[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14548-14553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     NATIONAL CHARACTER COUNTS WEEK

  Mr. DOMENICI. On behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous consent the 
Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 148, 
S. Res. 98.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative assistant read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 98) designating the week beginning 
     October 17, 1999, and the

[[Page 14549]]

     week beginning October 15, 2000, as ``National Character 
     Counts Week.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the resolution I have just alluded to is 
a bipartisan resolution. A number of years ago we started this approach 
to character education called Character Counts. Senator Nunn was the 
cosponsor of a resolution that passed the Senate on innumerable 
occasions, perhaps as many as five times. It declares for all of 
America that one week during the year will be known as called Character 
Counts Week.
  Frankly, from this Senator's standpoint, we hear so much about what 
we ought to do and what we can do to help our young people as they grow 
up in this very difficult society and often very difficult time. We all 
understand that there are many people who have primary responsibility 
for our children. We are not in any way talking about negating that 
primary responsibility, that of relatives and grandparents and mothers 
and fathers and brothers and sisters to help raise a child with good 
values. But we have found, starting about 6 years ago, that the 
teachers in our public schools have been yearning for something they 
would like to teach our children that for some reason had been 
eliminated from both the public and private school agenda. It is 
sometimes referred to as character education.
  I chose to call it ``Character Counts'' and I chose to speak about a 
specific program that is being used in many public schools in our 
country, and certainly in my State of New Mexico, whereby the teachers 
take six pillars of character and they embrace those within the 
classroom--on a day-by-day basis, not as a special class. But let me 
just mention a few of the Character Counts traits that are part of this 
program and used in many schools.
  Let's start with the first one. It is trustworthiness. In some public 
schools and private schools, especially in the grade schools, for one 
entire month, the school would promote the idea of trustworthiness by 
students and teachers, who have lesson plans and programs that 
articulate what trustworthiness is. They use this with the students, 
and they from time to time engage in discussions, engage in activities 
around the school that epitomize trustworthiness. I think we all 
understand trustworthiness is one of those characteristics and 
qualities of character that says you should not lie. It says if you 
agree with somebody to do something, you should live up to your 
agreement. Trustworthiness has a quality of loyalty to it.
  Then maybe the next month, one of the other six pillars would be 
discussed and woven into the curriculum. The next month, it may very 
well be ``respect.'' The same kind of thing might happen during that 
month in some grade school in New Mexico or Idaho or the State of 
Tennessee or the State of Connecticut, where an awful lot of activity 
in Character Counts education is taking place.
  Maybe the next month it might be the third trait, which is 
``responsibility,'' and then maybe the next would be ``fairness,'' and 
``caring,'' and ``citizenship.''
  I have been part of this now for a number of years. It is a joy to 
visit public schools, parochial schools, and other kinds of schools, 
and visit a class and just talk to the young people about the word of 
the month; to see the teachers, how excited they are that for that 
month the children have been talking about responsibility; they have 
been talking about that in terms of their classmates, their teacher, 
their responsibilities at home.
  Then if you are lucky, you might choose to visit a school at the time 
once a month when they are having an assembly. During Character Counts 
assemblies, schools bring all the students together, and they present 
awards to the students that month who were most responsible. One way of 
reinforcing the importance of good character is to reward those who did 
more things than anyone else that month to demonstrate 
``trustworthiness,'' or ``responsibility,'' or ``caring,'' or 
``respect,'' or ``citizenship.''
  Actually, Character Counts and its Six Pillars are not the only 
character education idea and program taking place in our country. But 
it is one of the best. The resolution we have just adopted resolves and 
proclaims the week beginning October 17 of this year, and the week 
beginning October 15 in the year 2000, to be National Character Counts 
Week. We request that the President issue a proclamation calling upon 
people and interested groups to embrace the six core elements of 
character identified by the Aspen Declaration, which are 
trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and 
citizenship. That week the people in the country observe as National 
Character Counts Week, with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
  There are many Senators who have already joined in this effort from 
both sides of the aisle. Some are very active in their home States, and 
some are not. But I can say to any Senator who would be interested, 
there is a format which is very simple and at the same time very 
effective and profound, where a Senator or any elected official can get 
together with the superintendent of schools and others and talk about 
joint sponsorship of Character Counts in that particular public school. 
If the board of that school condones it and says it is a good idea, 
then it is all a question of leadership and who wants to pursue it and 
push Character Counts. So when graduation at a Character Counts school 
occurs, you can attend and you can see what the 9 months of character 
education have done. At schools where arithmetic was taught, grammar 
was taught, reading was taught, all of a sudden the young kids also 
know something about these six pillars of character.
  Frankly, people ask what has gone wrong with our country and what 
should we do about it.
  I am no prophet, and I am not one who thinks he knows all the 
answers, but I say what is missing in the United States more now than 
20 or 30 years ago is character. The old Greek philosophers talked 
about character. I think it was Plato who said a country without 
character is a country that cannot exist for long, and that for a 
country to have character, the people in the country must have 
character.
  What we are speaking of is our little mission and our part in trying 
to change the quality of lives of young people by letting them know 
that some things are better than other things, there are some things 
that are right and some things that are wrong.
  Nobody seems to object across this land to these six pillars, these 
six words. It used to be whenever one talked about behavior and said 
values, people would wonder, whose values?
  In our America, under our Constitution, we surely cannot decide which 
religions values are to be taught in the schools, for as soon as we do 
that, we have to ask which ones are being left out. And as soon as we 
do that, we begin to break down the wall of separation between church 
and State, which is such a formidable part of America as it started 
under our forefathers and continues today.
  It is interesting. I have asked in many assemblies of adults whether 
there was any objection in the community--be it the community of 
Gallup, NM, or Clovis, NM, or Las Cruces, NM, or Albuquerque, my home 
city--to these six pillars. If one thinks them through, they are so 
fundamental and desperately needed that hardly anyone can object to 
them.
  I wish the Governors of our country--and I am going to ask them, 
along with my good friend and chief cosponsor, Senator Dodd of 
Connecticut--might adopt this in their States. I want to work with the 
Governors to move together with the public institutions of education 
and the private institutions of education to begin a broader-based 
promotion of Character Counts in more States.
  Frankly, a number of our Senators have been involved in the past. 
Senator Dodd has brought this idea to his State, and Senator Lieberman 
works with him. Senator Frist of Tennessee has had great success in 
getting it started, and now it is multiplying in his State. I have had 
a rather phenomenal success in New Mexico. In my

[[Page 14550]]

small State, over 200,000 young people, one way or another in 
classrooms across our State, are learning and living these six words, 
these six pillars of character, as part of their 9 months of education. 
It is having a profound effect.
  On the other hand, there are cynics. They ask: How do you know? Are 
you sure?
  We do not know for sure, although we are beginning to get some 
objective analysis that seems to indicate that some of the things going 
wrong in the schools before are not going wrong when the six pillars of 
character are utilized, are popular and preeminent and where the 
children are participating in building their character around them.
  I believe we are better off trying character education than not. If I 
had to guess what might change things, I would say if the young people 
in our country can build individually and collectively into their daily 
lives the six pillars of character celebrated in this resolution, so 
they feel part and parcel and immersed in the ideas of respect, 
trustworthiness, caring, and the other three pillars I have mentioned 
heretofore, we have a better chance of effecting some change for the 
positive than almost anything else we can do.
  I am going to do my share to keep this going in my State. I am also 
going to join Senator Dodd in meeting at the next opportunity with the 
Governors in a bipartisan way to see if they will engage us in a 
discourse and dialog about character education and, in particular, how 
Character Counts works in the places it is being tried.
  There is not an organization that dictates Character Counts for the 
Nation, nor does it promote it nationwide. This is an activity left up 
to localities. The only thing is, it is coordinated in our country by 
an entity which came up with these six pillars, the Josephson Institute 
of Ethics. That institute helps provide materials and the know-how for 
localities, schools, Boy Scouts, athletic clubs and others to promote 
these six pillars. But, it is up to the locality to do something about 
it.
  But today, we are going to adopt this resolution celebrating 
Character Counts in the hope of raising awareness and encouraging 
states and localities to consider using this approach in their 
communities.
  I note the presence on the floor of my cosponsor who has done a 
wonderful job in his State, and also speaks about Character Counts and 
the six pillars in various places in this country. He has had a 
significant degree of success. The way it is run in his State is 
different than our State, but, nonetheless, the six pillars are 
becoming prominent.
  These six pillars are becoming prominent in the education of young 
people. We might never have thought we could include them, but in the 
backs of our minds we always thought they must be used.
  How can we raise children without responsibility, without caring and 
respect being meaningful to them?
  I am very pleased to be part of this again this year. Like I said, I 
am going to try to be a little more effective in expanding Character 
Counts to a few more places with the help of my colleague, Senator 
Dodd. As I said in Senator Dodd's absence, we are going to ask 
Governors to take the lead. We will join them and get the Josephson 
Institute and any others that are involved in character education and 
move it ahead so that many States will be like Senator Dodd's and mine 
where it will be flourishing among young kids.
  Mr. President, I say again, today, for the sixth consecutive year, we 
will adopt a resolution designating the third week of October as 
National Character Counts Week. Once again, this resolution has 
received overwhelming bipartisan support with 57 cosponsors. Through 
this measure, this body--the United States Senate--pledges its support 
and encouragement of character education and training by setting aside 
one week for a celebration. Yes, National Character Counts Week, 
October 17-23, 1999 and October 15-21, 2000 will be an opportunity for 
schools, communities, and youth organizations all over America to 
celebrate the ideals of good character and honor those who have worked 
so hard throughout the year to promote values such as trustworthiness, 
caring, fairness, respect, responsibility, and citizenship.
  I believe it is time to reclaim the importance of these values in our 
daily lives. Many Americans, I regret, have become too cynical about 
the role of character in modern society. For too long, we have declined 
to discuss fundamental moral principles in our schools for fear of 
offending someone or imposing our beliefs. However, we nearly forgot 
that this nation was founded upon basic values. These values have bound 
our citizens together and sustained them through wars, depressions and 
other adversities. Indeed, it is our belief in these core values that 
continues to make the United States a beacon of hope and opportunity to 
people around the globe.
  The ``Six Pillars of Character'' concept reflects these core values. 
They are the building blocks to helping our children recognize the 
difference between right and wrong, and they deserve a place in our 
schools alongside lessons in math and reading. Although parents do bear 
ultimate responsibility for teaching children the value of human 
dignity and character, we, as a community, have a duty to support these 
messages outside the home. To that end, Senator Dodd and I are 
exploring ways to expand the role of character education in schools and 
after-school programs, and we urge our colleagues to join us. I can 
assure the Senate, character education programs have been phenomenally 
well received in school systems throughout the country.
  In my own State of New Mexico, teachers have told me they finally 
feel empowered to discuss what it means to be a good citizen and a good 
person with their students, and they love it. Schools across the state 
have walls covered with posters on what ``responsibility'' means, and 
students who demonstrate outstanding acts of caring, for example, are 
celebrated at pep rallies. These simple lessons are taking root among 
our children, and they must be encouraged.
  I am not suggesting that character education is the magic elixir that 
will prevent tragedies like the Columbine High School shooting from 
happening, but it's a start. We, as a society, need to tell our 
children that lying is not acceptable, under any circumstance. Stealing 
cannot be allowed. Breaking the law will not be tolerated. We also need 
to reinforce positive values, and programs like Character Counts do 
just that. I applaud the Senate for passing this resolution designating 
a National Character Counts Week for this year and next, and I 
encourage my fellow Senators to continue to work with me to ensure that 
our children receive strong and consistent messages on the essential 
values our society must embrace in order to succeed.
  This is Republican time, but I am going to yield on Republican time 
to my colleague, Senator Dodd.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from New Mexico for 
yielding to me. Far more important, I thank him for his leadership on 
this issue. We have worked on this issue together, along with several 
of our colleagues for the last 5 or 6 years.
  It all began because the Senator from New Mexico discovered this 
program and brought it to the attention of the Senate and asked a group 
of his colleagues if we wanted to get involved in this idea of 
Character Counts.
  I will not go through the long history of it, but one can imagine how 
provocative a meeting it was in Aspen, CO, when educators, child 
psychologists, and Lord knows who else, gathered together--quite a 
group of people--to try to come to some conclusion about six pillars of 
character. Apparently the debate went on for some time on which pillars 
they could agree on. They finally settled on respect, responsibility, 
trustworthiness, caring, loyalty, honesty, and fairness.
  This is not an all-inclusive list. There may be other ideas. There 
may be synonyms for each of these words that others find more 
acceptable to their particular community.
  The point is not to be rigid about the words or rigid about how to 
best promote these values among our young

[[Page 14551]]

people. What is important is that there be community efforts, efforts 
at the neighborhood level to promote the idea of strong values in our 
young people, not only young people but young adults and adults as 
well.
  One of the beauties of this program is it does not focus just on the 
children in the schoolroom. But when the issue of trustworthiness is 
raised as an issue that the school is going to focus on for a 
particular period of time--a day, a week, a month--everybody in the 
school is involved with the issue of trustworthiness. The 
administrators, the teachers, the coaches, the faculty advisers, as 
well as the students, share in coming to a better understanding of how 
that particular value can be enhanced and understood and promulgated 
within the community.
  This has been a tremendously successful program. In my State of 
Connecticut, there are now some 10,000 young people who have gone 
through a Character Counts Program. I do not know the exact numbers in 
my colleague's State of New Mexico, but it is easily that or more. We 
are small States. We are not large States. But it is a good indication 
of how successful this program has been. It has expanded primarily as a 
result of word of mouth, good reputation, one teacher telling another 
teacher in another community how it works, one principal telling 
another principal how well it works. That is why it has expanded as 
much as it has in my State of Connecticut.
  Education, as we all know, is a central activity in any child's life. 
We teach them to walk, to talk, to read, and to write. But one of the 
most important things that a child can learn is how to get along with 
others and to be a part of the larger community, to be a responsible, 
caring, loyal, honest, fair, respectful citizen. You can add other 
words, as I said.
  Regrettably, today, for a lot of reasons which we do not need to go 
into this afternoon, young people are entering a school system not 
having learned these basic values. It has nothing to do with economics. 
It has nothing to do with race or religion.
  I can show you communities in my State that are some of the most 
affluent in the country where children are entering a school system 
without these values. I can also take you to some of the poorest 
neighborhoods in my State and show you where children are entering 
school with these values. I could also show you children out of those 
communities who do not have those values.
  So it was decided a number of years ago we ought to try to weave into 
the educational process the teaching of these values, and to do so in a 
way that would not confront, if you will, the agenda that a teacher, a 
school system, has on a daily basis, but to weave it into the seamless 
garment of a student's daily life.
  So instead of having, say, 15 minutes at the outset of the school day 
in which the principal comes on the loudspeaker and says: We are now 
going to talk about trustworthiness for 15 minutes--and if any of us 
here recall those kinds of discussions growing up as children, we all 
know what happened: We yawned; we fell asleep; no one paid much 
attention; we hardly remember what the principal had to say--what 
Character Counts says is, we are not going to do it that way; we are 
going to take the word ``trustworthiness,'' or ``loyalty,'' or 
``respect,'' or ``citizenship,'' and we are going to ask you to weave 
it into the daily life of a student--not for a day or a week, but for a 
month.
  That is what we have done in Connecticut--a month. So from the 
beginning of the day, whether it is math class or science class or 
whether the student is going to band or working on the school 
newspaper, or showing up on the athletic field--whatever the activity 
is--that school tries to take one of those pillars and make it a part 
of that teaching experience, for the full program, in a sense, to weave 
it into it so that everybody in school, for that period of time--in our 
case, a month--works on that word--``respect,'' ``trustworthiness.'' 
What does it mean? What is the absence of it? How do you become more 
respectful, more trustworthy? What are examples when it does not 
happen? It becomes, as I said, part of the seamless garment of that 
educational experience.
  I have to tell you, you may say: Well, this sounds wonderful, 
Senator. It is a nice idea. I wonder how it is working.
  It is working remarkably well. I can tell you, on the basis of 
countless conversations I have had with people all across my State, 
they point to this particular effort as having had success in changing 
the culture of a school. I am telling you it has had a profound effect 
not just on the students I mentioned earlier but on the teachers, 
administrators, faculty, student advisers. They have all benefited as a 
result of weaving these Character Counts programs into their school 
life.
  We spent a lot of time over the last couple months after the tragedy 
of Littleton, CO, talking about what we might do to solve the problem. 
Without belaboring the point, we sort of resort to our old bromides. We 
have one group of us here that will convince you it is gun control that 
is the answer to the problem, and if we could just deal with gun 
control, we could solve the problem. I happen to believe that is part 
of the answer. We have others who say: Look, if we can clean up 
Hollywood, the videos games, that is the answer to the problem. I would 
not argue, there is certainly an element that contributes to what 
happened.
  But frankly, what happened at Littleton, CO, did not happen all at 
once. The event did. But I suggest to you that what happened in 
Littleton, CO, what happened in Arkansas, and Kentucky and Oregon, and 
other places, in my own State, isolated cases of violence began a long 
time before the events. There was a breakdown at home. There was a 
breakdown that occurred weeks, months, years before, that culminated in 
the tragic events of those days that we all remember with such painful 
clarity.
  What Character Counts does here is, it tries to get at the source of 
the problem early to try to see if we can begin to change the 
direction, to offer a foundation in basic values to students so that 
you might change a young person's ideas on how they relate to each 
other--understanding differences, respecting differences, not having to 
feel alienated because you are different, not making someone feel 
isolated and alone because maybe they are not a good athlete or a great 
student--maybe their clothes are not the ones you would wear or I would 
wear; they may listen to music that you and I would not particularly 
find appealing--but to understand that each person is God's creation 
and that if we can inculcate them with a basic sense of decency, of 
understanding that they are part of a larger community, as I said at 
the outset, learning to respect each other, to trust each other, to be 
honest with each other, then we can begin to change the kind of 
culture, in my view, that contributes to this growing sense of violence 
we too often see among our young people.
  I again thank my colleague from New Mexico. He is the leader on this 
issue. I am his blocking guard here. I get involved whenever he asks me 
to, because I am so committed to it and so believe in what he is trying 
to do.
  I think the idea of getting our Governors involved is a tremendous 
idea. We hope that every Governor in the country, if they are not 
already involved in this, will be willing to join with us and in some 
public relations efforts, if you will, to raise the level of awareness.
  We do not have a fixed idea in mind. My colleague mentioned Mr. 
Josephson and his program. It is a fine program. There are others who 
have a different point of view on how best to make this work. We have 
learned to respect what works in, say, a Native American community in 
the Southwest or a highly ethnic community in my State of Connecticut 
where you may have differences on how you approach these particular 
values. We let local communities and school districts and others try to 
sort out what size fits them best and how to make it work.
  That is what we want to support, we want to recognize, we want to 
bring attention to. We want to promote and expand this. Again, we do 
not have any simple answers here for how you stop

[[Page 14552]]

some of the problems we are seeing that are becoming too frequent in 
our society.
  But I stand here today and tell you that if more communities would 
adopt a Character Counts program, if they would at least try this--just 
try it; and we can get you the information; we can put you in touch 
with people who can help you work through how to start it and get it 
going so you do not have to make it up on your own--then I promise you, 
if you try this, if you really give it a chance, you can make a 
difference not only in your school's life but the individual lives of 
the people who enter those institutions.
  It need not be just elementary schools or middle schools. We have not 
tried it extensively, but I know of one in my State at the high school 
level where Character Counts has worked, where the principal said: 
We're going to try it. And it made a difference at that senior high 
school.
  So many say: Kids are too old then. They are not too old. They are 
looking for some direction, some ideas they can hold on to and grasp as 
roadmaps on how to proceed with their lives.
  I think the 2 weeks we have designated--October 17 of this year and 
October 15 of the year 2000--as National Character Counts Week bring us 
one major step forward, bringing some needed recognition to this very 
worthwhile program that has made such a difference already in the lives 
of thousands of people all across our country.
  Again, I commend my good friend and colleague from New Mexico for his 
distinguished leadership on this issue.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator very much.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gorton). The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I have been a Senator for a long time. I have 
participated in a number of events that made me feel very good about my 
work and about my community and the citizens of my State. But I do not 
believe there has been anything as satisfying as to work with the 
communities in New Mexico and school boards and superintendents and 
teachers on the six pillars of character in Character Counts. It has 
been absolutely something that I just will never forget.
  I am quite confident that while it is not the only answer, the 
elixir, to all of our problems, it is certainly a very positive thing 
going on in the lives of our young people. We ought to be proud of 
these efforts and certainly encourage Character Counts, where we can.
  I would say to the Senate, if any of you get involved in Character 
Counts, it is very difficult for the schools to have success at the 
high school level, but a lot of work is being done there. It is among 
the grade school children where this program starts. As they move 
through those years, when they have been exposed to character education 
for 4 or 5 years, there is a real difference in how they perceive their 
relationship to their teachers, to their parents, and to their 
community.
  Mr. President, I understand that I have a number of minutes remaining 
under my control on the Republican side of this.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has the remaining 15 minutes 
between now and 4:15.
  Mr. DOMENICI. If there are any Republican Senators who would like to 
speak, they may certainly come and do that now. I will yield the floor 
to them.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on May 6, 1999, I was pleased to join my 
friend, the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, (Mr. Domenici), in 
introducing a Senate Resolution designating the third week in October, 
1999 and 2000 as Character Counts Week. I am delighted today that we 
are approving this legislation, just as we have approved similar 
legislation in the Senate every year since 1994.
  In 1993, the Josephson Institute of Ethics convened a conference of 
ethicists, educators and other leaders to examine the issue of 
character development. The result of that conference, held in Aspen 
Colorado, was the Aspen Declaration on Character Education.
  The elements of character described in the Aspen Declaration were: 
trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and 
citizenship. They are often referred to now as the Six Pillars of 
Character.
  Today, more than 300 member organizations, including community 
groups, schools and businesses are part of a nationwide Character 
Counts Coalition. These organizations sponsor programs that emphasize 
the importance of good character traits in our society. American 
society is dependent on the strength of the character of her citizens.
  Never have we seen a time in the life of our society that good 
character has been more important. Solid lessons in character must be 
taught by parents and families, schools, and religious groups.
  A 1996 National School Boards Association report on Character 
Education in our schools showed a significant trend toward adopting 
character education programs in schools.
  Character Counts! suggests three steps to teach young people for 
making the decision to do the right thing:

       1. Think about the welfare of all people likely to be 
     affected by your actions and make choices that avoid harm to 
     and promote the well-being of others.
       2. Demonstrate character by living up to all ethical 
     principles of the Six Pillars of Character even when you must 
     give up other things you want.
       3. If you cannot live up to one ethical principle without 
     giving up another, do the thing that you sincerely believe 
     will promote a better society and should be done by all.

  The National School Boards Association report found that schools with 
character education programs reported improvement in student 
leadership, discipline, violence, vandalism, academic performance, 
attendance and drug and alcohol incidents. It also stated, 
``Ultimately, . . . character education may be a long-term investment 
as improvement and contribution levels often increase over time.''
  As we work to train our children well, we must keep in mind that we 
are building the foundation for new generations. The examples we set 
about how we treat others, and what we accept in social behavior will 
influence not only our children, but all children.
  In Mississippi, the Noxubee County Competitive Community Program, the 
Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce, Kids With Character, and the Junior 
Auxiliary of Clinton are organizations who have joined the Character 
Counts! Coalition. They make specific commitments including:

       To integrate character education into new and existing 
     programs and to encourage young people and their parents to 
     adopt and model the Six Pillars. And, to participate in 
     CHARACTER COUNTS! Week.

  I congratulate them on their important efforts and hope that this 
year more groups and communities will become involved in similar 
programs.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this resolution 
appear in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 98) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 98

       Whereas young people will be the stewards of our 
     communities, the United States, and the world in critical 
     times, and the present and future well-being of our society 
     requires an involved, caring citizenry with good character;
       Whereas concerns about the character training of children 
     have taken on a new sense of urgency as violence by and 
     against youth threatens the physical and psychological well-
     being of people of the United States;
       Whereas more than ever, children need strong and 
     constructive guidance from their families and their 
     communities, including schools, youth organizations, 
     religious institutions, and civic groups;
       Whereas the character of a nation is only as strong as the 
     character of its individual citizens;
       Whereas the public good is advanced when young people are 
     taught the importance of good character, and that character 
     counts in personal relationships, in school, and in the 
     workplace;
       Whereas scholars and educators agree that people do not 
     automatically develop good

[[Page 14553]]

     character and, therefore, conscientious efforts must be made 
     by institutions and individuals that influence youth to help 
     young people develop the essential traits and characteristics 
     that comprise good character;
       Whereas although character development is, first and 
     foremost, an obligation of families, the efforts of faith 
     communities, schools, and youth, civic, and human service 
     organizations also play a very important role in supporting 
     family efforts by fostering and promoting good character;
       Whereas the Senate encourages students, teachers, parents, 
     youth, and community leaders to recognize the valuable role 
     our youth play in the present and future of the United States 
     and to recognize that character is an important part of that 
     future;
       Whereas in July 1992, the Aspen Declaration was written by 
     an eminent group of educators, youth leaders, and ethics 
     scholars for the purpose of articulating a coherent framework 
     for character education appropriate to a diverse and 
     pluralistic society;
       Whereas the Aspen Declaration states, ``Effective character 
     education is based on core ethical values which form the 
     foundation of democratic society.'';
       Whereas the core ethical values identified by the Aspen 
     Declaration constitute the 6 core elements of character;
       Whereas the 6 core elements of character are 
     trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, 
     and citizenship;
       Whereas the 6 core elements of character transcend 
     cultural, religious, and socioeconomic differences;
       Whereas the Aspen Declaration states, ``The character and 
     conduct of our youth reflect the character and conduct of 
     society; therefore, every adult has the responsibility to 
     teach and model the core ethical values and every social 
     institution has the responsibility to promote the development 
     of good character.'';
       Whereas the Senate encourages individuals and 
     organizations, especially those who have an interest in the 
     education and training of our youth, to adopt the 6 core 
     elements of character as intrinsic to the well-being of 
     individuals, communities, and society as a whole; and
       Whereas the Senate encourages communities, especially 
     schools and youth organizations, to integrate the 6 core 
     elements of character into programs serving students and 
     children: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) proclaims the week beginning October 17, 1999, and the 
     week beginning October 15, 2000, as ``National Character 
     Counts Week''; and
       (2) requests that the President issue a proclamation 
     calling upon the people of the United States and interested 
     groups to--
       (A) embrace the 6 core elements of character identified by 
     the Aspen Declaration, which are trustworthiness, respect, 
     responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship; and
       (B) observe the week with appropriate ceremonies and 
     activities.

                          ____________________