our children to appreciate, 
respect and protect our environment. While doing so, it improves and 
beautifies the planet around us. It also is essential to the physical, 
emotional and mental development of our children. The practice of 
gardening has proven to improve landscapes and environmental health, 
nutrition and personal health and family and community bonds. This bill 
will introduce more children than ever to gardening and horticulture.
  For a more beautiful America, and for healthier and happier children, 
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), Chair of the Subcommittee of 
Healthy Families and Communities of the Education and Labor Committee.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Thank you for yielding.
  I want to thank my good colleague, Deborah Pryce, for working on this 
bill and introducing the bill. I want to certainly thank my colleague 
on the Education Committee, Representative Clarke from New York, also, 
for managing the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.Resolution 292. It is important 
for our schoolchildren to learn outside the classroom.
  I am personally a gardener, and I hope that someday I'm actually 
going to become a master gardener. I also know that bringing my 
grandchildren into the garden and showing them, number one, how to grow 
things, and also the whole life of bugs, I know a lot of people might 
get a little squeamish about that, but to learn the science and to 
watch a praying mantis and to watch how they live and how the birds and 
the gardens work together, it is teaching our young children the 
wonders of the world. It also gets them interested in science. This 
world is a very complex place.
  It is also extremely good for your mental health. I know that 
certainly with this job here, and all the years that I worked as a 
nurse, the first thing I went to was my garden when I got home. Just to 
put your hands in the soil, it gives you an immediate release of the 
tension that you might feel. So it is an activity that we are seeing 
more and more young people getting involved in.
  I am happy to say that many of my schools on Long Island have gardens 
going around the school, number one, to beautify it, but also to teach 
the children how important gardening is. And growing vegetables. We 
find that children that grow their own vegetables actually enjoy eating 
vegetables a little bit more.
  I certainly want my colleagues to vote for this. It is a good bill, 
and it is a good awareness for our young people.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 292, expressing the 
sense of the House of Representatives that schools should celebrate 
National Garden Month through a curriculum that includes outdoor 
learning through gardening.
  I appreciate the leadership of its lead sponsor, Congresswoman 
Deborah Pryce of Ohio.
  Around the Nation, more and more schools and youth groups are 
becoming savvy to the ecological and educational benefits of building 
gardens. It gives students another reason to get outdoors and use their 
knowledge and academic skills to solve a real world problem.
  Gardening offers active and engaging connections to academics from 
science and math to nutrition and literacy. Educators will tell you 
students retain information better when they design experiments, use 
more than one style of learning, and share their newfound knowledge 
with others.
  Additionally, gardening benefits children's health and well-being, as 
well as their attitudes toward the environment. Indeed, gardening 
benefits the whole child. It captivates children's interests, teaches 
them nurturing skills, and gives them a sense of pride in their 
accomplishments. It introduces them to healthful foods and provides a 
way to improve and give back to the community.
  I grew up with an appreciation of gardening in that my mother, Wray 
G. Wilson, was the garden editor of the Charleston News and Courier, 
where she encouraged the establishment of a municipal parks department 
for America's most historic city, with the leadership of Mayor J. 
Palmer Gailliard, Jr. Additionally, my two youngest sons, Julian and 
Hunter, have developed an appreciation of gardening, the environment 
and conservation by attending Camp Wildwood, sponsored by the South 
Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Garden Clubs of South 
Carolina. I am grateful to Brad Taylor and Steve Bates for their 
enthusiastic coordination of Camp Wildwood.
  For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join my friends, 
Congresswoman Pryce, Congresswoman Clarke, Congresswoman McCarthy and 
students across the Nation in celebrating National Gardening Month, and 
ask my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 292.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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