[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 18 (Thursday, February 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 43--RECOGNIZING JANUARY 2017 AS NATIONAL MENTORING 
                                 MONTH

  Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Mrs. 
Capito, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; 
which was considered and agreed to:

                               S. Res. 43

       Whereas, in 2002, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public 
     Health and MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership 
     established National Mentoring Month;
       Whereas 2017 is the 15th anniversary of National Mentoring 
     Month;
       Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are--
       (1) to raise awareness of mentoring;
       (2) to recruit individuals to mentor; and
       (3) to encourage organizations to engage and integrate 
     quality in mentoring into the efforts of the organizations;
       Whereas young people across the United States make everyday 
     choices that lead to the big decisions in life without the 
     guidance and support on which many other people rely;
       Whereas a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who 
     devotes time to a young person to help that young person--
       (1) discover personal strength; and
       (2) achieve the potential of that young person through a 
     structured and trusting relationship;
       Whereas quality mentoring--
       (1) encourages positive choices;
       (2) promotes self-esteem;
       (3) supports academic achievement; and
       (4) introduces young people to new ideas;
       Whereas mentoring programs have shown to be effective in 
     combating school violence and discipline problems, substance 
     abuse, incarceration, and truancy;
       Whereas research shows that young people who were at risk 
     for not completing high school but who had a mentor were, as 
     compared with similarly situated young people without a 
     mentor--
       (1) 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college;
       (2) 81 percent more likely to report participating 
     regularly in sports or extracurricular activities;
       (3) more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership 
     position in a club or sports team; and
       (4) 78 percent more likely to pay it forward by 
     volunteering regularly in their communities;
       Whereas 90 percent of young people who were at risk for not 
     completing high school but who had a mentor said they are now 
     interested in becoming mentors themselves;
       Whereas mentoring can play a role in helping young people 
     attend school regularly, as research shows that students who 
     meet regularly with a mentor are, as compared with the peers 
     of those students--
       (1) 52 percent less likely to skip a full day of school; 
     and
       (2) 37 percent less likely to skip a class;
       Whereas youth development experts agree that mentoring 
     encourages smart daily behaviors, such as finishing homework, 
     having healthy social interactions, and saying no when it 
     counts, that have a noticeable influence on the growth and 
     success of a young person;
       Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and use 
     the personal contacts of the mentors to help young people 
     meet industry professionals and train for and find jobs;
       Whereas all of the described benefits of mentors serve to 
     link youth to economic and social opportunity while also 
     strengthening the fiber of communities in the United States; 
     and
       Whereas, despite the described benefits, 9,000,000 young 
     people in the United States feel isolated from meaningful 
     connections with adults outside their homes, constituting a 
     ``mentoring gap'' that demonstrates a need for collaboration 
     and resources: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes January 2017 as National Mentoring Month;
       (2) recognizes the caring adults who--
       (A) serve as staff and volunteers at quality mentoring 
     programs; and
       (B) help the young people of the United States find inner 
     strength and reach their full potential;
       (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial because 
     mentoring encourages educational achievement and self-
     confidence, reduces juvenile delinquency, improves life 
     outcomes, and strengthens communities;
       (4) promotes the establishment and expansion of quality 
     mentoring programs across the United States to equip young 
     people with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive 
     lives; and
       (5) supports initiatives to close the ``mentoring gap'' 
     that exists for the many young people in the United States 
     who do not have meaningful connections with adults outside 
     their homes.

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