[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 27, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2896-H2898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 1240) supporting the goals and ideals of Global
Youth Service Day, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1240
Whereas Global Youth Service Day is an annual campaign that
celebrates and mobilizes the millions of children and youth
who improve their communities each day of the year through
community service and service-learning;
Whereas Global Youth Service Day will be celebrated from
April 23, 2010, to April 25, 2010;
Whereas the goals of Global Youth Service Day are to
mobilize and support young people to identify and address the
needs of their communities, schools, and organizations, to
provide opportunities for youth engagement, and the public,
the media, and policymakers to recognize and raise awareness
of young people as assets and resources;
Whereas Global Youth Service Day, a program of Youth
Service America, is the largest service event in the world,
the only day of service dedicated to youth engagement, and in
2010 is being observed for the 22nd consecutive year in the
United States and for the 11th year globally in more than 100
countries;
Whereas Global Youth Service Day engages millions of young
people worldwide with the support of more than 200 National
and International Partners, 85 State and local Lead Agencies,
and thousands of local partners;
Whereas high quality community service and service-learning
programs increase young people's academic engagement and
achievement, workforce readiness, 21st century skills, and
civic knowledge and engagement;
Whereas community service and service-learning provide
opportunities for young people to apply their knowledge,
idealism, energy, creativity, and unique perspectives to
improve their communities by addressing a myriad of critical
issues, such as health, childhood obesity, education,
illiteracy, poverty, hunger, environment, climate change,
violence, and natural disasters;
Whereas Global Youth Service Day is an opportunity for
citizen diplomacy, as evidenced by the growing number of
projects that involve youth working collaboratively across
borders to address global issues, increasing intercultural
understanding, and promoting the sense that they are global
citizens;
Whereas thousands of participants in schools and community-
based organizations are planning Global Youth Service Day
activities as part of a Semester of Service in which young
people spend the semester addressing a community need
connected to learning goals or academic standards over the
course of at least 70 hours;
Whereas Global Youth Service Day provides an opportunity
for young children, teenagers, and young adults, to gain
experience as active citizens and community leaders, and
assist schools, community organizations, faith-based
organizations, government agencies, businesses, and families;
and
Whereas the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act recognizes
Global Youth Service Day as a national day of service and
calls on the President to encourage people of the United
States to observe the day with appropriate youth-led
community improvement and service-learning activities: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes and commends the significant contributions
of youth of the United States and encourages the cultivation
of a civic bond between young people dedicated to serving
their neighbors, their communities, and the Nation;
(2) supports the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service
Day; and
(3) calls on the people of the United States to observe
Global Youth Service Day by--
(A) encouraging youth to participate in community service
and service-learning projects and joining their peers in such
projects;
(B) recognizing the volunteer efforts of the young people
of the United States throughout the year; and
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(C) supporting the volunteer efforts of young people and
engaging them in meaningful community service, service-
learning, and decision-making opportunities as an investment
in the future of the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Woolsey) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which
Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H. Res.
1240 into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1240, a
resolution to support the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day.
Global Youth Service Day is an annual worldwide event that highlights
and celebrates the ongoing contributions of youth to their communities
through volunteer service and service learning.
Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world,
and over the past 21 years it has brought together more than 40 million
people in thousands of communities worldwide. This past weekend it was
observed for the 22nd consecutive year in the United States, and for
its 11th year globally, in more than 100 countries.
Mr. Speaker, service learning extends the classroom into the
community, providing young people with the opportunity to give back
locally. It is also an academic tool that builds real-life applications
into student curriculum, keeping students engaged in their education.
High quality service learning that is integrated with academic
curriculum increases students' cognitive engagement, motivation to
learn, school attendance, and academic achievement. Global Youth
Service Day takes that one step further by promoting projects that
encourage youth to work collaboratively across national borders to
address global issues, to increase intercultural understanding, and to
promote the sense that we are all global citizens.
There are countless benefits associated with volunteerism and
service. Evidence shows that there exists a conclusive correlation
between youth service, character development, lifelong adult
volunteering, philanthropy, and other forms of civic engagement.
Opportunities like Global Youth Service Day provide avenues for youth
to apply their knowledge, idealism, energy, creativity, and unique
perspectives to improve local communities by addressing critical issues
such as poverty, hunger, illiteracy, education, natural disasters,
climate change, and so very much more, Mr. Speaker.
As part of Global Youth Service Day here in the District of Columbia,
Greater D.C. Cares organized 7,000 volunteers as part of its annual
Servathon to restore national monuments, landscape parks and
playgrounds, prepare and distribute food, and paint murals on schools
in 100 locations within the metro area.
In Detroit, Michigan, more than 125 students from an inner city
Detroit school educated their classmates and families about having a
healthy diet and nutrition and incorporating exercise in their daily
lives. In Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Speaker, the local YMCA coordinated
with over 100 community partners and 1,000 young people in feeding the
homeless, in yard work for the elderly, community gardening with the
Atlanta Community Food Bank, among many other things.
Both young people and their communities will benefit greatly from
expanded opportunities like these which allow youth to engage in
volunteer community service and service learning worldwide.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution serves to recognize and commend the
significant contributions of youth of the United States and to support
the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day 2010.
I thank Representative Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut for introducing
this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PETRI. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1240,
supporting the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day. Global
Youth Service Day supports and encourages community service and service
learning throughout these United States, and enables millions of
students to make contributions to their communities. America's young
people, from kindergartners to college students, have the desire,
energy, and ability to make a real difference in their communities.
Global Youth Service Day is an opportunity for them to convert their
ideas and energy into action.
Through community service and service learning, we can inspire,
empower, and celebrate young people who recognize the need to do
something for their communities, believe in their ability to get it
done, and then take action. Service learning engages students in the
educational process, using what they learn in the classroom to solve
real-life problems. Service learning and community service enables
students to not only learn about democracy and citizenship, but to
become actively contributing citizens and community members through the
service that they perform.
There are a growing number of opportunities for youth to get involved
in service activities through schools, service clubs, religious
affiliations, family, or neighborhood-based volunteering. The challenge
is to maintain youth interest and commitment to community service by
showing them the benefits to the community that they are serving and to
themselves. I stand before you today to commend the significant
contributions our youth are making in our Nation's communities.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the author of H. Res. 1240.
Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in support of this resolution honoring and
supporting the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day, which took
place this past weekend. I want to commend my colleague, Representative
Ehlers, for taking the lead in cosponsoring this important resolution.
Global Youth Service Day is a public awareness and education campaign
led by Youth Service America with the National Youth Leadership Council
and the Global Youth Action Network. It emphasizes the importance of
public service. It highlights the valuable contributions that young
people make to their communities all year long.
In the words of Gandhi, ``The best way to find yourself is to lose
yourself in the service of others.'' That is the simple truth that
animates Global Youth Service Day. By mobilizing young people around
the world to identify and address the needs of their neighbors, by
supporting their community service, and by civic engagement efforts, we
not only help our communities to thrive, we help the next generation
find themselves through service and commitment to a greater good.
This past weekend, young people all around the world designed and
carried out community service projects in areas ranging from literacy
and mentoring, to the environment and energy conservation, to hunger
and homelessness. This year saw 2,631 projects in 87 countries and all
50 States.
We often say that service is its own reward, but it actually has the
benefit of being true. In addition to the positive results these
projects have on our communities, research shows that young people who
participate in community service also enjoy increased civic engagement
and they do better in school. By recognizing the interdependence of
their community, they become more independent, more grounded, more
cognizant of the world around them. They become better citizens.
The cycle of service and citizenship is why we passed the Edward M.
Kennedy Serve America Act 1 year ago last week, to offer young people
more opportunities to serve their nation. It is why we continue to
encourage our young men and women to become deeply involved in the
life, health, and education of our communities through such programs as
AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and Summer of Service. It
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is why we honor the passion and the sacrifice of those young Americans
who choose to make a difference in distant lands, such as members of
the Peace Corps and our Armed Forces.
All of us in this room today know firsthand the value of public
service. Global Youth Service Day helps to transmit that priceless
value to the next generation. All around the world it encourages boys
and girls to get involved, to give of themselves, to use their
enthusiasm, their energy, and their passion to help our communities.
I urge my colleagues to honor these values of civic and community
service, and to support this resolution.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
lead coauthor of this legislation, our respected colleague from the
State of Michigan (Mr. Ehlers).
Mr. EHLERS. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding.
I am a great believer in volunteer efforts, and I believe that is
what makes our Nation tick. And I think it is especially appropriate to
educate children and young adults at a very early age to become
involved in volunteer work.
Global Youth Service Day is a major means of implementing that, and
bringing to children the awareness of and importance of volunteer work,
and also developing ways to make volunteer work seem interesting and
fun to the youth of our Nation.
I do have to warn them, however, as I have learned myself, volunteer
service can lead to the halls of Congress. I would have never been
elected to office, never even would have become politically active
without my volunteer activities. But I soon learned when engaging in
volunteer activities and helping people that much of the problems I was
trying to solve should have been solved by the local elected officials.
And with some friends we got together and got some very good people
elected. Never did I suspect that I might myself someday be called upon
to do the same thing and follow a path that led to Congress.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is a wonderful device to give
recognition to the youth of this Nation, gives an opportunity for us to
recognize the service that they have rendered, and also calls on the
President of the United States to encourage people of the United States
to observe this day and make it clear to young people what marvelous
opportunities for volunteerism they have.
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There are many different ways in which the youth can contribute to
the functioning of the Nation, but two that come to mind as being
especially useful are, one, helping the elderly who often have trouble
adjusting to new homes or who simply don't know how to handle the
electronics of the new abodes that they've moved into. Another method
is working with the young people of this Nation, with the very young
people--the children who are having trouble with how to read or who are
having trouble learning math. This is a wonderful opportunity for
younger people who have more experience with science and mathematics
and who are able to communicate their love of science and mathematics
to help the young people around them.
So it is with pleasure that I rise. It is with great pleasure that I
am a cosponsor of this resolution. I think it is an extremely important
issue.
I thank Ms. DeLauro and Ms. Woolsey for their working on this as
well.
This is a golden opportunity for all of us to express our gratitude
to the young people of this world who continue to act as volunteers in
so many different ways and in meaningful ways which will direct their
careers as well as will help the Nation.
Mr. PETRI. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to compliment
Congresswoman DeLauro and Congressman Ehlers for their amazing efforts
in this regard, and I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1240, a
resolution to support the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1240, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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